[Harp-L] RE: Creativity-Where, Oh Where Art Thou?

[Robert Coble <robertpcoble@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I really hesitate to jump in again on this one, but, I'll take a stab at it. Please don't take anything I write below as sarcastic or as a putdown. Although some of it is humorous (I hope), it does represent (in a very condensed form) a philosophy that will help you find "creativity."

As stupid as this sounds, YOU will never BE the "James Brown of harmonica". You will forever BE the "Rainbow Jimmy" of harmonica-which is the most wonderful thing in the world that YOU can possibly be!

(I could have just regurgitated that old canard about how to get to Carnegie Hall. Trust me, mere and more "practice, practice, practice" will NOT accomplish that goal.)

The "secret" is not only to "find" your OWN voice, but to be deliriously happy that you HAVE a unique voice. That "secret" resides deep inside of you. That is the wellspring of creativity that you must dip into, nay, immerse yourself in, in order to BE you. Only if you are true to that "inner voice" will you reach a place of creativity that will burst forth and dazzle the world. As long as your focus is "outside" (on those "heroes" and magicians whom you wish to emulate), you will never realize YOUR true potential as a creative musician. You have to be so in love with the MUSIC that you totally forget about yourself. Explore the music to the bottom of the ocean. Find one thing about it that fascinates you, yet still eludes your grasp. Immerse yourself in it until you understand it and LOVE IT completely. Magically, once you understand one thing in great depth, you will have a basis for building an understanding of ANYTHING--in music or in any other subject.

An old story: A gentleman walking down the street late one night encounters a drunk, crawling around a street light. Being of a kindly nature, he asked the drunk what he was doing. "Looking for my keys," was the reply. So, our hero begins walking around the street light with the drunk, looking for the missing keys. (Ignore the obvious question of why he would want to help a drunk find car keys.) After a few turns around the light, our hero asks, "Where did you lose the keys?" The answer was swift: "About three blocks from here." Our hero is stunned, and he then asks the obvious question, "Then why are you looking for the keys HERE?" With utter scorn for being asked such a stupid question, the drunk replies, "Hey stupid, because HERE is where the LIGHT is!"

How many players (I hesitate to use the term "musicians") on this list are desperately trying to find that "magic" something (LW, BW, KW, HL, RB, amp, mic, special effects, etc. ad nauseum) which is OUTSIDE of themselves in order to reach those heights of creativity exhibited by all those living and dead stellar musicians who inspire them? How many of them succeed in demonstrating creativity by becoming clones (in the worst possible sense)? As time passes, they franticly search in more and more places (i.e., searching ever widening circles at shallower depths) without ever realizing why they are getting farther away from the thing they are searching for. They are still trying to stand in the light, forgetting that the search is for the KEYS--and they are nowhere in the vicinity of where they lost them! Seek your original face, as the Zen Buddhists say.

Perhaps you should contemplate this: do you realize that there are already a number of harmonica players (some on this list) who want to know how to "be the Rainbow Jimmy of harmonica?"

If your question is about "magic"--YOU are the only "magic" you will ever need! All of the rest of it is technique. Technique can be learned; "magic" will forever elude you as long as you seek for it in someone else.

I suspect this is not the "secret" you are looking for, but if you can dig it, it WILL help you find that INNER "magic" of creativity that you stated you want.

Good luck in your search!
Crazy (ain't it OBVIOUS by now?) Bob


> Date: Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:35:01 -0500
> From: jim.alciere@xxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [Harp-L] what is creativity?
> 
> There was a discussion earlier about talent, work ethic, and apptitude.
> There are tons of talented musicians who are capable of creative thought,
> but in a limited way.. They interpret a classical piece for example, but
> it's not a radical remaking of the piece. There are also people like myself
> who can come up with a hundred original ideas before breakfast, and they all
> suck.
> 
> Then there's folks the Little Walter who exploited the defects in his
> equipment--the distortion, etc, and came up with a new defining sound for
> harmonica. Then you have someone like Hendrix who took that to extreme.
> Where did he get the idea to treat his guitar like a synthesizer (before
> synthesizers were even that well known)? Then you take someone like James
> Brown who seemingly woke up one day, decided he'd put the accent on the down
> beat instead of the 2 and the 4 and created a whole new style of music--he
> essentially created modern top forty.
> 
> So to heck with effortless mastery. I want to be the James Brown of
> harmonica. How do I do this?
> 
> -- 
> Rainbow Jimmy
> http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1372404/dhoozh_chapter_1.html
> http://www.myspace.com/theelectricstarlightspaceanimals
> 

 		 	   		  
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