Last night, I got the strange urge to play the keyboard. Although my posts make me sound like it’s something I do all the time or it’s something that I’m constantly re-inspiring myself to do, the truth is, I don’t play all that much.
So, when I sat down, I kind of bopped around wondering what I should play and if there was anything I could still remember. Then it started coming back to me again. And I played and I kept on playing. As would be expected, my stamina wasn’t all that great and my accuracy on the notes was a little faulty, but for the most part, my hands went where they should have.
Today, I played a little more. I guess my hands got a little sore from the workout last night because I couldn’t play as much. But while I was playing, I did my little daydreaming about being a rock star (or some kind of star). I thought about how my technique was crap and how I may get criticism for how “poorly” I play.
But then the realization dawned on me that some of the most innovative players were not formally trained and had a style of playing that was unconventional. Why should I be any different. In fact, I might say that it would require a personal technique in order to play in an unheard fashion. And it would make it harder for someone to imitate you. You would have your unique sound because it’s done with a playing style only you know.
And that naturally made me think outside the world of music at how having your own style for everything is important. It’s not good to be exactly like the crowd, but you do need to have some “accessibility.” I’ve heard a lot of music that doesn’t sit right with me and I’ve seen a lot of people that just don’t sit right with me as well. Maybe people should strive to be unique and accessible. Although lately, I think that some people are taking the individualism stuff a little too far.
And, as an off-topic aside, playing keyboards yesterday and today made a significant change in my typing: faster and more accurate. I had been lamenting lately how bad my typing was becoming because I could barely type a sentence without having a typo. I’d be constantly stopping and correcting things and it was slowing me down drastically. I think I may have just found a solution for this. That’s a happy discovery.
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