Yanni Talks About The Creative Process

Wow, I saw this video by Yanni, and I was like blown away.  Sorry, for using cliche' phrases, but I'm just in awe. 

He explained in such detail how the creative process works for him.

Yanni was totally in his vulnerable state sharing which makes it even more special to me.

I love Yanni's music.  It has always been an inspiration to me because he just allows himself to create from his heart and from that deep space.

I love seeing these videos where he shows a side of himself that we don't normally get to see.

In the video he talked about when you're in the creative process, you can't observe it and if you are trying to observe it, you aren't in it.  (watch the video below)

I've found that the music just flowed from me when I was in the creative process.  Like a conversation is how I normally describe it.  We don't think about the conversation with a friend that we are having, we just talk to them.  For me, how I create is much the same way.

It is something that comes up from deep within me where it just spills out.  It just happens.  It just comes together.  If I try to force it (or in Yanni's words, observe it), it stops.  If I just surrender to it and let it happen, it shows up.

One of the things that I've never mastered and it may be in how my ability comes through, is whatever I create on the piano, I am never able to play again.  I wish I could, but if I try, it feels like one big blank space in me and I just stare at the piano.  So, all of my music has to be recorded at the time it is created or generally it is lost.

This is why I compare my creative pursuits on the piano to a conversation.  While you might try and paraphrase the conversation after it is over, you cannot repeat it.  I can't repeat it.  So, unless I'm recording, the music is lost.

I still remember the song, Meditation Music: Healing Angels, that I recorded some time ago.  I sat down at my keyboard just to mess around on it.  Sure, I felt this stuff that was bubbling up in me, almost like energy that needed to come out.  Yet, I didn't expect to be writing a song.

I sat down with my recording equipment running and put my fingers on the keyboard.  What came out of my hands at that minute surprised me.  Of course, in the moment I did not hear what I was playing.  I never do when I'm creating.  It isn't until after I'm done and listen to it, that I actually get to hear it.

Through that song, I felt so much warmth and energy and feeling and emotion.  I was crying hard.  I was swaying to what was going on.  I felt this empowerment come over me almost making it difficult to keep my hands on the keyboard.  When I got done, I had created the song, Meditation Music:  Healing Angels.

Most of the time, the songs I create are named for whatever thoughts are going through my mind at the time.  I jot them down and then find a title that brings them out so others can understand.  The songs are feelings and emotions and a conversation from a place I can't even describe.

Hearing Yanni talk about the Creative Process just helped me understand where I create from especially on my keyboard.  I have not recorded anything new for some time and I'm beginning to feel the urge to sit at my keyboard and do this again.

Often when I go through difficult periods of life, I'm not in a mood to sit at the keyboard.  Generally though, it is after I'm coming out of the difficult moment where I sit down and record.  I think until I've found my way through it, even if it is hard for me to see in that moment, that's when I can share it through the notes that I play.

Thank you Yanni for sharing this video.  You helped me understand myself a little more.

#Yanni

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

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I'm Picky About Music

This is one thing I am very picky about in life.  My ears hear music in a different way than most because I think I FEEL the music, more than I hear it.  I'm extremely picky about the music I listen to and it either hits me instantly or it gets discarded in my mind.

I was watching a show on TV the other night and I exclaimed "that is some awesome music".  Of course, it dawned on me that it was from a couple of decades ago where they actually did music with live instruments and not electronically created sounds of live instruments.  It was an aha moment for me.

There is a big difference and I know that in today's world, electronically generated music is the norm.  However, most of the time it doesn't feel right.  It doesn't move me like the stuff made with actual instruments.  I can feel the difference.

Instrumental music has so much depth to it and the sound crosses so many spectrums.  Electronically generated music is a sound, not necessarily a depth filled musical note.

I'm sure many will disagree with me because that is what everyone has become accustomed to in making music and listening to music.  Yet, I know that the music that really moves me is the one where live instruments harmonize together.

Bending Time And Music

I never really think much about this subject, but it is one that has always impacted my life.  Bending time and music gives so much depth to our every day experiences.  I don't believe time is any more consistent than most facts that we believe in.  I think there is a much more to this world than we often see, feel, experience, or know.

Today I saw two totally unrelated postings on social media about how many people felt off as to what day of the week it was.  It was like a collective mind thought of something we all take for granted.  What intrigued me more was how the two totally unrelated and unconnected event just caught my attention today.

Many may explain it one way or the other and sometimes it is often hard to say with certainty what is going on.  Yet, I don't think you can deny that something is shifting and changing in this world.  Sometimes those shifts and changes come with great struggle and difficulty because we are morphing from one plane into another.

Dealing With Pain

On the LiveStream event with Yanni Live today, Yanni said, "the best way is to take pain on head first." So very true! It does hurt, but it is the healing force.

Creativity And Judgment Are Opposites

Recently, I saw a video response on twitter to a question by an artist regarding the art of creativity. The question that was asked about the advice Yanni would have regarding the creation of their own music. Yanni's response can be seen in the following video but it was exactly correct in what I have found in creation of my own music.

The best music, writing, paintings I have done were when I was totally in the zone and not judging what I was doing. In those moments, I was not aware of the process, but just allowing it to come through and surrendering to it.

Judging can come in many forms of thoughts and questions running through your mind. From what key do I play next, to how does this sound, to what word should I write or color should I use to many others. There is a great book on the art of Mindful Creativity written by Ellen J. Langer. When we are critical or judgmental about our creative work, we are in a mindless state, not a mindful state. In those moments of judgment, we are not in the zone.

And judgment can come in very subtle ways that inhibit us from connecting and creative to the flow coming from us. We may often think it shows up through distinct ways but if we observe our thoughts and our questions in those creative moments, we will learn more about ourselves and help our self go deeper into creativity.

It is a frame of mind and the more we practice allowing our self to surrender into this space, the more we can connect to our creativity. It is not always easy to do this with the demands upon our day but creativity also gives us a greater fulfillment in life. So take a moment and listen to the following video response by Yanni because it is very true. Check out the link below to Ellen Langer's book because even though it has an emphasis on painting, it applies to all who want to be more mindful not only in their creativity but in their life.






Further Reading
1) Music by Yanni
2) Book by Yanni - Yanni In Words
3) On Becoming An Artist (Mindful Creativity) by Ellen J. Langer





Blog Post & Images (c) 3/15/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com

RELAXATION To Yanni

R E L A X A T I O N

I am laying here trying to find a sense of relaxation. Listening to the CD by Yanni, Live At the Acropolis, I felt as if I was miles above the earth. There were vast mountains below me with a rippling, flowing stream leading down to a quiet, peaceful lake on the left. To my right, was the sun set in a gorgeous horizon filled with beauty and splendor. In front of me rising high into the sky, were the blackest, meanest and most horrifying storm clouds you have ever seen. As the music started with its fast tempo, I could see myself flying all around over the earth. Not a thing was holding me down and at that moment in time, I had risen above life and the problems it so freely gave me. As the music slowed to an eerie tempo, I found myself scared and anxious. Waiting and watching; looking out for someone that may bring harm to me. I was cautious and frightened, not sure where to hide but knowing I was not ready to go back down to the earth and face the pain. As the music became a slow, peaceful pace, I could see two large hands coming down from the heavens. These two hands scooped me up with a warm gentle touch that made me feel so safe and secure. As the music carried on, I rested in the warm safety of these hands.

(c) Don Shetterly 6/2/98