What motivates someone to learn a particular instrument? And then what drives that person to take their music talents to the next level? Every musician may respond to it differently. Perhaps it was a specific song or an artist they iconized. Nevertheless, there could be something within a person to want to study an instrument, and then to progress further, learning more about music.
I believe musicians are wired a certain way. There’s an eagerness to be creative. After a long day at work, I come home ready to unlock whatever creative ideas have been brewing and let them come out either directly through the guitar or piano, or write down song ideas. Or maybe I feel like blogging like right now. Inspiration can be like turning on a light switch. You feel compelled at that very moment to free those ideas that'll put them to good use through music.
Some of us musicians, and songwriters, cannot turn off that creativity. It’s always running. Ideas are always popping up in my head. Which is why I started writing this blog post at 1:30 in the morning. The creative switch is on. It’s a blessing to be given an innovative mind, but sleep is good too. Sure musicians have their quirks. Some are messy while others are OCD. A musician’s mind may wonder to and fro because an idea for a song surfaces.
For me personally, music is a way for me to express my creativeness in this crazy, busy world. To a degree it's an escape from the day-to-day hustle and bustle of daily life. I'm free to express my creativity. Sure there are other creative outlets, but musical tone, I know there's that word tone again, but music feeds emotions.
We create music in different ways. Some of us react differently to society and social shifts in different ways. We can see this in the 1960’s with protest songs, and in the late 1980’s and early 90’s with the grunge sound. We have a God-given talent to share our music creativity with the world. It would be a waste to sit on such a talent. It’s an opportunity to show how beautiful the world is through our music.
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Some people may understand our music, while others may not. Some music and lyrics takes some explanation. I imagine Picasso had to explain his paintings to some of his patrons. Some of his paintings are kind of out there. The same goes for musicians.
Some of our music is self-explanatory while other compositions need explaining. The result is the same. Beautify the world with music. To create something beautiful. We musicians want to share our talents with the world, which is easier now more than ever with music streaming. It’s surreal to know that someone in my home town of Waco is listening to one of my songs, just as someone in Ireland and Norway (I pulled up the analytics last night).
Musicians need that creative outlet. There’s something satisfying after learning a new song, composing a new piece, or playing a show. If we get burned out or lose focus, we have to muster up motivation and we keep moving forward in transforming our energy into our music. It feeds emotions in specific ways. Something people can relate to. People have said they can tie one of my songs to a specific emotion. That's pretty awesome.
Why I am a musician? I love music. I love to create new and beautiful music, and share it with the world. As the late Bob Ross put it, “beauty is everywhere.”