Six Ways to Unleash Your Musical Potential
ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Young Composer encourages all young singer-songwriters, eclectic electric composers, genre-spanning songsmiths, and creative melody-makers to share their sound!
We’ve asked some amazing composers, producers and songwriters to share their ways in unleashing their musical potential:
1. "Collaborate with lots of different people"
- Nina Nesbitt (singer & songwriter)
"My advice would be to write as many songs as you can and collaborate with lots of different people. It’s a good way to find out your strengths and weaknesses and to find out what kind of music you like to make. I also think telling your story and writing from an honest place helps a lot."
2. "If you can give good input then you will reap the reward in the output.β
- Jamie Cullum (singer, songwriter & radio presenter)
“Listen, read and learn from great things to help creativity and inspire input. If you can give good input then you will reap the reward in the output.”
3. "Try to understand what you like and donβt like about each piece"
- Segun Akinola (composer for television's Doctor Who)
"My top tip for anyone wanting to make their own music is to listen to as many different styles of music as possible from all over the world, then try to understand what you like and don’t like about each piece. Do you like all of the instruments and how they combine to create the music? Do you like the structure? If there’s a melody, do you like it? If there’s a groove or drum beat, do you like the feel of it? By understanding what you do and don’t like about certain pieces of music, you’ll learn how to write music that’s unique to your own tastes."
4. "It is your right to make music any way you want"
- Shiva Feshareki (composer, turntable artist & 2004 competition winner)
"For me, creativity has always been about having fun, being playful and curious to new experiences. In the moment of music creation, you can be yourself, and that can mean anything, be it one thing, or another entirely: You can embrace the contradictions and even nonsense, if it means something to you. It is your right to make music any way you want: You can overcome the pressures around you. This is your moment to connect, through the universal frequencies of sound."
5. "Engage with many different art forms and styles of music"
- Electra Perivolaris (composer, ambassador, 2014 highly commended)
"My advice is to engage with many different art forms and styles of music. I often find powerful musical inspiration in visual art, dance, and the written word, as well as in distinctive musical styles from around the world. Through connecting with a wide range of art forms you can discover the work which resonates with you the most, developing your own tastes and an individual creative voice. I think drawing on contrasting influences helps to infuse your music with more energy and allows it to connect with diverse groups of people."
6. "The infectious energy and creative atmosphere of a live concert always inspires me to write"
- Sarah Jenkins (ambassador & 2017 competition winner)
"I believe that a good way to unleash musical potential is to watch/listen to as many different concerts as possible and to explore a really wide range of music. The infectious energy and creative atmosphere of a live concert always inspires me to write and explore. If we challenge ourselves to experience as many genres as possible, then we discover the music that really inspires us and affects us emotionally. Taking on board lots of influences helps us to find our own individual voices as composers - then the most important thing is to trust your instincts and stay true to yourself."
