Mozart Doesn’t Fuel my Writing,
Instead, This Does:
There’s a camp that believes children should listen to the music of Mozart to sharpen their mental chops.
I haven’t been a child for about four decades, but I also use a different style of music as motivation and to fuel my creativity:
Jazz
What made this decision?
Improvisation
One thing you notice about many Jazz songs: the basic melody is the same, but many of the other notes are a bit different from performer to performer, and often in every performance.
As an example: Thelonius Monk created a standard song in 1943 named Round Midnight. I’ve heard it performed by Miles Davis, Branford Marsalis, George Benson, and others. Further, Monk created it on piano, and I’ve heard it on saxophone, french horn, guitar, and drum. Same song, different portrayals.
What this means to writing: we always strive to develop our unique voice. Listening to others that do (even in music) is inspiring.
Also: we try to come up with words different from others. This can also inspire.
It can also inspire you to come up with new ways to ultimately say the same thing. We always try to avoid cliches in our writing. Saying the same thing a different way, jazz musicians do it.
Different note schemes
Some Jazz music like the song linked above use very different chord schemes. Even listening to then stretches your brain.
That’s perfect for fiction writing.
Those are my reasons for listening to Jazz instead of Mozart.
Thanks for reading Writers Guild — A Smedian publication
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