Music

The Tug of War Expands

Published on by David Christensen

I am still quite new to all this blogging stuff. As I began this blog, I noticed in the column at the left the word “Comments” follow by the number 19 in a red circle. I looked it up and it turns out that the first blog I ever posted, dated June 20, 2016 and entitled Writing & Music: A Tug of War has 19 comments. What I don’t understand is why none of the 14 posts that follow it have any comments at all. I wonder if perhaps I must “enable” comments on each individual blog. Perhaps someone was helping with that first blog but were never around after that to help me. One day soon I will look into the “comment” dilemma.

Today has been a tough day for me in that I realized I was in and even more complex Tug of War than noted in my first blog. As my most recent two blogs will demonstrate, “art” has been added to writing and music, so it is now a three-way tug of war. I wonder how that would work in reality; three ropes tied together at one point and creating three equal angles with three persons or groups pulling in their own direction. Sounds interesting.

And I was considering the fascinating, though now seriously challenging, idea of the 10,000-hours of “deliberate practice” suggestion proposed by Malcolm Gladwell; that that many hours was needed to be invested in order to become exceptionally proficient at anything worthwhile. If I divide my time equally, for example, between writing, music, and art, will I end up being a jack of all trades (and master of none)? If I were to give one or (heaven forbid) two, which would I give up? Should it be the latest one added–art–the one with the least time investment thus far? Isn’t it interesting that art, the one most recently added for development, is the one I have added to the previous two posts in the form visual media?

I took care of that, didn’t I? I also like to cook. My favorite things to invent and cook are desserts and soups. I am seriously considering taking time off from everything artsy and putting together a cookbook. Yum!

I stopped what I was doing a week ago last Wednesday, whipped up these brownies, took the picture, set up a mock-page with ingredients and steps to prepare, and two days later met with  a book printer to see about the cost of printing a nice 120-page cookbook. Actually, the cost per book for a run of 100 books was pretty much in line with what such a book would sell for at a book store. As fun as it sounds, it is in reality just one more thing pulling me away from the other two, in this case art and music.

About 35 years ago, at a time in my life that I found quite confusing, I went in search of a therapist in hopes of coming to a greater understand of the origins of my many struggles. She had met with other members of my family, so she understood the dynamics of my family. She was the first to point out to me that I had some of each of the talents exhibited by other members of my family. It was an intriguing idea at the time, but today with the three-way tog of war thought in my mind, I am wondering if that situation could best be described as a mixed blessing. Where do I go from here? My art teacher and my fellow students think I should keep going in art, despite many of them having read my books and loving them.

The Artist and the Drive to Create

Published on by David Christensen

Have you ever had one of those days when you wonder what it’s all about? I remember once hearing a “fanatic” defined as one who increases his speed after losing track of his goal. That’s not exactly how I feel today. It’s more as though I keep plugging along despite not experiencing the results which seem would be the primary drive that would keep me going.

I felt the drive about eleven years ago to get my first idea for a book developed and into print. I accomplished that in 2008. Then I got busy on the next and the next books. Now I have six books in print and three piano sheet-music books that I co-composed. And yet, sales are miserably low. Although I knew all along I needed to do something about marketing, I failed to find out just what that was. One friend told me I needed to blog consistently. Another friend said I needed to offer time-limited free email editions of my books. Long before all this advice I was informed and assured that no traditional publisher would lift a finger to market any book I might produce, unless through my own efforts I generated lots of interest and significant sales.

An artist (writing, music, painting) is not necessarily proficient at marketing. In fact, an artist might either have no knack for such things or worse yet have no interest in such things. Hence, the rise of the term “starving artist.” I have a close friend who writes prolifically and beautifully, and yet has little interest in learning the nuts and bolts of marketing. I don’t blame her. It doesn’t come naturally to me either.

And yet there is so much drive inherent in being able to create something, whether it is a book, a piano composition, or a painting, that no one else has or ever will produce that keeps artists all over the world pressing forward. I guess all artists wish we could be the modern day equivalent of a Shakespeare, Rembrandt, Beethoven, a J.K.Rowling, Picasso, John Williams.

And, though I might sound discouraged, the fact that I can create is worth all the “quiet before the storm” (satisfying numbers of sales).

I am going to attach another painting, as much to make sure I can remember how to do it, as to “show off” a little. Please indulge me.

Obviously, I couldn’t find another painting, so I am including a pencil drawing I did some 15 years ago.

Never Let a Dream Slip Away.

Published on by David Christensen

It’s been a year and a half since I last posted a blog. I admit I am not sure why a persons blogs in the first place. I graduated from college in 1973 with a degree in engineering. My senior year I did all my math with a 4-function calculator that cost me over $100. The year before that it was all slide rules. You probably don’t even know what one of those is.

But here I am 45 years later, retired, and trying to fulfill exciting, creative dreams I had when I was much younger and crunching numbers all day for a living. I now write books; six in print and more on the way. I compose for piano; co-composed three a few years ago and will have at least one with just my own compositions to be released later this year. And just a few months ago I took up watercolor. I have a natural knack for the arts, I guess, because my first few paintings looked pretty good.

So, why am I writing about all this? I’m not sure. The only reason I can come up with is to encourage others to follow their dreams–to believe in themselves–never give up trying–if for no other reason than this–to share your talents (the results of which no one else will ever have) with others–to bring joy to your fellow members of the human family.

Another accomplishment: I had no idea how to include one of my latest paintings into this post. I used to have a friend who helped me with this sort of technological stuff, but he moved away. But, how about that. I actually figured out how to get a photo of my painting into my iPhone, through the charging cable, into my Mac, and into this post. I’m feeling good about the advice I offered in the above paragraph–never give up!

Books, Music, & Art

Published on by David Christensen

Three weeks ago I posted a blog dealing with the “tug of war” I experience every day between writing books and playing piano. By now I would have thought it would settle into a balanced routine. But it hasn’t. It’s still a tug of war.

It’s strange to know what I really want to do most: for me that is composing music and learning to play it well. And yet, writing books has had a twenty year head start. In that twenty or so years, I have compiled into a three-ring binder the ideas for about 80 books. The binder only includes the books I am confident are marketable. For each of these I took time to enter a working title, the basic plot, and perhaps a few of the main characters.

But then along came the idea Bill (my http://pianos5th.com partner) and I share of a website especially designed to aid the aspiring composer of piano music. It is built to assist any composer, for that matter, along a path leading to proficiency in piano composition.

Oh, I know, it is not possible to “make” a great composer. If it were I would begin with myself. But I do find great satisfaction in “cranking” out a pleasing piece of music–even if it pleases no one but me.

I have never studied the life of Vincent van Gogh, but I have allowed myself a few free-thoughts about him. I have never been very impressed with his paintings, especially if they are compared to artistic works by the greats: Rembrandt, Rubens, Leonardo da Vinci, etc. Yet over the years I have developed an appreciation for van Gogh’s paintings, but I have not been able to shake the thought that he might have wanted to paint more like Michelangelo, for example.

I wish I could compose and perform like Mozart of Chopin, but I am gradually becoming comfortable with what skills I have and with those I have been developing.

So, then there is writing. I know I am not the world’s greatest author–far from it. But I can write. And I do have something to say. I can come up with compelling plots and interesting characters. I have even begun a series entitled The Millville Mysteries. I have written the first three books, am three or four chapters in the fourth book, and have ideas for the next two or three. I would really like to be working on them right now. There are book series’ that I love to read, over and over. And I realize these authors must have been under some kind of deadline so that they would produce one book per year. I could have done too if I hadn’t taken this side route of composing for piano.

As a matter of fact, I have two other series I have begun, each with a first book. When will I ever get back to them?

Well, I will keep working on this balance thing. I would really like to feel fulfilled with both writing books and composing piano music. Until then, I will try to avoid thinking too much about illustrating.

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The Power of Coincidences

Published on by David Christensen

In 1978 there was on television the most incredible series. It was called, Connections. It was created, written, and presented by James Burke, a science historian. The idea behind its 10 episodes was that each of today’s incredible inventions began years ago with some totally unrelated invention and through subsequent inventions today’s miracle inventions exist.

Have you ever noticed that certain aspects of your life came about in a similar way? I have. I was not born a writer, a composer, nor an artist!

ART: The earliest of these three interests was art. I liked to draw, but never considered myself to be very good. I learned to draw from my older brother, who learned it from our father, who picked it up from his older brother. A few months ago I finished writing a 27 page short story entitled, The Princess Warrior, for my seven-year-old next door neighbor. It contained over twenty illustrations. (Actually, I gave her a much shorter version for her sixth birthday. She swiftly thumbed through it, asked, “Where are the pictures?” closed the three-ring binder and that was that. I fixed things for her next birthday.) I’m glad I learned to draw.

WRITING: Of course I had to write the usual book reports and research papers that came up in high school and college. But the event that eventually opened up a career in writing came about at the end of a university level class in history. Rather than giving his students an exam filled with dates, people, and events, the teacher simply gave each of us a list of about 50 to 60 words taken from the special part of history we had been studying. (Now this was long before personal computers and the internet.) We were to take a dozen of these words and write a paragraph about each one.

I chose to incorporate probably 20 or more words into a short story. It was my first attempt at writing fiction and I must have done well because I got an A on my paper and a nice compliment on the use of the specified  words in a well written story.

Years later after sitting on a book idea for about 13 years, another “connection” took place. I was introduced to and subsequently enrolled in a correspondence course specializing in writing for children. And then near the completion of this course, the last few lessons were changed to an option to write a short book–just in time for me and my old idea. Suddenly I was writing my first book. I’ve written several since then, but it all began with that first opportunity to have a tutor help me learn how.

COMPOSING: I found a piano practice room in the basement of the dormitory in which I lived. As I played the only piece of piano music I could remember from a few lessons I had had as a kid, a sudden thought popped up in my head. “I bet you can write my own righthand melody to go with this lefthand accompaniment.” And I did. I’ve been writing music ever since (48 years). In fact, during the the past eight months, my nephew, Bill Walker, and I have had published three books of piano music. We each contributed 12 original compositions for each book.

It seems that I have been nudged this way and that way for a long time and with each turn in direction I have developed a new talent or discovered a new opportunity. My life has been and still is quite incredible!

I wager in many ways, yours has been too.

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Writing & Music: A Tug of War

Published on by David Christensen

I suppose it is appropriate that I make the first post, for my newly constructed website, about one of my life’s most interesting conflicts. Do I put my time into writing books or composing music? (And if I had the time I would also be torn toward illustrating several of my tentative books.)

I composed my first pieces of music in 1968. They were simple. I suppose today they would be classified as early beginning. In 1975 I had my first idea for a book. As far as it ever being written, let alone put into print, well that would have been considered a pipe dream.

I didn’t even know how to play the piano in 1968, let alone how to assemble an intelligent melody and arrangement. And by 1975, although I had written a few research papers, the one short story I had written was a far cry from a book.

Once I had begun to write music, I wrote a lot of it. I picked up a little theory here and some correct techniques there. I had my first serious piano lessons in 1970, but they lasted just 6 months at which time I was transferred to another navy base. From that time on, almost like clockwork, once a decade I managed to find a new piano teacher, obtained a year’s worth of lessons, and then something came up and I waited nine years for a new one to come along.

In the late 1980’s I took a correspondence course in writing for children. Then that 1975 book-idea I mentioned three paragraphs above, became a reality as did a second and a third book. The three were published in 2008, 2009, and 2010 respectively.

Then piano became a serious thing. My nephew, Bill Walker, and I began the process of creating an online course (Pianos5th) to assist aspiring piano composers. Bill developed the lessons and as he did so, we ourselves took each one. Eighty-four lessons later, between the two of us, we had written enough music to justify seeking out the putting of them into print.

And finally, the piano thing for me became even more serious. I began taking piano lessons the way I had dreamed of having them for years. I found a teacher who would teach me to play the piano while using my own compositions for the development of theory, technique, and proficiency. In fact, had my 6th lesson just this morning. And best of all, my dream teacher is my Pianos5th partner, my nephew, Bill Walker. He is teaching me via Facebook’s Face-to-Face.

And what about my books. I have three which are completely written. They are each in one or another stage of editing. Then I have three books which are partially written. I will need to illustrate one of these.

Please feel free to follow me as I press my way through this fun and exciting dilemma.

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