So the question is, what is something that fills me with curiosity and wonder? Honestly, too many things! But the one thing that stands above them all is a curiosity of how music and sound can affect a person’s emotions. Music has always been a powerful force in my life. I often find myself listening to the sad song over the fun pop song. And this is not because I am a sad person, although sometimes I do feel sad. Rather, I listen to the sad song because it emits a deep feeling inside me.
When I write music, most of the time I will sit down with my guitar or at my piano, and I’ll just start off with making a sound. I’ll play a random note, chord, or progression of notes and then I determine what that sound makes me feel. Does it make me feel sad, melancholy, happy, angry, peaceful, joyful? Is the sound portraying pain, or hurt? Hopefulness? Does this sound remind me of anyone or anything?
Once I have determined these things, I begin to continue to write based off of my “template,” I guess you could call it.
When I finish writing, I like to go to my friends and play what I’ve written for them and then ask them to tell me what they felt or thought about. Sometimes they say they felt the same feeling I felt. Sometimes they feel something completely different! Either way, I’m always filled with amazement or wonder at how the music affects people. It brings me no greater joy than to see someone’s mood change because of the music I am playing. That tells me the music is good.
Quick story, I played a personal song I had written about something that had happened in my life for a couple friends of mine. I didn’t want to play the song at first because I knew the song had been written out of a lot pain and sadness. But my friends insisted. So I closed my eyes, played and sang the song. When I opened my eyes, my friends were crying! I asked them, “O my gosh, I’m sorry, why are you crying?!” And one of my friends said, “I just really felt the pain in the song, and I related to it.” I find it very curious how the sounds we play based off of feelings we feel change and alter the emotions of another person. It’s almost like my soul is touching their soul.
So yeah, that’s what peeks my curiosity the most; how music I write affects people’s emotions. I’m always curious to discover new sounds, new feelings, new thoughts, and I never know what I am going to discover beforehand. That is what makes writing music so exciting, there are endless possibilities of what you can inspire in a person’s heart through sound.
Devin Taylor-Fillinger, Colorado
Musician
When I write music, most of the time I will sit down with my guitar or at my piano, and I’ll just start off with making a sound. I’ll play a random note, chord, or progression of notes and then I determine what that sound makes me feel. Does it make me feel sad, melancholy, happy, angry, peaceful, joyful? Is the sound portraying pain, or hurt? Hopefulness? Does this sound remind me of anyone or anything?
Once I have determined these things, I begin to continue to write based off of my “template,” I guess you could call it.
When I finish writing, I like to go to my friends and play what I’ve written for them and then ask them to tell me what they felt or thought about. Sometimes they say they felt the same feeling I felt. Sometimes they feel something completely different! Either way, I’m always filled with amazement or wonder at how the music affects people. It brings me no greater joy than to see someone’s mood change because of the music I am playing. That tells me the music is good.
Quick story, I played a personal song I had written about something that had happened in my life for a couple friends of mine. I didn’t want to play the song at first because I knew the song had been written out of a lot pain and sadness. But my friends insisted. So I closed my eyes, played and sang the song. When I opened my eyes, my friends were crying! I asked them, “O my gosh, I’m sorry, why are you crying?!” And one of my friends said, “I just really felt the pain in the song, and I related to it.” I find it very curious how the sounds we play based off of feelings we feel change and alter the emotions of another person. It’s almost like my soul is touching their soul.
So yeah, that’s what peeks my curiosity the most; how music I write affects people’s emotions. I’m always curious to discover new sounds, new feelings, new thoughts, and I never know what I am going to discover beforehand. That is what makes writing music so exciting, there are endless possibilities of what you can inspire in a person’s heart through sound.
Devin Taylor-Fillinger, Colorado
Musician