Creativity

[Cimarron]

This came up somewhere else on the forum, so I thought I'd focus on it.

Is there anybody else here who knows and admits (has come to terms with) lacking creativity and originality? From personal experience, I know I'm horrible at coming up with new ideas, but love picking apart other people's ideas. If you want an optimistic note, I think of it as being the gardener who trims the hedges, as opposed to the one planting them.

So is it just me?

[MEC]

Originally Posted by Cimarron

This came up somewhere else on the forum, so I thought I'd focus on it.

Is there anybody else here who knows and admits (has come to terms with) lacking creativity and originality? From personal experience, I know I'm horrible at coming up with new ideas, but love picking apart other people's ideas. If you want an optimistic note, I think of it as being the gardener who trims the hedges, as opposed to the one planting them.

So is it just me?

No I am not creative either when I was kid I would copy things that was as close to drawing that I got.I don't play a instrument or tell imaginative stories either.

[Bella]

I took art class in school but if wasn't for the theory side of it, I would've failed so badly. My art was horrendous - ...oh ...wait...you couldn't actually call it art.

[Cimarron]

When I was a kid I traced maps. I thought about becoming a mapmaker.

But this is difficult when it comes to music. I can understand the relationships between the notes and chords really well, so people think I'm a good musician. But I'm not a creative musician. When my friends ask me to pick up the instrument and just "make something up", I draw a blank. Because I'm a good player, they think I'm holding out on them, or being lazy or stubborn or something. But I'm not, it's that I can't think of anything out of the blue, so I usually end up putting together pieces of stuff I've heard before. It just doesn't feel "artistic", though.

I'm just trying to show an example of what I mean. Weird, though, that everyone agreed; I didn't think that would happen...

[Bella]

What do you play?

[Cimarron]

Well, I'm talking specifically about bass guitar, where my best friend plays guitar with me. When he asks me to figure out how to play a song on the radio, I get to work on it, and it's a fun project. Then we end up learning how to play it together.

But it also applies to trombone in the school jazz band, when I have to make improvised solos on the spot! I really just put together pieces of things I've already heard...at least, that's how it's planned out in my head, until I start playing.

[Bella]

Oh wow...I have every intention in the world of buying a violin, although I cannot read a single note of music. For real. I'm actually saving up for it.

[Cimarron]

Violin is cool, has a very nice sound. And usually plays the melody, so it's kind of the center-of-attention.

[Bella]

Oh, I didn't realize that.

[Cimarron]

"If you play in a group", I should have added. Wasn't trying to scare you. But then any instrument is going to be the center-of-attention when playing alone.

Anyway, the topic for this thread was kind of pessimistic. It could probably also be only loosely related to type, which is why I was just kind of curious to see whether, by coincidence, most people would agree with me. Weird results: so far we've all agreed.