Some of the best musicians I know are math geniuses and that makes sense because the musical part of song writing is very much related to timing, tempo structure and sequence. I am not alone in believing that great songwriting comes from a whole brain experience.
The left hemisphere of the brain is largely responsible for analytical, logical, sequential skills. People with left-brain dominance are detail oriented and good at reading and following directions. People with right brain dominance think and learn in visual, kinesthetic and audio images, there is a tendency to daydream in random thought patterns. Both of these qualities are needed to create great songs.
I took a tip from Eric Maisel – Dr. Eric Maisel is an author, family therapist and cultural observer and is widely regarded as America’s foremost creativity coach. He suggests that writers write in the morning and this really does work for me. I can edit anytime, but getting it out on the page the first time, that is the part I do in the morning. And when I mean write I am not talking about stopping to edit, I am talking about purging the content of my random mind onto paper (I am right brain dominant).
There are a couple of reasons this works for me. If I don’t access my ideas before I start problem solving and organizing I might not be able to access it later in the day. The other reason I purge my thoughts every morning is because I can then come back later in the day and refine and hone my ideas and marry the lyrics with the music (this is all left brain stuff).
One more reason and probably the most important reason to write in the morning is that if I don’t write first thing, my day is likely to slip by me with out writing at all. Writing is important to me, but it is an easy thing to push to the side when life makes its demands. Its like the principle of saving money – pay your self first. Do the thing that is important but not urgent first and then you will have more of what you want in life. Steven Covey is on to something with that one – if you have never read the book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, you might want to – it’s a good one.
So this right brain, left brain thing fascinates me. There is a meditation program that I have recently tapped into called Holosync and according to it’s developer’s at Centerpointe Research Institute the sound waves taken in by stereo headsets create brain waves and connections in the brain that encourage whole brain activity. I find this helpful in meditation and creative writing.
We live in such a fast paced society, in my experience it is easy to get caught up in the day but not so easy to slow down. For me it is when I can slow down that the songs come to and through me.
One more reason and probably the most important reason to write in the morning is that if I don’t write first thing, my day is likely to slip by me with out writing at all. Writing is important to me, but it is an easy thing to push to the side when life makes its demands. Its like the principle of saving money – pay your self first. Do the thing that is important but not urgent first and then you will have more of what you want in life. Steven Covey is on to something with that one – if you have never read the book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, you might want to – it’s a good one.
So this right brain, left brain thing fascinates me. There is a meditation program that I have recently tapped into called Holosync and according to it’s developer’s at Centerpointe Research Institute the sound waves taken in by stereo headsets create brain waves and connections in the brain that encourage whole brain activity. I find this helpful in meditation and creative writing.
We live in such a fast paced society, in my experience it is easy to get caught up in the day but not so easy to slow down. For me it is when I can slow down that the songs come to and through me.
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