You might recall that music is made up of sounds and silence. Silence is a very useful thing – grabbing attention of the listener, helping to focus on the upcoming phrase or giving the listener time to reflect on the phrase that has just recently past.

Unfortunately, in our daily lives we have precious little silence – we sing in the shower, turn on the television when we awake, get in the car and put on the radio, and walk around with our phone or music player firmly ensconced in our ears. One might think we are afraid of silence – we do go to great lengths to avoid it.

But silence is more important than being space in our music – it provides a consistent background against which to think. It gives your brain a chance to catch its metaphorical breath. And then, you can create. Whether you’re composing, arranging, interpreting or conjoining music in new ways, you need that space to create – you need that silence.

Of course, finding silence can be a challenge. Even if you have decided to create a quiet place in your world, the others in that world may make it difficult to get there. In addition, even if you get the world around you quiet, it may be difficult to get the world within you quiet. But you do need that quiet – in the quiet you can generate creative new things, or just be, it’s your choice.

How do you find silence in which to be creative?  Let me know – and I’ll share some of my paths with you soon.
Let the silence sometimes be your choice – and enjoy the silence.