First, a confession - I'm an inveterate procrastinator.
I have just enough self-discipline to avoid procrastinating in all instances, but I suspect my 'natural state' is to sit around contemplating everything until it's time to go to bed. A natural man of action, I am not.
Luckily for me, the world forces me to act otherwise most of the time, and I'm grateful for it. My natural state is not necessarily what I want or need. You're talking to a man who went 27 years between dental appointments, but who happens to be blessed with good (if somewhat mis-arranged) teeth. I know of what I speak.
I'm sure there's an evolutionary root to procrastination. A million years ago, perhaps the ancestors of ours who waited to cross the meadows were the ones who fared better than those who hurried across unhesitatingly and were promptly eaten by the sabre-tooth sloths. That's my theory, anyway.
A curious bi-product of being a procrastinator is being a less-productive songwriter. Only over the last couple of years have I grown thorough in writing down any decent musical idea that occurs to me, when it occurs. There was a time when I would let good (at least, to my ear) melodies go sailing past my imagination, and I'd simply think, 'ah, there goes another melody. Easy come, easy go. Perhaps I'll write it down when I'm feeling more motivated.'
You can imagine how well that system worked! My memory rivals my seize-the-day-drive for reliability.
Last weekend was a very clear illustration to me of the importance of immediate action. I was pondering how to reach someone with whom all other methods of communication had failed. In desperation, I even considered reaching this person with music. 'If I were to write this person a song, I wonder what it would sound like...' A melody and a guitar fingerpick texture played in my mind, and I mildly contemplated the music floating past my imagination...then it hit me: 'holy crap! That's a song!' It felt like it fell in my lap, and I needed to sketch it quickly before it flew away on me. The lyrics came as quickly and easily, mostly because I did almost no self-censoring. I figured, if that's what the moment gave me, that's what I'll go with'. Within 24 hours, I had the thing completed and recorded. In retrospect, it may be a bit sappy, but at least it's sappy-sincere instead of sappy-slick.
Since then, I've started to act like a patient but determined fisherman with my own imagination, and I've been very happy with the results...and letting the idea play out instead of trying to force them onto the page is not only far less of a chore - it's downright exhilarating!
Years ago, I went to a middle-school teacher's convention, and one of the inspirational speakers (I'll call him Mr. A, because I have sadly forgotten his name) mentioned that quite often in the classroom or the boardroom, when someone is asked a question, their reply is usually a shy and cautions 'er...I don't know'. Mr. A's response: 'But if you DID know, what would you say?' Believe it or not, this approach produces amazing results - and it works for songwriting too. 'If I had already written this piece for this particular mood or purpose, what would it sound like?' Miraculous results. Go figure....but not right away, of course. Take your time. You have all day...
I have just enough self-discipline to avoid procrastinating in all instances, but I suspect my 'natural state' is to sit around contemplating everything until it's time to go to bed. A natural man of action, I am not.
Luckily for me, the world forces me to act otherwise most of the time, and I'm grateful for it. My natural state is not necessarily what I want or need. You're talking to a man who went 27 years between dental appointments, but who happens to be blessed with good (if somewhat mis-arranged) teeth. I know of what I speak.
I'm sure there's an evolutionary root to procrastination. A million years ago, perhaps the ancestors of ours who waited to cross the meadows were the ones who fared better than those who hurried across unhesitatingly and were promptly eaten by the sabre-tooth sloths. That's my theory, anyway.
A curious bi-product of being a procrastinator is being a less-productive songwriter. Only over the last couple of years have I grown thorough in writing down any decent musical idea that occurs to me, when it occurs. There was a time when I would let good (at least, to my ear) melodies go sailing past my imagination, and I'd simply think, 'ah, there goes another melody. Easy come, easy go. Perhaps I'll write it down when I'm feeling more motivated.'
You can imagine how well that system worked! My memory rivals my seize-the-day-drive for reliability.
Last weekend was a very clear illustration to me of the importance of immediate action. I was pondering how to reach someone with whom all other methods of communication had failed. In desperation, I even considered reaching this person with music. 'If I were to write this person a song, I wonder what it would sound like...' A melody and a guitar fingerpick texture played in my mind, and I mildly contemplated the music floating past my imagination...then it hit me: 'holy crap! That's a song!' It felt like it fell in my lap, and I needed to sketch it quickly before it flew away on me. The lyrics came as quickly and easily, mostly because I did almost no self-censoring. I figured, if that's what the moment gave me, that's what I'll go with'. Within 24 hours, I had the thing completed and recorded. In retrospect, it may be a bit sappy, but at least it's sappy-sincere instead of sappy-slick.
Since then, I've started to act like a patient but determined fisherman with my own imagination, and I've been very happy with the results...and letting the idea play out instead of trying to force them onto the page is not only far less of a chore - it's downright exhilarating!
Years ago, I went to a middle-school teacher's convention, and one of the inspirational speakers (I'll call him Mr. A, because I have sadly forgotten his name) mentioned that quite often in the classroom or the boardroom, when someone is asked a question, their reply is usually a shy and cautions 'er...I don't know'. Mr. A's response: 'But if you DID know, what would you say?' Believe it or not, this approach produces amazing results - and it works for songwriting too. 'If I had already written this piece for this particular mood or purpose, what would it sound like?' Miraculous results. Go figure....but not right away, of course. Take your time. You have all day...