This seems similar to the thing in Why Artists Study Anatomy and Drawing Less Wrong, that in order to produce art that accurately reproduces an aspect of reality, you have to actually learn to pay attention to reality. And by learning to produce art, you start noticing all the ways in which your brain usually filters out reality.
I think this generalizes. E.g. to write good dialogue you need to pay attention to how people actually talk and what makes for an interesting conversation; to learn to dance you need to start paying attention to your body, etc.
I think in music you quickly learn to hear and play the right notes, and then it’s just never a problem anymore. The real difficulty is having something to say. In writing and visual arts I think it’s also like that: you learn a basic level of skill, and then it’s all about what you say.
Yeah, that training took some time, but it worked. I can now write melodies and chords from imagination pretty easily. Have had this skill for awhile now. It’s very useful, though of course not a golden ticket.
My current challenge in music is just coming up with interesting stuff, I think this challenge isn’t gonna run out anytime soon.
This seems similar to the thing in Why Artists Study Anatomy and Drawing Less Wrong, that in order to produce art that accurately reproduces an aspect of reality, you have to actually learn to pay attention to reality. And by learning to produce art, you start noticing all the ways in which your brain usually filters out reality.
I think this generalizes. E.g. to write good dialogue you need to pay attention to how people actually talk and what makes for an interesting conversation; to learn to dance you need to start paying attention to your body, etc.
I think in music you quickly learn to hear and play the right notes, and then it’s just never a problem anymore. The real difficulty is having something to say. In writing and visual arts I think it’s also like that: you learn a basic level of skill, and then it’s all about what you say.
How did training aural imagination go for you, 15 years later?
Yeah, that training took some time, but it worked. I can now write melodies and chords from imagination pretty easily. Have had this skill for awhile now. It’s very useful, though of course not a golden ticket.
My current challenge in music is just coming up with interesting stuff, I think this challenge isn’t gonna run out anytime soon.