Jack Gaffney, Nederland. Imagination takes practice. The more often it is engaged, the more accessible it becomes. Like a muscle, creativity will atrophy if you stop using it. With exercise, it will become stronger. Anyone can increase their creativity with an open mind and some practice.

Kids are never too young to begin developing their creative muscles. In music lessons, I love to ask young students to make a song with me. “What do you want it to be about?” They almost always have an answer. And if they don’t, I ask them to pick an animal or a place. That always works. Kids are not reluctant to share their original ideas, because unlike adults, they don’t judge themselves. 

Improvisation, the act of writing and performing music spontaneously, is the best way for musicians to keep their creative muscles toned. It scares many musicians who are concerned with playing the ‘right notes’, but that kind of thinking is flawed. You won’t be free to explore until you suspend self-judgement. On piano, an easy way to improvise is to play exclusively on the black keys (because when isolated, they create a pleasing pentatonic scale, allowing any combination of notes to sound beautiful). Over time, musicians will learn new ‘colors’ to ‘paint’ with. But chords and scales are not where creativity comes from. It comes from the imagination.

I asked Gideon, one of my piano students, “How does one maintain creativity as they grow older?” Without hesitation, he said “by holding onto what keeps you creative. You have to stick with it.” I was proud to hear him speak about creativity as something that requires appreciation and practice. Just like an athlete, you have to stay in shape.

Our society does not value imagination like it values test-taking skills. Teenagers are taught to focus on memorization rather than divergent thinking. To increase and preserve creativity, we must both value and practice imagination. A creative society is adept at solving world problems. We need more creativity workouts.

So please support arts education. Please support local artists and musicians (we will always need them, they need us now more than ever). But most importantly, ask your kids about their make-believe castle and who lives inside it. Does the princess have a name? Are there any monsters? When they come up with a creative idea, show them that you appreciate it and that you’re proud of them. With some support, their creative muscles will strengthen, and they’ll grow into artists themselves.

Jack Gaffney is a local musician and piano teacher. He can be reached at JackGaffney.com.

(Originally published in the February 25, 2021, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)