Perhaps you can help.......

A few weeks ago, I had a severe case "Composers Block". I couldn't for the life of me, get past it. I thought it might be fear, or stress, or that I had nothing lest to play. i began to ask my fellow musicians and composers, how they, if they had, managed to conquer it. The one I asked, the one I used to think I was in love with, once upon a time, gave me this answer, at the end of our conversation.

~ Antigone: Have you ever had composers block?

~ Jacob: nope. sorry to say i have not.

~ Antigone: Oh great, a composer who has never lacked inspiration. Admirable =]

~ Jacob: what do you mean? haha. sorry Antigone I'm lost. What is composer block?

~ Antigone: Really? It's just when you can't write anything good. I can improv for hours, I just can't compose anything. I thought you might have some suggestions. Sorry for the confusion. =]

~ Jacob; oh haha. well. if you wanna compose, then you really should do your best to hand write your stuff. it's a long process and super frustrating, but trust me, it helps so much.

~ Antigone: No, I do write and compose all the time. What i mean is I cant write anything good. I get typical chord progressions, an d tacky melody's. What I'm trying to say I guess, is that I seem to be stuck. i do write my stuff down and I know it does take a long time. i only wish I had something to write down.

~ Jacob: oh ha. gotcha. well then. Here's the thing, people will not always admit this, especially music teachers because they want you to expand their knowledge (and that's good), but the most important thing about music to everyone is that it's esthetically pleasing. We want it to sound good. we want it to be beautiful. But music is suppose to reflect what words and actions cannot. therefore, does music have to sound beautiful to be beautiful? i don't think so. Ultimately it comes down to "why" you're writing music and what for: a play, a film, for voice and piano, just because.....you know, all those reasons. Then you have to decide what is "true" about what you're writing and what does this "sound" like. Does life always reflect the I IV, V, I progression (that's the chord progression that dominates western music)? No. So maybe try to think outside the box. I always love to write beautiful things and i love my music to be esthetically pleasing. but sometimes music is more than that. Don't necessarily write something A-tonal or something like that. just experiment with different sounds what you see in "reality" because ultimately, that is what music expresses.

.....a little deep, but keep in mind (and i know it's hard) that there are no new chord progressions, just different ways of presenting them.



What could I say to this? I sat at my computer for what seemed like a century. Still not knowing what to say. His word were beauty, and they were music, and they were meant for me. For my problem. Did I just thank him, or try to be as deep and understanding as he had just shown himself to be? I the end I left it alone. i said nothing. I broke my composers block.