the pottery lesson that could transform your music

My dear tortured composer, 

I pray that the muses have been speaking to you. 

Filling your canvas with melodies that inspire and uplift. 

Today, I wanted to share two of the most popular creative tales I know with you.

Think of them as the "greatest hits" of artistic wisdom, if you will.

In my early days as a composer, when creativity seemed elusive but I KNEW I had to write music…

These stories provided me with guidance and comfort.

Now, I hope they can do the same for you.

What Pottery Can Teach Composers

One of my favorite books on creativity is “Art and Fear” by David Bayles.

There’s a story in this book that can help you finish more music…

And also give you a “mindset shift” that could make composing much easier for you. 

In the story, there’s a professor teaching a pottery class. 

He decided to run an interesting experiment. 

He divided the class into two groups. 

One group would be graded solely on the quality of the best pot they produce. 

The other would be graded on the quantity of pots they produce. 

So if they produced 100, they’d get an A, 90 they’d get a B, 80 a C…

And so on. 

The two groups got to work. 

The quality group spent loads of times with their heads in the books. 

They studied pottery theory and the right way to go about making pots. 

The quantity group just started making pots as quickly as possible. It didn’t matter if they were good or not. 

And by the end of the semester, something interesting happened. 

The best quality pots all came from the quantity group. 

The group that decided to move and just start creating. 

Now, they also produced the worst pots of the bunch. 

They made a lot of really terrible pots. 

But those terrible pots gave them the experience they needed to produce the higher quality. 

And I think composers can take a lot of lessons from this. 

By focusing on making as much as possible, you can give yourself the opportunity to get in a lot of experience. 

By allowing yourself to make stuff even if it isn’t great, you get experience in a lot of different musical situations. 

Those pieces that aren’t the best end up teaching you something about composing. 

Which can then be used in later compositions. 

And then, when you have a really great idea, you end up having the skills needed to produce something of high quality. 

I once had a student who had a list of books he was going to read before he ever started writing. 

He wanted to “know everything” before starting. 

He hadn’t finished anything at that point and I don’t think he has to this day.

I’m not saying reading books on theory or composing is bad…

But all that reading and study doesn’t give you the skill of actually being creative. 

You can have all the knowledge in the world, but that won’t help you when you’re in the middle of a project. 

Making decisions, moving forward in the face of uncertainty, connecting two contrasting ideas…

There’s some things ya’ just can’t learn from a book, kid. 

You can only get it from rolling up your sleeves and getting a little bloody.

“Studying” and “learning” can often be the biggest forms of procrastination.

So if you’ve had your head in the books…

Or you’ve been drowning in Youtube tutorials…

It may be time to finally finish something and put it out there. 

And if you struggle to finish anything…

Here’s a Lifeline For You

Maybe you’ve been thinking about releasing, but haven’t gotten around to it. 

Well my dear tortured composer you’re in luck. 

One of the best ways to finish music is to set an arbitrary deadline with a random person from the Internet! 

I’ve been doing it for years and it works.

And if you want to be daring…

BOLD

And live life on the edge…

Reply back with your deadline and say “publish it”

And I’ll share your deadline in the PS of the next newsletter. So a bunch of random composers from the Internet will know. 

Sound scary!

It is. It never won’t be. 

But so many composers are living “in the closet.”

Not a single person knows they make music. 

And if anyone does know, they haven’t shared it. 

If that’s you, hit “reply” and let me know. 

Grab this lifeline. 

It might feel terrifying. 

EVERY step will feel terrifying. 

As soon as something feels terrifying, that’s probably a good idea you should do it. 

It’s like a siren saying “This is where you need to grow!”

And the only way to get over it…

Is to do the thing you’re afraid of. 

 “I threw down my enemy and smote his ruin upon the mountainside.”

-Gandalf

Some Inspiration if You Feel Behind

This video is one of all time greatest hits for anyone doing creative work. 

It’s only 2 minutes, and its an essential idea you need to understand. 

I just had to share this in case you hadn’t seen it. 

Click here to watch now

That’s it for this week. 

The world waits for your music…

Luke

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