Cultivating Creativity Through Musical Exploration
Creativity is the center point of any musicians journey which propels them beyond mere virtuosity to find their own voice. Exploratory sounds inform students practice in melody, rhythm, harmony and texture, encouraging originality and creativity. Students build confidence, intuition, and flexibility as opposed to a catalog of rules associated with a living art that can change on a moment’s notice – key aspects toward performance and composition. Creative experimentation turns practice into an enjoyable exercise, with curiosity and surprise at the heart of it.
The promotion of experimentation starts by creating an environment conducive to safe and open learning. Without fear of being judged, students should feel free to experiment with crazy ideas, fail miserably or switch musical directions on a whim. It’s an attitude that fosters innovation and creativity, and allows musicians to find their own sound. “All this type of work can draw upon completely different cognitive strategies in terms of proposing variations (over a tune, say) — and also be physically and anatomically unconnected to other types of musical play: modes based on scales certainly engage the fingers and ears differently.”
A large part of creativity is also cross-pollination. The exposure to multiple genres, interpretations and instruments diversifies how they combine the speakers, sparking fresh ideas. To listen to other styles of music with a critical ear and apply what one hears in the music that one makes is conducive to being different (it’s also good for you). Students who are involved in this process often end up with a broader ear, a more extensive vocabulary as a musician and greater understanding of the spectrum of expression their instrument is capable of.
Reflection is as vital in building creativity. And from understanding which ideas worked — and why — musicians learn how to make informed artistic decisions. When students record improvisations, go back to rehear compositions, try alternativeiating phrasing or dynamics, they get a chance to begin the process of refining their work and seeing what is it that THEY bringng that needs a bit of awknowledgement and development! This reflective mix of open-ended investigation and informed artistic determination allows musicians to expand both imaginatively and compositionally.
And finally, when you teach students to be creative through exploring music, we equip them to creatively pour out their hearts. It instills curiosity, resilience and an entry into a lifetime of music making. This enables collective musicians to become highly skilled in a disciplined way that does not destroy their artistic freedom by combining structured learning, improvization and experimenting etc. This blend of discipline and creativity guarantees that learning is fulfilling on both a productive and emotional level, as each student develops her or his own distinctive musical identity.