Process

This semester I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing my career and musical trajectories shift big time. And though it’s been stressful, I’m really glad to be where I am.

I think my musical self has always wanted to write her own music. I just never knew where to start, and the further I dove into the world of classical piano, the further I removed myself from the world of composition.

But things are changing!

My biggest obstacle has been myself—the critical voice in my head that kills my ideas before they even have the chance to manifest themselves. An exercise I’ve been trying is to record multiple 1-minute improvs every day. Sometimes I play free, other times I use the confines of a tune or a certain chord progression or scale… And it’s been a difficult, but musically liberating process.

Some days are harder than others. Some days I can’t muster up the courage to play anything. But I DO have good days! And those days are really exciting and give me the motivation I need to keep going despite my critical voice telling me none of my ideas are “good enough.”

Every day I have to remind myself that creating music is a form of expression, and there is no right or wrong when it comes to expressing yourself. So at the end of each week, I spend a good hour or two listening to all the recordings I collected of myself throughout the week, from solo improvs to jams, and I make two lists.

1. Things I liked

2. Things I wish I heard

And I move forward into the next week having affirmed myself and having some tangible goals in mind for my playing.

It’s been far too easy for me to focus on myself and my hardships this semester, but thankfully I have people in my life to remind me that we share music for OTHERS, not just ourselves.

Creating creatively—now and forever,

- Maggie