When clearing out an old dusty attic recently I came across a diary that looked as if it's been lying there for ages. I started reading and it appeared to be from a musician, or composer, of times long past. After hours of reading I came to the last page, where the date read November 4th, but as with the earlier pages the year had been omitted. On closer scrutiny the ink on this page seems to be different from the other ones... almost fresh. As the content may be of interest to the Sellablog readership I copy this entry:The Birth of a Song
With so much noise going on in my head at times, the daylight seems to pass by too quickly and the nights can be restless and long. Last night, I decided to try what many have suggested and get out of bed instead of trying to force some shut eye. So I did. I got up, at about 1AM, and went to sit at my piano.
Of course, one of the main reasons why I could not get to sleep was because of a melody in my head that would not leave me alone. Sitting across an impressive line-up of black and white keys, I decided to see if this melody could actually take me somewhere. When my fingers finally made contact with the notes, and a feeling of calm entered my mind, I then realized that I was to be taken somewhere. With my recording software on, I played the piano for over 15 minutes non-stop. Of course, that is quite a bit long for a song but I always try to leave limitations and judgement at the door when the creative process comes to visit me.
The music always comes first. Then, as I’m sliding into different piano chords, a melody escapes my vocal chords (ever so softly as I am doing my best not to wake the neighbours!) and sporadic words appear. At first, they don’t mean anything to me, but when I let them come, they somehow turn into phrases. The emotions of the music dictate the meaning of these lyrics and soon enough, I have a theme for a song.
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