The thing about creative inspiration is that you can’t conjure it at will.
It pops up when you least expect it. Rather than tackling lack of inspiration head on, simply wait and something will appear, often right in front of you.
Last week, I had all but given up on coming up with an idea for my weekly blog post. I stopped thinking about it and got on with other things. At some point, I made a drink and sat down to read the newspaper. The first article I read had the phrase “Art is therapeutic, but it isn’t therapy” in it … and there was the germ of last week’s post: Singing together is therapeutic, but it’s not therapy.
Another day, not thinking about anything in particular, I once again sat down to read. This time, I came across an extract from Michael Rosen’s book “Good days: An A-Z of hope and happiness”.
Four of the topics jumped out at me, and without planning to, I found myself applying the ideas to choirs and singing.
1. Always experiment
Rather obvious, but it’s something we can easily forget as we slip into habits. This could range from different seating positions for singers in a choir to trying a different voice part for an individual singer. Keep experimenting and you will keep growing and developing.
2. To have good days, you need good nights
Yes, we all need a good night’s sleep to perform at our best. But also, we need to rest from time to time. It’s easy – especially if a big concert is coming up – to lose sight of the fact that we all need a break from time to time. Sometimes the best time to rest and step away from it all is when you’re super busy and feel you can’t possibly take time off.
3. Stay united
“Singers, united, will never be defeated!” Singing together is all about being united as a whole. You might feel that your small contribution doesn’t count, but if every singer thought that, there would be no choir! As Rosen points out, we see ourselves as part of others, and others as part of us (in a choir). That inevitably leads to a union of singers, greater than the sum of its parts.
4. Listen – really listen – to music
As singers, we listen to music all the time. Because of that, we might not choose to take time to simply sit down and listen – really listen – to a piece of music. Having a wide-ranging musical taste will feed into our singing in all sorts of ways. And by listening really closely and paying our full attention, we will deepen our understanding of musical structure and generally how music works. We will begin to feel rhythms without having to count them. We will begin to anticipate chord changes. We will become finely tuned to small changes in dynamics. We will notice differences between different recordings of the same piece of music. This will all feed back into our understanding of the songs we’re learning. Sometimes, when we’re learning a new piece, we forget to really listen and lose sight of the overall piece of music.
These kinds of inspiration can come at any time, not just by reading. It could be listening to the radio or a podcast, overhearing a conversation, watching TV, anything really. My ideas often pop up when I’m having a shower!
They are all gifts; you just have to be patient, and they will arrive.
You might also like:
How a choir is like an orange – and other useful comparisons
What to do when you run out of ideas
Chris Rowbury
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