Seeing the world through music – Creativity Exercise #2

Good morning to all of you creative, curious and delightful souls across the world.

I love life!

Remember that list of music I created as part of exercise #1? I put some of those songs on my cell phone yesterday and left it on my nightstand.

This morning as the sun rose I fumbled for the phone and pressed play. I lay there listening to one song after another. What a great way to wake up.

Did you miss that one? Here is a link to Exercise #1

My doggie Munchkin snuggled with me as the music played.

I would like to say I got up and did chores so you will admire how efficient I am.

Honestly? The truth is I snuggled with my doggie and then I got up and looked at my list of Creative Exercises.

The day was too beautiful to clean house. I wanted to start my day with being creative.

I pulled out my list of 50 Creative exercises and scanned them. The exercises I had collected can be done in any order, but it seemed perfect to choose one to do with music.

This is the exercise I chose today:
CREATIVE EXERCISE #2 Seeing the world through music

Today make music a part of all that you do for a specific period of time. (I chose to do it for four hours though you might do it for a shorter or longer period of time.)

At first just sit and enjoy the music, listening to the melodies and the instruments. Feel how your body responds to the music as it rises and falls, grows softer or louder.

Begin moving your feet or your arms to the rhythm of the music and then your whole body.

You don’t need to do it for long. The goal is to allow the music to become a part of you.

Keep playing the music as you experiment with one or more musical activities.
You could:
1. Dance to the music with wild abandon or gentle steps.

2. Sweep the floor with your broom as a dance partner, dipping and swaying as you sweep.

3. Splash paint on a canvas to the rhythm of a song, letting the music suggest colors. (I painted several pictures, like the one above, using scrunched up paper towels to dab the paint instead of using a brush.)

4. Create your own words for an instrumental song you are playing.

5. Use nonsense words to sing along with a tune. (I sang quite loudly “Boom boom duh da boom. Ting ting ta rah zoom. Yaddah, yaddah, la la leh” )

6. Find and play songs that match the kind of weather you see outside. Alternately play songs that are the opposite of your weather. (I played “On the sunny side of the street.”)

7. Go outside and observe your world slowly and fully. Listen to the sounds you hear. Maybe you hear the wind in the trees or a car honking. Hear the sounds as music.

8. Imagine that the sounds around you are a musical score being played on a famous concert stage. Imagine you are a conductor encouraging the trees or the car or the wind to play their wonderful melody.

9. Create a short video using photos you have taken. Add a favorite song. Enjoy how the photos and the music make you feel.

I HAD FUN

The trees, the water and the wind make their own melody.

My musical day was such fun. I danced, painted pictures, and even cleaned house to music.

Did you know that it is a hoot to scrub cupboard doors to the sound of “A Song I’d like to Sing” By Rita Coolidge and Kris Kristofferson? Hear the song . Smile

The best part of the day was making a short music video using photos of places I had visited. I spent two hours going through photos, remembering wonderful trips and moments of joy.

I thought about the sounds I heard in those places like the hush of snow falling and the echos in a canyon.

I chose one of my favorite songs, ” A Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong to go with the video.