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Getting the mind "right"

1K views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  SchlockRod 
#1 ·
I have a day job, and from time to time, I have to go straight after work and play. My job requires a lot of non-creative thinking, and by the time I'm done for the day, it's pretty wrecked. I often find that I have trouble switching off that side of my brain, and turning on the side I use to create. Sometimes it can take me 30 minutes or so of playing to really feel "right". Anyone else have similar issues? A lot of these gigs, I don't have 30 minutes to warmup somewhere, I might have 5-10 minutes to go off in another room and get the horn warm, etc. Any tips to get focused on creating in a short amount of time would be appreciated.
 
#2 ·
What do you mean by 'non-creative' thinking? Maybe the problem is the way you've bifurcated the issue. Some work, indeed, involves what could be called non-creative thinking. I've had jobs like that when I was young, and I generally quit them and found raw manual labor that was eminently preferable. But are you just counting/sorting widgets? If you're doing any thinking at all, is there really such a thing as non-creative thinking? Doesn't the word 'thinking' itself inherently mean some level of real, creative mental effort?

If I were having this problem, I'd first try to re-orient my view regarding the kind of day work I'm doing. If there is real thinking going on, no matter how mundane, I'd revise the way I colored it, and start seeing it as creative in its own right. That might make the transition to the stage smoother.
 
#4 ·
What do you mean by 'non-creative' thinking? Maybe the problem is the way you've bifurcated the issue. Some work, indeed, involves what could be called non-creative thinking. I've had jobs like that when I was young, and I generally quit them and found raw manual labor that was eminently preferable. But are you just counting/sorting widgets? If you're doing any thinking at all, is there really such a thing as non-creative thinking? Doesn't the word 'thinking' itself inherently mean some level of real, creative mental effort?

If I were having this problem, I'd first try to re-orient my view regarding the kind of day work I'm doing. If there is real thinking going on, no matter how mundane, I'd revise the way I colored it, and start seeing it as creative in its own right. That might make the transition to the stage smoother.
Ok it's not creative in the same way (for me) that musical improvisation is. And when I'm done for the day I'm exhausted mentally. It is creative, in its own way, but not in any way related to how I create musically.
 
#3 ·
I'd say that specific music to listen to while driving to the gig can be a useful tool to prep your brain before you can prep your horn/fingers/face.

And it depends on what state of mind you play in. Do you need to rev up or calm down? If you need to rev up, I would say some self-hype in the car e.g. talking out loud, reciting something (poem, mantra, soliloquy, sing along, etc.). If you need to calm the mind, controlled breathing, meditation, etc.

Either way, I think specific music can be of use. We are musicians after all. For me, it's music (tailored to the gig) and singing slong (with or without words). Gets the musical juices flowing so to speak.
 
#7 ·
Well let's see, Buddy. Being in the same boat it's hard to answer this without some degree of just being philosophical about it... "Be happy you have a creative thing going on and you're not going from drudgery at work to a couch and a TV..." kind of thing.
That said, what's been said here about listening to get in the groove is true. I am now under a set of noise-cancelling headphones most of the day at work. I get radio from streema.com or I listen to the music on my iPad. In the car, I find myself singing more and more... There is an oldies station here... pop music of the '60s is not normally my go-to choice for "creative or engaged listening"... the term "easy listening" doesn't even apply to a lot of this stuff; I often find myself saying "Why I'm be listening to this ***?". But here we're not listening. We're singing along, and we can get as silly (creative), or funny (creative), or serious (creative) as we want to, which can't be said of trying to sing along with Sarah Vaughan or Sinatra (you're just going to sound bad no matter what with them).
So I'll sing along with these old pop/rock/R&B hits the way Satchmo would... or try to sound like an operatic tenor (one part creative voice development, one part creative comic relief)... or sing like a girl...
One of my favorite things to do is when an Elvis tune or an old doo-*** thing or say a Temptations tune is on, I do the bass voice part ("buh-buh-buh-boowop"). Trying to sing like Elvis himself is good, too. If you end up laughing, even better, because that helps you get in the groove too. A big part of getting in the groove is relaxing.
Another thing you might do is to play the mouthpiece/reed alone (or flute head joint) on the way to the gig. Not much "creative" potential there, but it is good practice and will help get your chops ready to blow. You can even play melodies along with those oldies records on your mouthpiece/reed!
Short of uncorking a bottle on the way to the gig (or before leaving work)... These are what I'm coming up with.
All the best to you in your creative endeavors!
 
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