Music is a Continuous Stream of Emotions

A song can be anything. It can blend genres or focus on just one. It can make a big statement about life and the human condition, or it might just express a certain emotion. When you listen to an instrument, it can communicate an endless array of emotions or amplify one emotion. Subtly. Quietly. Or, angrily! LOUDLY! Through its own unique language and voice, each instrument can tell a story from beginning to end, and all its emotional cadences.

When an artist reflects on what is to come next, whether a new song or the next note, there is no puzzle to be solved. An artist simply has to dispense with self-doubt and anxious self-interpretation. After all, negativity ends up ruining the music and creative process. Focus is needed for good work, and the best condition to achieve focus is to have a mind completely, not partially, devoid of self-doubt.

Flow is what an artist needs, and an artist cannot tap deep into flow if every action, every decision and every movement is accompanied by interpretation. When in doubt about what concepts or themes to explore, an artist can simply start with emotion since it is the most fundamental fuel of all art.

When one cries, one usually doesn’t interpret why he or she is crying. It’s already apparent in the moment. Likewise, when a songwriter puts to verse a profound epiphany, the magic of that epiphany is already evident in the emotional excitement behind discovering it. Constant self-interpretation is the great inhibitor of authentic emotional expression in music and all art.

Every section of a song has some emotion fueling it even if a particular section might be monotonous, like a repetitive synth bass repeating one note. Even the most monotonous parts contain within them emotions. If a listener feels anything from listening to an instrument, then that monotonous section of a song indeed contains emotional content. Monotony can build up to even more exciting entries and transitions into another part of a song where the drums heighten and the singer pours out deeply felt emotions. A song is a continuous stream of emotions.

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