Hey Indiana,
Have you ever heard this quote before?
"Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."
I know it's a bit over-quoted, but the truths packed into that statement actually had a positive affect on my musical life years ago.
You see, for many years I had judged my musical capabilities as if I were a fish trying to climb a tree. I saw other musicians playing certain ways that didn't come naturally to me, and that made me feel inferior.
So for many years I swam against the current. I tried to play in ways that weren't natural to me so that I could sound more like someone else.
It wasn't until I started paying closer attention to some of my musical heroes that I realized my approach was all wrong. In fact, many of them had their own limitations, but instead of being limited by them, they used these to their advantage. They had discovered their musical superpowers.
I started to realize that I had my own musical superpowers, and I didn't necessarily need to have the same ones others had. That didn't mean I stopped working on things I needed to improve on, it just means I doubled down on what I was already good at.
So how do we discover our own musical superpowers so we can begin to better utilize and harness them for our advantage?
How to Discover Your Musical Superpowers:
Everyone has musical superpowers. It's just that sometimes they are in their infancy and need to be nurtured in order to grow. Here's how to find out what they are.
1. Follow the energy
On a recent coaching call with our Inner Circle members, the concept came up of doing things that give you energy, and using that as a sign of what to practice or focus on.
Pay close attention when something about what you play, or things you are interested in practicing give you energy and excitement. Underneath that enthusiasm and passion lies something important.
Your musical superpowers are often giving you energy and fulfillment in music, even if they haven't been matured yet. So use energy as a clue to find them.
| 2. Define what you love about your playing
Most often we spend time criticizing our own playing. We seem to gravitate to the negative and poke holes is what we are doing. We are more aware of the sounds we don't like than the sounds we do.
But our musical superpowers can be found in the things we love about our playing, therefore we need to spend equal if not more time focusing on those.
Record yourself regularly, and listen closely. Perhaps the things you love aren't perfect yet, but if you are paying attention you'll realize that you just need to focus on developing them more. The things you are already good at will be so much easier to improve than the things you are not.
3. Listen to feedback
If you're anything like me, when someone compliments your playing your initial reaction is to self-deprecate and dismiss the praise.
Instead, when someone tells you something they like about your music, hone in on that. If it had a positive affect on someone (especially if they are a stranger) then it's likely there is something important there.
4. Let go of conformity
It's hard to discover your musical superpowers when you are so focused on trying to sound like everyone else. For example, just because "everyone else" can play really fast lines, doesn't mean you need to. Instead, learn from everyone, but ultimately blaze your own trail. |
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