Music and Creativity

No images to post today, . . . just some rambling thoughts!


How does music affect our creativity? Does it inspire us to create? Does it set a ‘mood’ for us? Do we choose music that enhances the mood we’re trying to create?


For me, it’s all of the above and more sometimes! At times, when I’m in the mood to brainstorm for ideas, I sit down with a friend and we listen to different genres of music and we watch music videos to get some visual stimulation. Then we begin! We fire ideas back and forth and write down ideas that we think we want to pursue further. Sometimes a piece will come from these sessions and sometimes not, but always it adds to our visual bank accounts and will eventually show up somewhere.


Then there are the times that I have a piece already begun and I want some music in the background as I work. If I’m working on a difficult piece, I’ll choose something instrumental so that I can concentrate on the work. If I’m working on a fairly easy section, I’ll choose something that inspires me with the lyrics—something I can sing along to. A Celtic inspired piece requires Celtic music; a ‘darker’ piece, I’ll choose music that relates to that kind of a mood.


My friend wondered aloud a couple of weeks ago, . . . ‘do you suppose that the music we listen to while we create an art piece somehow embeds itself into the paint?’ Hmmm, . . . I’m sure that it does—as I put myself on the paper, the music comes along for the ride!