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Joined: Sep 2009
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Hi friends. Been off the boards lately, working on a brand new project which I hope to share with you in the not too distant future. (not music related at all).
I write songs which I've always considered to be a creative act, but when not writing, and throughout my past years, I have created so many other things (nothing to do with music).
I wondered if others have found themselves to be creative in other fields, other than music, and is it in part the need to create, that strives us to write songs.
I was a prolific inventor for many years, before music came to me, and had some successes and lots of failures lol, also wrote a couple of books and had them published.
The videos I've made, are for me, just another extension of my creative juices.
Just looking at JPF, Brian created this and although it is music related, it's not the same as writing a song or playing a new tune. His creative juices must have been flowing like crazy and probably still do today as he strives to improve things in a creative way.
So am I alone or do others find themselves being naturally creative in other fields.
God Bless Roy and Helen.
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Joined: Aug 2002
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Roy, I've had ideas for inventions but lack the skills to bring them to fruition (not good with my hands) and some of those ideas have since been invented. I also have an idea for a book but I don't have the patience to write it. A book could take months to write and I could write a 100 songs in that time.LOL I'm very creative in writing songs and have had some success in getting them out and recorded, not all of them of course, but several hundred, no great money return, but some. A creative mind is a great thing but can frustrate you to no end. LOL
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Roy, I've had ideas for inventions but lack the skills to bring them to fruition (not good with my hands) and some of those ideas have since been invented. I also have an idea for a book but I don't have the patience to write it. A book could take months to write and I could write a 100 songs in that time.LOL I'm very creative in writing songs and have had some success in getting them out and recorded, not all of them of course, but several hundred, no great money return, but some. A creative mind is a great thing but can frustrate you to no end. LOL
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Roy,
That's an interesting question. I am an engineer by training and did not find myself to be very creative in that endeavor. Song writing and guitar playing and photography are totally different though, and some of my creativity comes out there.
Some people classify others as left brain or right brain oriented. I think I am in the middle.....neither extremely left or right brained. But others definitely fall squarely in the left or right brained categories. I am probably in the middle creatively too.
To some extent, we are born with or without the skills needed for certain tasks. To be a musician, you have to be born with pitch and rhythm. You can't teach it if it is not there (I have tried with my wife!!). I suspect creativity is similar but again, you have to have certain innate skills.....my wife is an artist and I have never been able draw or paint at all. And you can't be creative in something like computer science if you don't have the determination or brain power to master the necessary technical knowledge.
Don't know what all this means, but I am looking forward to hearing about your new project.
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Joined: Jan 2005
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well besides this songwriting,i also flintknapp which is making stone tools like arrowheads and knives,i hadn't made any lately but i have a pile of stone waiting on me to destroy it.I also like photography,concert mostly.That may fall under creativity if you do more than just aim and shoot and please,no phone photos!I also make really nice creative sandwiches!
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Joined: Jan 2005
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well besides this songwriting,i also flintknapp which is making stone tools like arrowheads and knives,i hadn't made any lately but i have a pile of stone waiting on me to destroy it.I also like photography,concert mostly.That may fall under creativity if you do more than just aim and shoot and please,no phone photos!I also make really nice creative sandwiches!
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Roy, I've had ideas for inventions but lack the skills to bring them to fruition (not good with my hands) and some of those ideas have since been invented. I also have an idea for a book but I don't have the patience to write it. A book could take months to write and I could write a 100 songs in that time.LOL I'm very creative in writing songs and have had some success in getting them out and recorded, not all of them of course, but several hundred, no great money return, but some. A creative mind is a great thing but can frustrate you to no end. LOL The say that everyone has a great book inside them waiting to come out Everett. I suppose that being good with your hands would be ideal if the creative side was making physical things, but there are those who are brilliant at making things, but nothing original or creative. Frustration yes, what did a famous inventor say, Bell or Edison I think, 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration. Have a great weekend friend, and keep those creative juices flowing. God Bless Roy and Helen
Last edited by Roy Cooper; 06/07/15 02:42 AM.
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Well, my job in the social sciences is a creative one. I need to come up with new ideas and angles on subjects for research and teaching on a weekly basis.
Actually, I feel my songwriting is less creative than my day job, maybe because I'm not quite as skilled with it. I still learn a lot about playing, writing and producing music.
I guess both activities are creative, but in my day job I apply much more what I already know, and in my music hobby, I'm still very much learning what can be done.
Maybe I'm not very innovative, though. Often my creative processes stop, when the time comes to make something off of it. By then, I'm already into the next idea or project, never really consolidating anything.
Very fulfilling to be able to do what I do, though.
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Hi Roy. I don't think it makes you naturally creative, more the other way round. You have to be naturally creative to do it.
I also liked painting and drawing since I was a little kid and would spend many hours doing that. Never was any good at car engines or fixing machinery.
Good luck with your new venture.
Vic
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Hi Roy:
Your presence has been missed. I can't wait to see what you are about to share with us. Your question is one I cannot answer. Of course, I do have an opinion. I think it can work both ways for some individuals. Most of all, it cannot hurt. I've often wished I had stuck with my other creative interests... but nothing has ever grasped me as tightly as songwriting and all the things required to bring something to musical fruition.
This part of my life has been the loneliest journey I have ever taken... but every now and then, I am rewarded with the knowledge that someone else appreciated what I was able to create in the form of a song.
Thanks for your question... and your many kindnesses.
----Dave
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Thanks for stopping by Colin. I think my sides of my brain are on the wrong side anyways..lol
I have known musicians who play wonderfully, but cover songs, nothing else and to written music.
I wouldn't class that as creative as all.
But a songwriter who starts with the germ of an idea and creates something complete, that's real creativity, in my eyes.
I think you may find my new project strange, but then again.
thanks again Colin
God Bless Roy and Helen
Last edited by Roy Cooper; 06/07/15 10:05 PM.
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well besides this songwriting,i also flintknapp which is making stone tools like arrowheads and knives,i hadn't made any lately but i have a pile of stone waiting on me to destroy it.I also like photography,concert mostly.That may fall under creativity if you do more than just aim and shoot and please,no phone photos!I also make really nice creative sandwiches! Hi Michael, nice to hear from you. I learnt a new word today 'flintknapp'. It sounds fascinating and something that I would enjoy as well. 'Creative Sandwiches' lol thanks for stopping by friend God Bless Roy and Helen
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Hi Roy, Glad to see you back on the boards. Must be something big you're working on I assume. To answer your question, well, I can only speak for myself. I don't think songwriting makes you more creative in other fields, but being naturally creative will help to be creative in different fields. It's just a matter what one is interested in. For me it's always been music. Having picked up the piano at age 9, added songwriting at age 16 and never really wanted to do anything else. But, I did notice that every time I added something to my music, I picked it up pretty easy. First it was just playing the piano. Took piano classes in school when I was nine (the beginners class) and two months later they put me straight into the class with all the 15-16 year old students because I was bored in the beginners class. Then adding songwriting. I think I picked up all the rules about structure, counting etc. pretty fast. Along came music production, mixing, etc. It just all came naturally and I never had a long learning curve when trying new things music related. Is that the case in other creative fields? I can't tell! I never had the desire to find out. I wouldn't want to write a book - heck I don't like reading them, why would I want to write one lol. I luckily don't have to do the marketing for our company as this is being taken care of to the perfection by someone who loves being creative in that field. I think the furthest I strayed from music was creating radio ads, even though I always put some kind of music into the ads I produced as well. So, I guess that doesn't really count. Colin mentioned left brained and right brained. Some scentists argue that it's true and some argue it is not. I firmly believe that it is true. I am strongly right brained = left handed. It's like my right hand is just decoration. I would say 90% of the people I know doing music are the same or at least similar (some can maybe pick their nose with the right hand but that's about it).
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Roy: Humans are creative just by being born. Look around! Good and not so good creations, and to the very bad. Creativity defines being human: Creative ways to please a new love interest. All the way to figuring out how to make the atomic and hydrogen bombs to kill as many other humans as possible in one drop.
So, for music or anything else? What else would we expect but creativity? From birth, it's simply the level of one's talent and then learned skills that will have some do this, and others that. Some do this and that! Others do this, that, and the other!
We can't help but to be creative in one way or another, regardless of what level. We're Human! Some just suck at it, while others are deemed to be great at their creative results. Then, there's the rest of us, the majority, all in the between areas. Welcome to the party!
Johnny
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It's the urge to create stuff that makes me compose music. The urge came first, for me.
I don't really know about how it all works for other people...I suppose some people first get the notion they want to be a songwriter, and then they try it out and see how it goes, but that's not how or why I did it. It just came from having to DO something with the guitar in my hands or the piano I'm sitting at.
I guess I think creatively most every day, whether I should or shouldn't. It's a default impulse and it always was. I like to create weird "life hacks" that make things fun. An outdoor cat cage built around the kitchen window, a star shaped pattern of cut logs around a fir tree to make separated hosta gardens, re-purposed stuff all over the yard, bizarre artpieces everywhere you look. I NEED to keep my environment interesting or I get bored...and I never stay bored. Too much fun to be had.
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Having picked up the piano at age 9, You must have been strong, able to pick up the piano at 9.LOL couldn't resist, sorry. Everett
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I think all people are creative in one way or another.
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I was creative as a child - I colored outside the lines a lot.
But, like anything else, being creative takes practice. bringing creative thinking into other aspects of your life will enhance your writing.
one of the suggestions I read for relieving writers block, is to take up a different type of creative endeavor. painting, cooking, carpentry, needlework, comedy, philosophy, gardening, auto repair, photography, psychology and dollhouse building, as well as untold others have been tasks I attempt to bring creativity into when the writing muse has fallen silent.
For me creativity is like water flowing downhill. if it stops in one place it must find an outlet somewhere or it will stagnate and draw mosquitoes.
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My thanks to all for adding their contributions. it's appreciated.
so many views and interesting replies.
I can't reply individually to all of them, my brain is tired at the moment from working on this new project lol.
But I have read them all and in lots of ways have been enlightened.
thanks again
God Bless to all Roy and Helen
Last edited by Roy Cooper; 06/09/15 05:26 AM.
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I've always dabbled in writing in one form or the other.I started out writing jokes and had a little success and got paid by the BBC for contributing to the long running comedy series the New Huddlines, starring Roy Hudd. To me writing is the only way I've ever thought of as being creative, I'm useless at painting, drawing and couldn't knock a nail in without bending it. I've written a book and worked on many songs. It's more natural for me to pick up a pen(or the laptop) than to pick up a screwdriver
Last edited by Travis david; 06/09/15 09:04 AM.
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"If one man can do it, any man can do it. It is true. But the real question is, if one man did it, are you willing to do what it takes to do it as well?" –Brian Austin Whitney
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