Are musicians more creative and imaginative?
“ In order to compose, all you need to do is remember a tune that nobody else has thought of.”
-Robert Schumann
They say music is the language of our very soul. Music is one of the things that give the most color and spice in our lives and musical creativity and imagination are among the most complex and abstract aspects of human behavior.
When you listen to or hear a new song playing over the radio, the first thing you would probably think of is about how good or perfect it sounds, and not how it was created. All the pieces and albums that we enjoy during our leisure time or when pampering and resting ourselves from a long and tiring day were the products of the musician’s struggles in discovering or composing songs each single day.
The reasons why musicians are more creative and imaginative
Musicians are so creative and imaginative because of how amazing it is that they can make a simple group of words become meaningful and inspire and touch everybody’s heart. Only the best and most dedicated musician has the passion or craft to create a masterpiece that people will want to listen to over and over again.
“Creativity is more than just being different. Anybody can plan weird; that’s easy. What’s hard is to be as simple as Bach. Making the simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity” – Charles Mingus
Musical training is associated with an increased in imagination and creativity. Musical talent is a one of a kind talent because a musician can compose a song just by tapping his home furniture or singing right in the shower when he is taking a bath. For a musician, music is everywhere and this is their way of living and their life. Though for some creating a new song or kind of music is a piece of cake, there are elusive questions also that they ask to themselves such as how she can unlock his creative voice or give life and tone to his song lyrics.
New research suggests that musicians may be at their most creative when they are not playing their instrument or singing. By studying musicians and asking them when inspiration struck them, researchers found that breakthrough moments often happened when players were humming to themselves or tapping out rhythms on the table or imagining dance moves inspired by the music.
The researchers concluded that musicians began to make a piece their own when they felt free and flexible enough to be spontaneous and take risks rather than simply rely on external validation from, say, a teacher.
Essentials of musical talent
The essentials of musical talent are freedom, a sense of feeling, and acommitment to create music that will be loved by the audience, even if the audience only exists in her imagination. Of all people in the world, musicians are the most emotional aside from being the most creative and imaginative.
Psychologists have found seven attributes of highly creative people, especially musicians.
Associative orientation: Imaginative, playful, have a wealth of ideas, ability to be committed, sliding transitions between fact and fiction.
Need for originality: Resists rules and conventions. Have a rebellious attitude because of a need to do things no one else does.
Motivation: Have a need to perform, goal oriented, innovative attitude, stamina to tackle difficult issues.
Ambition: Have a need to be influential, attract attention and recognition.
Flexibility: Have the ability to see different aspects of issues and come up with optimal solutions.
Low emotional stability: Have a tendency to experience negative emotions, greater fluctuations in moods and emotional state, failing self-confidence.
Low sociability: Have a tendency not to be very considerate, are obstinate and find faults and flaws in ideas and people.
Being expressive, joyful, and humorous are just some of the things that come right under the heading of musical talent, creativity, and imagination and they must never be associated with being neurotic or being crazy. The world of music is not like the world of science where things can be invented or discovered accidentally. This kind of course or field requires a lot of sacrifices, passion, and dedication just to be able to create a piece which can represent the life of a person or his feelings in a certain way which is truly effective and touching while being good to listen to as well.
In a study by neuroscientists of jazz musicians, researchers found that when jazz musicians improvise, the brain switches and the lateral prefrontal lobes responsible for conscious self-monitoring became less engaged. Musicians turn off the self-censoring area of the brain so they can generate novel ideas without restrictions. Interestingly, the improvising brain activates many of the same brain centers as language does, reinforcing the idea that the back and forth of improvisation between musicians is akin to its own language.
Have you recently attended a wedding celebration or mass? It would not be that magical, touching and memorable if there wasn’t any background music while the beautiful bride is walking down the aisle to finally tie the knot and let the wedding bells ring.
Without the musical talent of the musicians, our day to day life, celebrations and other events would never be as satisfying. Think of this, most musicians create songs that tell something about their life and experiences. Even if they are very happy, sad or lonely, we can still expect that they can create beautiful songs because of their musical talent. Through the past years since the first time that people discovered the wonders of music, it has been already a part of every man’s life since the joy that it offers makes our life more beautiful, colorful and interesting.
Musicians seem to have no fear of exploring the unknown, entering into the creative world of the unconscious. They all have this incredible drive to create. Keith Richards said, “If you’re a musician, you can never really stop playing, even if you don’t do any gigs or you retire. You’re still in a way playing inside yourself.”