NB: The creative exercises archived here are available for anyone who wants more inspiration and creative expression in their lives. There is no limit on how often you particpate, how many exercises you do, or what order you do them in. They are an extension of my book "Beyond the Stick Figure: hope and encouragement for anyone who has ever wanted to be creative"

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Inspire Create: Creative Exercise 22 Mon 2 Jul 2012

Inspire Create: Creative Exercise 22 Mon 2 Jul 2012

Today's Inspiration is Tommy, the Dancing Man of Byron Bay. Tommy (Thomas Franklink - see video in a separate post below to be inspired by Tommy too) has inspired me to "make a little mu
sic" because music is good for the soul and makes the heart glad....something that's always welcome!

Because music is such a wonderful remedy for everything, there are many different ways we can take part, something for everyone.

a) Dance wild like Tommy, dance like a your drifting in a breeze, dance like your swimming in the sea, dance like a brightly coloured bumble bee! Or create a special memory with your kids, make up a dance together and give it a name.

Dance and be free, put the music on and close your eyes and do a little dance...if that's all you have time for, that's all you need to do to feel the benefit of music.

b) Make up a playlist of your favourite songs to be played as you jump in the car, or when you arrive home from work.. Make it a themed playlist. For example, you might need a relaxing playlist for the bath after work. A revitalising playlist for travelling to work in the morning to fire you up for the day. You could make a playlist for bedtime that relaxes you, such as meditation music. Post your playlists here for us to enjoy (we might find some new music we like through you!)

b) Making a musical instrument:

"Make a Little Music" was the thought that crossed my mind for today's exercise, and I've posted a couple of Martha Stewart videos below to help us along. It's not all that difficult to create a makeshift musical instrument, so I thought we could either give that a try, or try some other music related fun. When I was young we would make mini guitars from a matchbox with rubber bands wound around it.

Making Musical Instruments Part 1
http://www.marthastewart.com/247855/making-musical-instruments-pt-1

Making Musical Instruments Part 2
http://www.marthastewart.com/252010/making-musical-instruments-pt-2

We love it when you post pictures of whatever creations you make, and would love to see your makeshift musical instruments posted here on Facebook!

c)

i) Writing a poem to some music or/
ii) Writing a song:

I like writing poetry to music that inspires me, as I've mentioned before in a previous challenge. Music not only sets the mood and the tone, but can be very helpful in setting a rythm for your poem. Or you could write a poem with a view to turning it into a song. Kids can do this too. It's a twist on a poem, because when you begin to think of it as a song, you might want to think of it slightly different and add a chorus or repeat words.

It's not all that hard to write a song really. First you might like to think about something you feel passionate about, and listen to some music to get you in the mood. It ccan't hurt to give it a try, so off you go and give it a whirl and see what you come up with, we would love it if you post your poems written to music, or songs right here for us to enjoy. Don't forget to enlist the help of your children, because sometimes when you are in a silly mood, inspiration is not far behind!!! Letting down your defences and being silly is good for the soul!

d) Learning to play an instrument:

Think about learning a new musical instrument, even if we are adults, there may be some part of us that yearns to learn. I would love to learn the piano. I can play the trumpet and the guitar but would love to learn the violin and the harmonica and maybe even the ukelele and the banjo. Do you have a long hidden passion for learning something new? Would you like to pick up where you left off from, when you were a child learning a musical instrument? Now might be the time to think about investing some time in that direction. The making of music in any sense, is a bonus for life. Learning to read music is a great foundation on which we can build.

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