Prewriting 1/5 - Music to Write to

Prewriting is the planning stage: "Who are you writing to?" "Why are you writing to them?" "What are you going to say?" "How are you going to say it?" - have an idea on how you'd answer these and things get a lot easier.

I'd spent several sessions looking for a theme and hadn't found anything that resonated; it's the most awful feeling when you can't come up with something new and everything just sounds derivative. I ended up using a technique that doesn't always work but paid off this time.

Ideas!

Music is a weird thing - for western pianists ultimately it's the result of how you combine 8 different notes which gives just over 40,000 different combinations. But it's not just that - the notes can be played in different registers, at different velocities, at different lengths and the number of possible outcomes is almost infinite. With so many options, where do you start?

As I was running short of ideas, I though I would build a theme around the idea of "IDEA." Yep - really! Seeing as there's no "I" on the piano, I just continued to count from A, B, C, D, E, F, G until I reached A again and that became H and the following B became I.

So - this theme is built around 4 notes: B, D, E, A - which spell out the word "Idea" and allow me to explore their different combinations.

The piece is pretty raw and unfinished, which fits in well with the title - it's about planning, it's about coming up with an idea, it's about seeing if it will fit and whether it's worth developing. I think by the end of the track there is definitely something there so I'm happy to take the theme forward into the drafting session.

Ian Hayhurst

This month's fabulous image is courtesy of Ian Hayhurst. You can see more of Ian's Flickr photos here

You can see the original uncut image here:

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Prewriting 1/5 - Music to Write to

Prewriting is the planning stage: "Who are you writing to?" "Why are you writing to them?" "What are you going to say?" "How are you going to say it?" - have an idea on how you'd answer these and things get a lot easier.

I'd spent several sessions looking for a theme and hadn't found anything that resonated; it's the most awful feeling when you can't come up with something new and everything just sounds derivative. I ended up using a technique that doesn't always work but paid off this time.

Ideas!

Music is a weird thing - for western pianists ultimately it's the result of how you combine 8 different notes which gives just over 40,000 different combinations. But it's not just that - the notes can be played in different registers, at different velocities, at different lengths and the number of possible outcomes is almost infinite. With so many options, where do you start?

As I was running short of ideas, I though I would build a theme around the idea of "IDEA." Yep - really! Seeing as there's no "I" on the piano, I just continued to count from A, B, C, D, E, F, G until I reached A again and that became H and the following B became I.

So - this theme is built around 4 notes: B, D, E, A - which spell out the word "Idea" and allow me to explore their different combinations.

The piece is pretty raw and unfinished, which fits in well with the title - it's about planning, it's about coming up with an idea, it's about seeing if it will fit and whether it's worth developing. I think by the end of the track there is definitely something there so I'm happy to take the theme forward into the drafting session.

Ian Hayhurst

This month's fabulous image is courtesy of Ian Hayhurst. You can see more of Ian's Flickr photos here

You can see the original uncut image here:

Music to make you more productive

Thousands of people use music2work2
Sign up and join them today

Sign Up Free

Jamie Oliver - Amazing Food For Thought

It’s just over 20 minutes but if you’re looking for a heartwarming, fill you up, get inspired and motivated to make change – then watch Jamie Oliver talk about Food at TED

There’s no denying the urgency of his message and the validity of his cause – but what strikes me about Jamie Oliver is how real and human he comes across.  Here’s a guy who worked hard to develop his talent and as a result was able to leverage his success into making a positive change in the world.  How many people actually make the choice to do that?

There’s a rant in me that wants to throw a light on the salaries and bonuses being generated by financial centers across the globe – but it’s not about the money – it’s about the people.  What the fuck are these human beings doing with all the cash?  Wouldn’t it be great if some 27 year old trader made 14 million in bonuses last year and gave half of that to a program like Jamie’s?

When I look at the end of the video and I see him pause as he catches the enormity of the gift he’s been given – I feel absolutely great to be human – just like him.  I want to stand up with everybody else in the audience and applaud. 

I want to send this video to everybody who made a 5 figure financial bonus last year and ask them “What are you doing to be part of the human race?”  “What are you doing to make things better for your children?”

Jamie’s website is doing a good job of pulling information together – you can sign Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Petition – hell you can even donate.  I don’t do many of these types of posts but this one absolutely hooked me – please pass it around – just click on the red share button on the video player and spread the word!