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Culture
Creativity: A Key
Component in Music
by
Venus Umesh
Creativity is an important
element of human efforts for better existence; for efficiency at work;
for luxury and recreation at leisure; for diversification; to fulfill a
natural instinct or curious element of human behavior. Creativity is a
challenge to the mind. It speaks all about unlimited and striking
potential. Creativity is the sole reason that human beings are
distinguished from other species and it is the nucleus behind the
development and rise of human race. Be it technological areas or social
arenas, all the progress has been possible because of multidimensional
creative pursuits of people. Technology, economy and society all are
interlinked through artistic creativity.
It is clear that creativity as a concept is not confined just to a
particular field, especially art with which people commonly associate
it. Like talent in any person, can be of distinct capacity and also in
different fields. Making or inventing a product of fine engineering is
also creativity of an engineer mind, innovating in soft wares or hard
wares is also creativity. Experiments and inventions in food business,
fashion designing, architectures, computer games, film industry etc. are
all part of creativity and creative business in a wider sense.
Creativity is a wide phenomenon. As a self-expressive activity it is a
vivid source and is related to each field of work and study. Here, in
particular we are talking of arts, to be precise, music. All are aware
of the fact that music is a subject of experiential learning. If an
artist is exposed to the maximum creative environment, his imagination
and creativity will be constructive. This all depends upon the
multi-dimensional experience of an artist's life. Firstly, creativity
begins at home in the upbringing of a child, when the parents try to
establish certain experiences in teaching the child to walk, talk,
listen, discuss and perceive. The child adopts certain norms of living;
certain ways of learning; certain sets of behavior and so on. While a
child grows up he learns what all is around, what is good or bad, how to
deal with adversities and to treat with the society around etc. This is
how creativity develops when one tries to construct ideas in mind and
develop them further with his own perception and creativity which would
further define his own identity.
Creativity is what helps the artist to reestablish his/her identity in
the society each time he/she creates. One who has a creative mind, i.e.,
a composer, has the lust to imagine what has never been envisaged or
felt before; to create what has not been created; to see the unseen; to
create a distinct identity with original and novel thoughts.
Without creativity or exploration the art seems lifeless and
pretentious. It loses the sense of wonder, aesthetics and enjoyment.
"Art is what people accomplish when they don't quite know what to
do, when the lines on the road map are faint, when the formulae is
vague, when the product of their labor is new and unique"
Philip Alperson in his
essay “Creativity in Art” discusses three things associated to
creativity. Firstly he says that creative as a term always displays a
‘positive appraisal in an appropriate cultural context’. Secondly, ‘true
creation is taken to be a rare achievement’. Thirdly it is associated
with originality as a matter of achievement ‘that is in some significant
sense new and unique’. He expresses, that creativity in arts gives
something of interest to the world which distinguishes creativity in art
from ‘the routine, the pedestrian, the derivative and the merely
normal’.
The most interesting and significant thing in creativity is that it has
no specific time or minute to flash in the mind. A creative person feels
a knock in the mind and at times he/she creates wonders. If we try and
analyze the process, we notice that ideas pop up in the mind while it is
in the process of creation. It is difficult and rather vague to define
the working process of mind at the moments of creativity. In the natural
process of creation, for instance in music sometimes the poetry or
lyrics (through their meaning) naturally explains the composition to a
musician and at times the tune comes to the mind first that is
independent of words. In a deliberate effort of composing music on a
definite lyric the mind works on its meaning, assigns specific notes to
express its meaning through its bhava and rasa (expressions), and
further with the aid of rhythm and ornamentations, elaborates and
improvises it to the composer’s satisfaction.
Creativity highly rests upon the psychology of the artist, importantly
the psychology of the mind at the moments of creation. Beardsleys
observation suggests about the process of alternative phases that the
mind goes through during creation,
“the inventive phase, traditionally called inspiration, in which new
ideas are formed in the preconscious and appear in the
conscious…(and) the selective phase, which is nothing more than
criticism, in which the conscious chooses or rejects new idea after
perceiving its relationship to what has already tentatively been
adopted”.
In one of their
observations, *Graham Wallas and Catherine Patrick recognize four stages
of creative process viz. preparation, incubation, inspiration and
elaboration. During these, a creative mind becomes aware of the problem,
strives hard to solve it and come to a conclusion, gets to discover in a
moment of insight and then develops and works on the creative idea.
Creativity allows the artists to open up his own new discourse that in
turn helps them to express themselves and to prove their endeavors at
all levels outlining their nation as well as in global context. There
are innumerable Indian artists who have carved a distinct niche for
being creative exclusively. In the pantheon of musicians right from the
unparalleled classical music artists like Ravi Shankar, L. Subbramanium,
Zakir Hussain, Ali Akbar Khan, M. Subbalakshmi, Brij Bhushan Kabra,
Vishvamohan Bhatt, Shrinivas, Kesarbai Kerkar, Kishori Amonkar, Shobha
Gurtu, Parveen Sultana, etc all have uniquely contributed to the nation
as well as abroad with their unique artistic creativity.
Another important aspect of creativity is that it initiates
competitiveness in the field among artists. Through creativity novel
ideas, new inventions, new discoveries and new understanding and
knowledge are accomplished. Creativity is developing and changing the
scenario in large measures. In Indian Classical music there have been
tremendous fruitful experiments and collaborations with the artists and
music of the world. The trend is still being carried out by several
contemporary artists, but with a distinct approach. The present
generation of artist is active with experiments in music. The
contemporary sound of fusion music has captured most of the young
classical artist that has given classical music a wide and different
approach. The artist who experiment with Indian music and are most
popular for their creative endeavors in fusion and world music are
Karunesh, Prem Joshua, Maneesh De Moor, Karsh Kaley, Abhijeet Pohankar,
Habib Khan, etc.
Rennie writes that the older creation is always innovated in some or the
other way by the young generation of artists. Every time a new creative
mind joins in, there emerge several novel ideas. Even the perception to
the old things by new people is different. This view supports a lot of
experimentation that is involved in creative maneuvers, Ellie Rennie
writes in "Creative World" about creativity that,
"Creativity is about repurposing subverting and improving what is
already there".
Creativity grows with
space and diverse participation. Artistic creativity requires an
environment and settles only where it feels it ought to stay. Florida
expresses, that people with creative minds can only sustain in this fast
growing world.
“Creativity also requires a social and economic environment that can
nurture its many forms.”
Creativity needs space.
According to David Bollier creative endeavors require a “white space” to
progress with new experiments and constructions. Further he says,
"There must be the freedom to try new things and an unregimented
workspace in which to imagine, tinker and execute new ideas."
Further he says that when
the commercial regimes and bodies of bureaucrats control the white
space, the creativity narrows and doesn't find the paths to grow. There
comes a block in the room for one's own ideas and discoveries.
The creativity largely depends on the local culture and communities and
the way they treat and preserve art. Charles Landry in "London as a
Creative City" raises a major issue and that is for a city to provide
such conditions for the creativity to flourish. In this information age
creativity is a driving factor for the social and economic force of the
country, and so it must be taken care of by the officials, innovators
and citizens for the nation's growth.
In India, culture is largely respected and preserved by her people.
Other than this, there are several Government and Non-Government
organizations who help preserve and nurture our traditions.
Florida asserts of a new class of the society that has emerged through
creativity. Talking of emerging creative class, firstly Florida defines
class as a cluster of people sharing common interests and who feel,
think and behave similarly that is fundamentally determined by their
work. Further he says,
“The economic need for creativity has registered itself in the rise
of a new class, that I call the creative class.”
Richard Florida mentions
that the artists and musicians were never included in working class
though they were not seen without work. Further describing their working
conditions he says that, they work in stimulating environment and in
casual clothes as they are comfortable in. Their way of working has got
a boost into the economic mainstream. He has mentioned the emergence of
a new economic class i.e. the ‘Creative class’.
On the question of the importance of creativity John Tusa explains its
significance for any society to renew and add to its stock of imagining.
He says scientific researches are vital to prevent intellectual
stagnation in the same manner,
“creative innovation is vital to the process of understanding
ourselves, of seeing the world differently as it presents itself
anew, of presenting novel propositions about the way we see, hear,
look and conceptualize.”
Any creative endeavor in
art is generally individual and it can never be arranged or organized
knowingly in a planned manner. All this makes the work and imagination
solely special and the artist exemplary.
Musical Freedom
Music is an art of freedom; an art that requires freedom. Vocal music is
such that it need not rest on any external physical medium. It is a
special natural divine gift. Our throat is an autonomous storehouse of
creative sounds. It naturally expounds musical notes as well as rhythms;
it has the power to imitate any sound heard. The sound of nature has
been used extensively in the folk music of so many countries all through
the globe. These natural sounds, through the creative efforts of peers
were further nurtured, rectified, amended, reformed and rehearsed, that
paved a way for the much purified classical form of music.
Creativity in Classical music flowers significantly with improvisation
which is a basic traditional element of Indian Classical music. The
freedom in classical music is limited to the improvisations done with
strict compliance with the rules of the ragas. Improvisation finds
maximum freedom in other genres of light music including bhajan, ghazals
and songs/geet etc. In such genres the artist constructs the creative
musical piece with free access to the desirable notes.
Alperson expresses that what interests the listeners in the process of
listening to the improvisation is “a particular sort of action: the
action of creating a musical work as it is being performed.” In the
West, Jazz is such a music that is improvisational in style and form.
Saxophone is the major instrument of this form. Artists such as Coleman
Hawkins, John Coltrane, Paul Desmond, Mose Allison and others are major
such names that have brought Jazz style to recognition. The various
genres in Jazz are bebop and blues with layers of harmonic styles.
The urge for media coverage and populism has encouraged professionalism
among the present generation of artists that has paved way for
creativity in the form of experimentation and innovation in classical
music. The growing professionalism is also seen among the stalwarts of
Indian classical music, as the artists are involved in the race of money
making and pine for professional tours to seek more and more money.
Moreover the increase in the number of students, who are admitted
without any audition or entrance test for studies in music, naturally
decreases the quality element that the ancestors stressed so much upon
as they imparted their knowledge only to those who devoted their life to
music.
The artist and innovators or the creators today, try to push towards
diversification and experimentation to get greater artistic
accomplishment. Therefore they think more for the upcoming generation as
technicians and also as artists.
Performing artists have also left a vivid effect globally be it popular
music artist or Indian classical artists. Few artists have more
influence on the listeners of far-off countries, as a result their music
albums or songs do more business in foreign countries. Not just
celebrities of music world but also the film stars play a significant
role for the promotion of music albums.
As a part of promotion of their music, foreign artists such as Michael
Jackson, Britney Spears, Tim McGraw, Shakira, and many more went around
the world for their musical tours. These artists are exposed to
different sounds of music and thus they expand their vision and area of
creativity. In this manner an artist gets maximum exposure and also
tries to create a hybrid of his musical attributes with varied cultures.
Present time has changed guru shishya parampara or relation to a
teacher student relation. In contemporary fast pace of life the guru and
student both have less time to spare upon the long old process of music
teaching, practice and learning. In a short span of time students desire
to learn and also perform on the stage as also said by Pt. Ravi Shankar.
Though even today most of the peers carry a pedantic approach towards
classical music, the number of such musician has declined.
Most of the purists believe in traditionally accepted norms and do not
agree with the concept of fusion or experiments with classical music.
They view fusion as a fiend or a threat to our culture. Today with the
artists growing wide and experimenting with music, the modernized image
of a classical vocal artist or an instrumentalist has overshadowed the
conservative and orthodox image of the gurus of the past. Modern artist
tries to polish and subvert the old with their creativity to suit the
mainstream tastes. An appreciation of the new sound of fusion music
requires a deep understanding of myriad social and historical contexts
in which such performances and endeavors take shape. An artist of
present is evangelizing a movement to move out of his deep rooted
cultural status and in turn forming a new niche for himself through new
age creativity.
References:
Hal Barwood,"The Envelop Please?" Game
Developers, Feb 2002.
pp 245, Philip Alperson, “Creativity in Art”, Jerrold Lavinson (ed),
“The Oxford Handbook of Aesthetics” , Oxford University Press, 2003
pp 249, Philip Alperson, “Creativity in Art”, Jerrold Lavinson (ed),
“The Oxford Handbook of Aesthetics” , Oxford University Press, 2003
Pp 247, Philip Alperson, “Creativity in Art”, Jerrold Lavinson (ed),
“The Oxford Handbook of Aesthetics” , Oxford University Press, 2003
pp 42, Ellie Rennie "Creative World" ,John Hartley (ed) "Creative
Industries", Blackwell Publishing, UK, 2005.
pp 5, Richard Florida, “The Rise of Creative Class”, Basic Books, New
York 2002.
pp 47,ed John Hartley "Creative Industries" essay by Ellie Rennie
"Creative World", Bollier D, "Public assets, Private Profits: Reclaiming
the American Commons in an Age of Market Enclosure", New America
Foundation, Washington, DC, 2001.
pp 8 Richard Florida, “The Rise of Creative Class”, Basic Books, New
York 2002.
pp7, John Tusa, “on creativity”, methuen publishing limited, London,
2003
pp253, Philip Alperson, “Creativity in Art”, Jerrold Lavinson (ed), “The
Oxford Handbook of Aesthetics” , Oxford University Press, 2003
September 28, 2008
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