It’s so easy to get comfortable and complacent with what we’re doing. When that happens, that’s when we run into trouble because we just start doing the same things over and over and over and end up in a big rut. When that happens, we don’t grow as composers or performers. And that’s not good. So in this article I’m going to talk about stretching yourself to the limit. Some of this might sound obvious but you’d be surprised how many people don’t think of these things. If you’re one of the ones who does, consider yourself lucky. For the rest of you, you just might want to read what’s coming next.
Best way to illustrate what I’m talking about is with a story.
As a composer, I’m pretty good with stretching myself. I write in many different genres, some of which I am not very comfortable with. But there is still one area where I could see I was getting into a rut. My drums beats.
I’d decide on what song I was going to do, rock, pop, dance or whatever, and then I’d say “Okay, dance beat” or whatever, and I’d program the same beat over and over and over. I mean literally the same beat. Kick on 1, 2, 3 and 4. Snare on 2 and 4. High Hat on every 8th note and open high hat on the 16th just before beat 2 of each measure. And this was okay because I was mixing my songs up.
But then I decided to create a collection of dance tracks. And when I say a collection I mean a collection. I’m talking about 150 tracks. Imagine somebody buying a collection of 150 dance tracks and every single one had the exact same beat. Don’t you think that would get a little monotonous after a while?
That’s when I realized that I had to mix things up just a little bit to keep things interesting. So I started experimenting. I started with the kick drum. I’d maybe add in a 16th note slice before beat 2 or maybe put some 8th notes towards the end of each measure.
While I was doing that, I was really mixing things up with the high hat. I’d throw in random slices here and there. I’d maybe do some 16th note triplets. Maybe I’d swing it a little bit.
Then I moved on to adding shakers and and noises to the beat to really spice things up.
When the smoke had cleared, I had some very interesting dance beats. I had stretched myself to the limit by doing nothing but dance music and realizing that I had to have more variety or my tracks would all feel the same.
There’s my short little story. Okay, that’s how I stretched myself to the limit. How can you stretch yourself to the limit? Well, there are lots of ways.
For starters, if you’re used to composer in just one genre all the time, try composing in another one, just for a day. It won’t kill you. So if you’re a dance freak but have never even looked at a classical score, why not give it a shot? Don’t know anything about orchestration? Great! Go buy a book on the subject and read it. Or, if you don’t want to go that route, wing it. That’s right. Just throw caution to the wind and see what comes out. You will never know unless you try.
Another way you can stretch yourself as a composer is by the length of the pieces you write. Let’s say you’re used to writing short little jingles of about 30 seconds to maybe a minute long. Why not try stretching yourself by writing a little 3 minute pop tune. I’m not asking you to write a symphony or anything like that. Just a 3 minute pop tune, just to get a feel for what it’s like to write a longer piece of music. Otherwise you’ll never know if it’s something you’re able to do.
Conversely, let’s say you’re one of those long hairs who does nothing but write symphonies and piano concertos. You’ve never written a piece of music under 10 minutes long and even that is short for you. Why not try writing that little jingle? See if you can generate a complete idea in under a minute. It won’t be easy to start but eventually you will get better at it.
For performers there are ways to stretch yourselves too. For one thing, let’s say you’ve only played one instrument your whole life. Let’s say it’s the piano. Why not pick up a guitar one day and see what kind of sound you can get out of it. Sure, at the beginning it’s not going to sound very good. But you’re a talented musician. You’ve 35 years old and you’ve been playing piano since you’re 3. Surely you can pick up a guitar and get some kind of sound out of it.
What about playing speed? Let’s say you’re not the greatest performer in the world and can only play at slow or moderate speeds. You’re never going to be able to play at faster speeds unless you try. So push yourself. Pick out some pieces that are presto and give them a shot. What have you got to lose? The worst thing that can happen is you totally fall on your face. But at least you tried to stretch yourself as a performer.
If I am honest with you and myself, especially myself, it wasn’t until the last couple of years that I really stretched myself as a composer. Last year I wrote my first symphony and piano concerto. Before that I would have never even dreamed of writing such long pieces. But I did it. And while they’re not Mozart by any stretch of the imagination, they’re not all that bad either. They’re certainly listenable. For something that I’d never done prior, that’s quite an accomplishment.
So if I can stretch myself at my age (I’m 56 as of this writing) then you can certainly do it at your age.
For The Love Of Music,
Steven “Wags” Wagenheim