Music Being a Stimuli

                In my composition class I am taking this semester the class is based around the topic of creativity and making you think outside the norm; reason why my last blog was wrote because it’s this class that changed my perspective on the word creativity and makes me think in another way. To start the class daily our professor gives us a creative exercise to get our minds working (it is at 9:30 in the morning) that are actually pretty interesting. There is one exercise though so far that relates to me and how I view music.

                The exercise was listening to the music my professor put on and write down what we thought of during the piece. Before it came on I thought it was going to be something I was familiar with but when it came on, it was opera! I had to sit there and listen for a while because first opera isn’t my music of choice or anything I listen to but I couldn’t even understand it!! It came to me though as something that would be played in the background at an Italian restaurant which wasn’t out of the ordinary. After listening for a bit, I actually recognized this piece from a commercial for chocolate. When the song was over we all said what we thought of and I found it ironic how I wasn’t the only person who recognized the piece.  Listening to a piece that not really anyone enjoyed nor understood shows how producers of advertising or even movies use music to help sell or give away their product. I really think their thinking about it works because once we all were talking about it I did start to get a hunger for chocolate. Thinking further in depth, music does that with mostly everything; when I study I listen to classical music then right before the test I listen to it again and it helps me remember everything I studied. Music I believe controls a lot even with your emotions, for instance a song comes on that reminds you of a memory, your emotions may change thinking of that time. Even when you are in a certain mood you listen to music that goes with it; when I’m down or thinking a lot I listen to country or if I’m all excited about to go out I listen to more upbeat genres.  Society is in the same mindset as me, if you’re upset, you listen to sad music which makes it worse but if you change what kind of music like upbeat when you’re down then you won’t get so down. I believe it is music what truly moves you in every direction no matter if it’s your mood, emotion in a movie or if it’s to get your attention; music controls you.

Creativity

                Do you think for your own, outside the ordinary? Do you consider yourself “artsy”? Those two questions are what people think about when they think or hear the word creativity. Then the brick wall comes up if you personally don’t think you are an art person or one of those people that think of random, outrageous things. I personally was a person who thought like this and threw up that brick wall; I never could draw or write real well so I always had that thinking I’m not a creative person and closed off in that realm. When I at sit back though and think about all the aspects that creativity holds, I don’t think anyone can say they are not creative, in at least one of the many ways.

                Creativity in the broad picture is very cognitive but cognitive is not just being smart. You’re thinking is creative even if you don’t think you are smart; not one person thinks exactly how you do about everything. Your thought is what you perceive, which is your own personal way of thinking. Creativeness I believe comes mostly from having an open-minded personality, for instance, stand-up comedians, singers/rappers that rap off the top of their head, or even different forms of artists are very efficient at thinking off the top of their heads and I believe that is merely based on them being open-minded to speak what they think. All the examples I just gave are examples of original people, they have creative ideas and thinking. But when I say artists I’m not just saying the typical “paint on a canvas” artists; I’m saying: dancers, writers, musicians, they all have different forms or art. Dancers are creative with the type of dance they perform and with their feet, writers are creative in their stories or whatever is on their mind and how they put into words, and musicians are creative by how they perform there song or music piece. These instances do have an imaginative side which is mostly what creative is but its only one of the aspects. You may be the opposite of all the art forms and be a sports player but they are just as creative. Football players have to think of plays and how they react to certain instances, track runners think of how to keep pace, wrestlers have no play by play, they have to think on top of their head to be able to win. What if you are not any of these, you still are closed off by the word but what is in your wardrobe and what are you wearing now? You put that outfit together; you put on your makeup or picked out the jewelry that goes with the outfit.  Being creative isn’t just being inventive; it’s more along the lines of being you every day.

                What I’m trying to say throughout this whole thing, you are you; you are unique, no one else could be you. Creativity should not be closed off right away at the word art, think beyond the stereotypical label and that alone will show your creative side.