When facing a lack of ideas/inspiration, I usually just play the piano. Sooner or later, something happens and an idea unfolds. While playing it, I already think about the orchestration.

I've only watched 45 seconds so far and I'm commenting already :) Discovered this channel about two weeks ago, and I absolutely LOVE these videos. Hugely entertaining and informative too. Particular favourites are writing music in silly places, but they're all superb. I've recently purchased a couple of ThinkSpace courses; can't wait to get started. More videos on how to play the piano would be excellent!

I had the most interesting experience this year: this year, for obvious reasons, has been one of the most stressful years since 2016. I have been dealing with bad insomnia and anxiety, especially towards the beginning of the pandemic (in the U.S.) back in March. I would wake up and feel a sense of dread every morning. But... April to July quickly became the most productive series of months I have had in literal years. In that span, I bought and learned how to use Cubase (I had been using FL Studio), I began learning how to read sheet music, I composed fifteen pieces of music, learned Music Theory (via ThinkSpace), took piano lessons, started learning the Ukulele, and every day would start with my cuppa while watching Guy's videos, Rick Beato's videos, Christian's videos, and Adam Neely's videos. It was wild. But amazing. I'm assuming that my brain was trying to find ways to keep me distracted from my fear.

Most easily "found" there. Leonard Cohen: "If I knew where the good songs came from, I'd go back there more often."

Simply from emotions. I just realized that the other day. I realized that I am way more productive when I'm sad etc.

That was an AMAZING, well documented vid!

I’m exactly what you keep talking about. I can’t live with repeating sounds, chords or ideas. Glad I’m not the only one!

I have to say that I really like and enjoy it when you are doing those things you consider less straight forward. Well, I can only speak for myself, but I really find your videos like the one here to be a great addition to your regular course material (text and video, that is). While I wouldn’t call it accompanying, it feels like that extra bit of, well, inspiration and motivation, helping me to return to the whole thing, keep on working even with (at least felt) only minor progress … but progress anyway. Thank you for those ideas, thank you for your explanations!

A few centuries ago when I was in college, my English teacher wanted us to write a story. English as my second language did not contain the vocabulary needed to translate my mother tongue’s imagination into a coherent sequence of events. So he said that writer’s block is easier to overcome than you think. He then asked us to (his words) “whip out a paper and grasp a pen. Then, I want you for five continuous minutes to attack this paper with your pens. Never stop. Never think. Don’t worry about grammar. Allow the pen to guide itself across the page. None sense is perfect.” ......He then told us to place this page in our drawers and forget about it for a couple of days to marinate. When he told us to look at it, it was hilarious but it wasn’t a waste of time, as it contained the sparks to ignite excellent stories from all the students and we all got A’s.

Thanks so much for all the inspiration Guy. Can't tell you how much I look forward to your videos. I seem to get a lot of ideas for tunes from conversations - an overheard phrase sticks in my head and sort of turns itself into a melody.

Wonderful watch, Guy. Thanks for this; every creative who’s feeling disheartened, especially during the current economic situation should watch this. I myself just spent a whole weekend working on something and then by Sunday night realised it was a load of codswallop so much I wanted to throw in the towel on composing completely. After a good sleep, I discovered that the reason why it wasn’t vastly different to anything else is because I needed libraries that weren’t orchestral! Also working on 8 gigs of RAM doesn’t help. I have ideas but always afraid the computer will go up. Sorting out the new setup before Christmas so my brain can just get ideas down quickly without checking the CPU monitor every 5 seconds.

Interesting! I hadn't been watching for awhile (major project). I've been contending with just this issue. My comments of course wil come after the fact. (would have been fun over a bacon sandwich- though my commute from across the pond would be daunting.). My thinking goes something like this. We have a constant flow of ideas. Most don't reach the point of our focus. We have a visceral trigger which stops us and focuses our attention. At this point, we "see" through our sensory experience. This experience has been life-long and is built upon with each new day. The experiences are inter-sensory, synaestheic if you will. It is from there, we go to work. What we have paid attention to becomes the seed or nugget that we recognize as inspiration. As we work through our idea, it is our emotional responses to what we have produced relative to that unreachable pristine nugget that produces the nasty inner critic. It's all so schizoid.

I find that inspiration is indeed mystical. What works wonders is doing light physical labor, like taking a walk at a brisk pace. This way, your brain's attention is off the physical, and can think freely and spontaneously. I can think about an idea forever, but as soon as I take a walk, that idea is flowing so clearly through the mind that I often beg myself "please don't forget this, please", because SO much comes at once. The sweat part starts when you try to make the actual music sound like you heard in your head. Especially when you aren't deeply firm with music theory.... ahem

Thank you so much, it’s a great format and It’s always interesting to hear about these kind of things from perspective of person with big experience like you!

Thank you Guy! This has become my new favorite channel. Love your insight and Excitement and Joy for creating and living. You are truly a blessing to many people! Keep up the good work!

Thanks Guy, enjoyed this a lot, nice to see someone talking about “tricky” subjects like this that seem ephemeral, but are actually “all in the mind”.

I for one really enjoy your videos that deal with the non-technical side of music. Don't be afraid to stray every now and then Guy, much appreciated!

This was a real heart to heart, please make more of such videos in the future.

I stumbled upon this channel a couple of weeks ago and each vid I watch opens my mind a little bit more . Full of useful information but delivered in a fun and entertaining manner. In terms of creativity, I find that a self imposed restriction, a little like 'direction' can help. Earlier in the year, I decided to create and record a new piece or song and put it out there every 7 days. That self imposed deadline kept me constantly on my toes and I honestly don't think I have been so creative and inspired for a long time.

Perfect video for my birthday!!! Thank you for being you, Guy!

No word of a lie, after only watching the first 3 minutes of the video... An idea popped in to my head. Totally randomly. Time will tell whether it will lead anywhere but I have 8 bars of music in my head that I wouldn't have had otherwise! Thank you for the inspiration :-)

Wonderful content and a major subject as well Guy! So many variations and ideas to get the juices flowing and I really couldn't agree more about leaving that safety blanket and just feel something different pulling on all your advice. Love to mash up different genres of music, some work, some don't and some end up as a real spark!

One of the best videos of this channel!

I’ve been writing for years, and have found that my ideas come from four “places.” From the earth, the ground of experience- definitely the most common , usually from listening all the time, absorbing and relating, creating and rearranging patterns, noodling, improvising. Second, from the water, the ocean, the subconscious- I’ve woken up with a song partly or mostly formed. These are kind of rare, but have happened. Third, from the air- they just drop out of the sky, and are the most rare. Some call is channeling or receiving a song. I could say it’s happened where I think back and have no sense of where a song came from at all. Then again, maybe looking into the unfiltered experience would explain exactly where these come from. I personally don’t live to destroy mystery. Lastly, are the songs that come from fire, the fire of extreme experience. I separate them from regular ground bc they carry an inner charge that is hard to replicate if you aren’t in that moment, and on some level they seem no longer a part of my ability to create them after that moment has passed. A personal example is a song that I wrote (and animated) a few months back after the death of both my father and sister. Guitar in hand on a porch, and suddenly felt the song appear but was so suffused with grief that I didn’t sit there picking it apart like I might otherwise. It just came in. If anyone’s curious here’s a vimeo link: vimeo.com/452471829 Guy, love your way of explaining things with sincere passion.

Thank you so much for making this video. I feel this is the most critical aspect of songwriting and it is rarely addressed in the world of music theory. This was most helpful!

Love all your videos! Makes me explore my creativity with more gusto! Also, I really loved the b-roll with the dogs happily carrying their sticks. 🙂

You're an absolute treasure, Guy. Thank you for sharing your insight and experience. Your videos are pure gold.

I absolutely love your videos, I'm very glad that I found your channel! I wish you all the best and keep going with those great videos please :-)

Thanks for the video,its good to hear your thoughts, I have not been in touch with the people that I have these kind of discussions with for quite a while.

This was so good. I've been waiting for inspiration with my controll-filters on elleven. The image of trying to nurture a tiny spark is so true. Must build some shelter from the destructive storms.

What a wonderful outline of creativity! This outline offers suggestions of where to turn if I get stuck. Thanks for thinking about it and summarizing the creative process so neatly.

love seeing your countryside; This made me realize that I do my best work under the problem solving category - when someone needs something from me. Thanks for the great insite, Guy

I think of it as "play" in the same way that children play. I pick up the guitar and play around. Come up with a few ideas, then select the best. The selection process is as important as the creative one, in my books!

Wow, i'm happy I watched this! Thank u for this profound information. My music career is gonna be bigger than I expected through this vid

Yes enjoyed the walk too thanks guy

This video is gold ! thank you so much for sharing these inspiring ideas!!

Excellent vid. So many resonances for me. Thank you, Guy!

He' Guy and others, thanks to all of us for creating this dialogue. As a multi media and medium specialist - I am an artist - both visual and audio as well as development of visionary abilities to delve beyond what is physically in front of us, using both created music and art to express ourselves. What you did for your Spitfire Xmas 5th day - I had a mysteriously similar compendium of same songs dancing in my head during those 5 days, thinking I should do this - and you nailed it! This simply supports how we can communicate both physically as well as spiritually - whoa! Keep up the great work as someone we can trust for vital and awesome ideals in music as well as ideas!

You are so right about being more creative when constricted. Back when Reason opened up to VST's i bought Komplete Ultimate and it was so overwhelming that i think it even triggered a writer's block.

Hope I liked it? I LOVED it! That was a brilliant piece, Guy. You were talking about music, but what you said applies to SO many endeavours. I'm an engineer and love creative ways of doing things: all this applies 100%. Thanks. Excellent.

Thank you Guy! Yes, it is complex. You can work on yourself, your skills, your collaborations and your gear/environment. But the good news you can "practice in all the areas and improve. And also that it is not just down to one specific "thing". The word inspiration has often been a "catchitall" to simply the process of the work needed in the creative process. I guess the intention is to make it all easier by simplifying, but I think it has the opposite effect, and actually makes more people doubt themselves. Rather than thinking "I've got it!" or not, focus on the area you need more attention in. For example, you might be great at melodic ideas, but you can't play an instrument. Or vice versa. With this awareness, you will now have a stronger focus on what is mostly needed at the moment.

Great episode, great location, reminds me of Beaulieu, solent area 👌🏻 I appreciate your videos so much coming from a hip hop background.. respect.

In my own 'Bumbling' amaturerish way, I find that having a basic melody/motif' and building and 'Layering on that, is usually where I begin. Sometimes it works reasonably successfully and other times I bin it and start again!!! Interesting 'Vid' again Guy, Thank you.

One of the best videos so far. Really interesting thoughts. 👍🏼

Great stuff, Guy. Inspiration doesn't always arrive at the desk. Use your phone's sound recorder to make a note of inspiration whenever it strikes... Often it'll be nonsense, but occasionally it'll be the spark you were waiting for. I'm a poet and lyricist and recently a friend was talking about somewhere being the longest, tallest, biggest, shortest etc. and it sparked an idea about why does everything have to have an '...est'?' That'll be a lyric next week...

That was very thought provoking, and if I can keep it in mind somewhere, hopefully it'll help kick me off again.. It's been a while..

I feel working with other people is the best way to tame originality. This little thing that one person may have, those littles mistakes one person may do might not pass a "brainstorming" process... But this little thing, those mistakes might just build something truly original... (Guy, I just quit you from one of your online courses, to relax, and here I am, watching you again ! Ok, now i feel you're the one I'm spending most of my time.)

Music is easy. You play a note. You let it last a certain time. Then you only have to worry about the next note. Thankfully, the next note can only go up, down or stay the same (it's stay the same that I usually forget, and stay the same is the most powerful, because rhythm is most easily there). Words are harder. Common idiomatic expressions are a good place to start. Happily, the heavy lifting has been done by those who collect common phrases in books directed at international travelers.

Excellent - thanks so much.

I needed this ! Thanks for the inspiration ;)

Hi Guy! Id love to see you do a video on Shepard tones! Keep up the amazing work!

Thank u Guy for this video. I think first of all, drinking a cup of coffee (or Tea) is the most important thing before you start !!! (personal experience) !!! and the second thing that affects me personally is that every day I change the background image of the operating system according to the mood and feeling of that day. and the third important thing for me is I prepare everything for my ideas and the music that is playing in my head and I do not limit myself to what I have now and I do not replace it with similar sounds and instruments. And the other important things I will do from now on are the things I learned in this video! Thx for that

Yes. Enjoyed this.

Creation is complex indeed. Justin Hayward said he tends not to analyze the songwriting process because he doesn’t know where a song comes from, that it is like something from nothing. Back in 2019 string player Guinevere Twilight Norton-Radford, reportedly suffering composer’s block, came to me on social media, demanding to hear my work, and half a year later displayed a lovely, soaring little piece. Recently, four or five months after another case of block, she came up with an awesome piece that welled up from a chamber duet to a cathedral choir -- all within two minutes.

Thank you for this wonderfully insightful, comprehensive and articulate presentation.

Thank-you Guy! An interesting topic, for sure and one that I have certainly given a lot of thought to over the years. When I started out, I knew that I needed to be able to understand how to compose without inspiration or else my career as a composer would be over before it started. I would also add that a useful habit to get into is to aim to finish most things that you start. That process of overcoming a creative roadblock ( 'There should be a middle 8 there, but I'll come back to it later') is the problem solving aspect of composition that needs to be practiced, like any other skill...especially if you're working to deadlines!! :-)

Amazing as usual Guy...! Thank you very much🙏🏻. Greetings from Mexico..!

Thank you Guy. Very helpful.

Probably the most thought provoking analysis of the topic of inspiration that I have heard/read.......quite unique ..a learning ... it’s a subject deserving more than 16 minutes or so of consideration....it’s in fact a basic ..a process ..in relation to a more defined...mapped ...philosophy of music creation....🙏🎩👏🧩🎶

Guy, i am so familiar with the things that you spoke about them here, about how you wake up in the morning with a spark of an idea, and how you develop it to a piece of music. It is a magical process that we, as composers, can go through. If it is not a little idea that i am waking up with, sometimes it is the sound of the instrument i picked to start with, and the first touch on the keyboard that engage a new idea or cue to start and develop to a magical piece of music. Love your channel ‼️ Mickey (Israel)

That was really interesting to listen to. Thank you for sharing it all!

Merci pour cette vidéo Guy !! ☺

This was very useful, because I often agonise over how I should start. Once I get an idea in my head I can, and have, write/written a whole concerto, but it's the getting the idea in the first place that I need to work on. BTW, I love the footage of the dogs. Awesome. tee hee.

Thank you guy

... this is gold for some....., Thank You Guy!, for have taken the time to this kind of vid-clip, ....64 here....

Inspirational as ever. Thanks so much Guy!

Great video! Thank you 🙏

Thanks Guy. I think that a sequence of not-so-good ideas can hold people back and get them frustrated. Great/good ideas are not the norm. If you can manage one great/good idea in every 8 or 10 ideas then you are doing very well. Don't let the not-so-good ideas get you down, just burn through them as there is a great idea on its way.

At my degree music school doing composition I procrastinated so much in the coffee bar and doing anything except composing (learning the trombone from scratch to conservatoire entry level in 2 years...) literally. I was always waiting for the mystical muse. Then I got some paid commissions through competitions, and the deadline was the best inspiration ever 😂

Thank you, Guy. Really interesting.

Hey Guy! Hopefully now that you just released the video you may read this, I just want to say how amazing what you're doing is for the composer community! Having an absolute expert explaining things and ideas this way, being so honest is absolutely great. Thank you!

My ideas come to me in strange places such as the shower or in a coffee shop,and usually when I'm not thinking about it and when I'm nowhere near my keyboards .

Hi Guy - thanks so much for posting this. A really interesting and useful breakdown of a topic which can so often be discussed in terms of "the gift chooses you, you don't choose the gift" (smoke and mirrors) way. Really helpful, clear and fascinating. :-)

Very worthwhile!

Wow, Guy. Thank you so much for this. I'm a high school teacher, and one of the courses I get to teach is Theory of Knowledge. This video is going to be an invaluable resource for those students, as well as for the ones in my Film and Media courses. I'm sure there will be a significant number of your subscribers who would prefer less of a thinking / process focus, so I felt compelled to write and let you know that I find this kind of access to the inner workings of creativity both fascinating and utterly invaluable. When I was a screenwriter in a previous career incarnation, I was very very fortunate to have the opportunity to attend three different workshops by an LA-based acting coach named Larry Moss. He too delved deeply into this internal process, and my takeaway from that teaching had a lot to do with how many barriers to creating freely are reactions to past experiences. (IE an actor who can't access the full range of their own emotional palette can't authentically inhabit a character experiencing that particular emotion.) It takes courage to make art, and your willingness to throw back the curtain on your particular process is going to help me try to guide a lot of young learners (some of whom aspire to be artists themselves) to at least get a sense of how to account for (and, hopefully compensate for) the first set of barriers. Again, thank you. You're a brilliant teacher, and have quickly become a powerful source of inspiration to me in that art form.

Wow! This Video really helped me out! I'm a beginner composer myself who struggles with having good ideas... It is really frustrating for me to the point where i cant stop telling myself that i am useless... Thanks for your Motivation and your help!

Love the t-shirt, very inspiring !

Great video! Love this idea and your videos!

Thank you for your videos :)

love this

Great video. I like this different type of reflexive videos.

I listen to white noise and I hear tunes. So filter, like you said is 🔑

This was a really good discussion of inspiration Guy, very helpful. I'll be listening to it again to let parts soak in. Thank you! Was that the 'Stick of Inspiration' that your dog was carrying? ;)

Those were great little pieces of music for the dogs. Perfect fit.

Woow Thank you so much for this; I enjoyed this big time; It always amazes me how you are always selective in using the right words in order to break it down straight forward to the point, you literally squeezed creativity that any musician is thrilled to have into a simple process; a process that enables creativity to flow at ease; let alone it is really hard to put in words an explaination that standardize creativity and processize it; Enable yourself to be creative by stimulas; ideas coming responds to novality, brain storming, different appraoches, dont settle for your security blanket, the more you know; the more you are fluent; the better, that enables the process of having ideas to flow smoothly.....................Guy, I think you should write poetry too :D

Guy, thanks for another help-full clever video. It looks like somebody is going after You or You are parking on no-parking zone and You are controlling everything:). I love Your sense of humour as well.

Guy, I thoroughly enjoyed your stream of consciousness! You have a great way of articulating something that a lot of people have thought about, but don't quite have a handle on how to express it! One thing that I've noticed for myself...... is "step away" from what you're working through, and temporarily distract yourself by doing some other activity that's completely different. Come back to what you were working on, and you may very well have a "refreshed" outlook and attitude to get it done!

Thank you for your videos, they inspire me and make music creation accessible and wonderful. Big Hug 🥰🥰🥰

Ideas? Take a little bit of what you like and mix it with another element. Brian Eno once said 'ideas or creativity' stem from influence of others, or the environment that surrounds you. Interesting, love what you're doing.

Great video. Plenty to absorb and contemplate. I find if one is lucky, working for a creative, that can sometimes rub off and spark the platform from which ideas spring forth. The more inventive the better, as the challenge needs to be risen to. If it is for picture , there is often a temp or guide track which can be useful, or, often, a pain in the earhole. :)

There is a world of difference between music that "works" and something that is "inspired" or "inspirational." As a working musician you will develop the talent to accomplish the former "music that is nice and works." But, that is not quite the same thing as writing Clair de Lune, for example. To write music like that one needs to be able to look into ones soul, technique will not get you there. I always try to actually hear the music in my head/heart, before I touch any instruments. In the same way that "writing" is not typing, composing is not playing. Composing is listening. Find a quiet place and close your eyes...and listen. You might find a noisy building site and find your self syncopating an idea to the feel and sounds of industry, but "listen." I don't know whether the notes come from the cosmos or the collective memory of everything I have ever heard, but unless I listen, I cannot hear them.

Amazing video!

Well, that was different.. refreshingly so I thought? I'd like to see more of these conversational videos mixed it with the usual practical work back at 'the office' actually. My approach is based on either hearing an environmental sound source that captures my interest or by loading up an array of amps or effects and throwing stuff about until I get something I perceive as being a bit different. I then progress it from there. It works but can be time consuming and therefore seeing how others create their embers is an intriguing topic.

I got one of my songs idea from this channel. So, thank you :)

I find it very operative what Joe Zawinul once explained about how he composed ... and it was like that ... he began to improvise for an hour on his keyboard - whatever ... he was recording everything - then in the afternoon I would listen to it and I missed little good moments achieved ... I missed them and wrote it ... and finally developed them ... finally I instrumented them .and that's it

Please do more videos like this one. It was very inspiring ahh

I do most of my initial work on guitar. When looking for something new I deliberately put a finger on the strings in an unusual (for me) place and start noodling around. I sometimes do this by closing my eyes first then start from there. Sometimes it doesn't work out, but often it does. It works the same on the keyboard except there the particular sounds I'm working with also lead me in one direction or other. But once something catches my ear that's when the real fun starts...and work.

I really kinda like that simple, charming, lo-fi thing going on around 0:38.

Jup Tnx GM Master :) Thinking is one thing, Working with results of thinking is some thing else. Your Vidio teached me, and just working out the results. Hit the paper or your instruments and make it work :) Hope spelling is good Dutch :) but just hitting key's.

I agree with most of what you say. The other thing that I would suggest is great for creativity is the pressure of dead lines.