Moving from Mood to Music

So. You're moody. That's strange. And you call yourself a musician.  What kind of a mood is it? A songwriting mood? Well, most of them are. 

What to do?  Play something. Sing something. Write something. Listen to something. Any of the above.  All of the above. Try to impart a little "forward motion" to your mood by engaging your own active, personal musicality.

Momentum applies, in particular, to boats and to songwriters. The more you get something moving, the easier it gets to do something worthwhile.

Sometimes a mood is just a mood.  But sometimes ... it's an opportunity.  It's the voice of your muse, prompting you to "Rise up out of Egypt (or the couch) and go -- NOW."  (Or translated into songwriting terms: grab a pad, and a pen, and a guitar, and GIT!!! )  

You will learn with time and experience when and how to be attentive to those inner creative promptings. When and how to find some peace and quiet so you can cultivate the opportunity to listen to the voices in your imagination. But you can plug into another dimension, the world of possibilities, in which stories are lurking like fossils buried in a rock, and there's you, with a hammer and chisel. Or pen and paper.

You might forget the pen, or the paper, or the instrument.  But the one thing you -- the one vital, irreplaceable thing -- that you always have with you is ... YOU.  You are the centre of your music.  Go for a walk. Sing to yourself. Talk to yourself. (That's normal, for musicians.) Pray, even. But if you're in a mood, "git on up, get outta Egypt" (unless you happen to be, you know, in Egypt), and listen to your muse.  

See what you find. 

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