Little Secrets
What gives you the right? Who gave you permission?
Do you have any secret things that you would LOVE to pursue, but you just feel like it’s too ridiculous? You’re not qualified. Besides, SOOOO many people are better at it than you, so why even bother?
You might feel embarrassed to even mention this wacky idea of yours.
Who are you to write that book, compose that music, make that album, create that painting? You’re not an expert.
No one invited you to pursue your passion project, so you might as well just keep on doing what you’ve been doing. Right? Am I right?
WRONG!
Story time
You may have heard my podcast interview titled Rote Teaching Queen- Paula Dreyer on Composition with Australian piano pedagogue extraordinaire- Hugh Jackman look alike- Tim Topham. (Btw- anyone who refers to me as a queen gets major props in my book
In the interview, Tim asked me about the sequence of events that led up to composing my Little Gems for Piano series. The truth is, it made very little logical sense for me to feel compelled to compose books for students to use around the world.
Sure, I had a strong performance background and musical education training. I took an amazing arranging class during university and loved it and studied theory extensively, but I didn’t have formal training as a composer per se.
I was teaching in the early 2000’s, came across some rote pieces by Frances Clark, thought that it would be fabulous to create a whole book of rote pieces, received a grant to fund the project, and voila, I started writing! I felt compelled, and I got to work.
I simply followed my strong sense of intuition and my passion for creating, and went all in. I would compose in the evenings after teaching all day. We would put some good music on and my husband (boyfriend at the time) would sit next to me and make the drawings for the pieces.
I loved taking my dinosaur sized laptop to cafes (before anyone really did that). I spent sunny afternoons engraving the music into Finale software. The thought of students and teachers playing these beautiful Little Gems that I wrote was very exciting and motivating.
Twenty years later, there are now five Little Gems for Piano books and they are still going strong! In the last few years, I’ve expanded my compositional range to include professional level pieces and I even composed an original album.
Back to that devilishly handsome Tim Topham… I think he almost fell off of his piano bench from shock after he learned that the Little Gems were the first official product I ever composed.
Sometimes we think that we have to put years and years of time and trial and error into something before finding success. My debut original album Central Star was also nominated for Album of the Year, right out of the gate!
It’s all an experiment.
I often find that when I follow my intuition and feel very compelled to create something, it often resonates with other people as well.
Do you want to improvise but don’t know where to start?
Now, back to my initial question: Is there something you secretly want to create? Maybe an improvisation or a composition? Do you or your students feel drawn to the intriguing piano sounds used in film music such as Einaudi, Yann Tiersen and Philip Glass?
Starting in October, the Piano Flow 8 Month Intensive begins and we are going to continue learning to create with some rhythmic and harmonic tendencies of the film style composers.
Simply enjoy your new improvisational sounds, or take it a step further and create your very own composition!
In addition to creating in the film styles, we will also develop basic, free-flowing improvisation skills, have fun with lead sheets, work on our mindset, and have a book club about the powers of living creatively. We even have gentle yoga for musicians!
Reach Out
If you’d like to join this fun and supportive community, please drop me a line or register here. You never know, maybe you’ll become the next Einaudi! Or maybe it will simply lift your spirits to be able to sit down with no music and improvise.
Keep in mind, I am also available as a one on one creativity and business coach for creatives on a rolling basis. Really, not much makes me happier than allowing people to access and free their creative spirit, in whatever way they feel drawn.
I have a passion for bringing ideas to life and watching them flourish.
I would love to know, what do you secretly wish you could create if you could get out of your own way? If no one had to give you permission except for yourself, what would you pursue?
Please keep in mind that I’m here to help whenever you’re ready to say yes to your creative self. But don’t wait too long. Life is short and precious so don’t procrastinate on pursuing your wishes and dreams.
A few of my favorite dreams brought to life~
Piano Flow Live Concert Series
Piano Connect Creative Conference
Piano Flow Online Intensive – Come join us! Respond to this email and let’s discuss your improv dreams.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.
