The more discussions I have with piano players from all musical genres and backgrounds the more I realize that there seems to be two general “camps” into which the majority of us fall. Creators and Re-Creators. Why do I mention this? Because it seems the Creators tend to be happy flourishing music makers, while the Re-Creators tend to be less happy, frustrated players or students who haven’t reached a point of getting much enjoyment from their well intentioned efforts.

There is a common misperception that this sheet of paper with black dots and lines all over it that we all tend to spend an inordinate amount of time trying to decipher, is music. In actuality it is just a very complex way to express a recording of music. Sheet music is no more music than a recipe is food.

The reason I bring this up is that a goal for many it seems in the “Re-Creators” camp is to attempt to perfect the ability to restate exactly what is notated in a piece of sheet music. I find that to be misguided on more than one level, and prone to cause future disappointment.

Playing music should be, at its very heart, an exercise in “non-perfectness.” It’s an exercise in creativity as opposed to an exercise in perfection. If you want a piece of music performed “perfectly” from a mechanical reproduction of notes standpoint, listen to a computer reproduce a midi file of a score. You’ll hear a stark example of why striving for perfection is a sure road to sterile, boring, non-emotional music making. It certainly is not anything to which I have ever aspired or found to be emotionally stirring.

Alternatively, those in the Creators camp have a mind-set that the purpose of written music notation is to give the performer a bit of a “shove off the cliff” to start the musical snowball rolling in the hopes that it will turn into a big, creative, emotional piece of self-expression. Back to my recipe analogy, watch any great chef, and you’ll see them not measuring exactly, but rather using a “pinch” of this and a “dash” of that, in effect improvising within the structure of the basic recipe.

Now those of you familiar with my TV series and the non-classical repertoire we tend to focus on are thinking, “Sure Scott, that’s why you use lead sheets, so you can easily play a tune in whatever style, or improvise, but I play strictly classical piano and that makes it all different.” I disagree. The reality is that the same principle applies to all styles of playing, particularly classical piano. You see, creating (versus re-creating) music isn’t the exclusive domain of jazz improvisers. Performers (whether musicians, actors, dancers) need to add their interpretation to an already composed work to make it "their own" performance. Those in the Creator camp feel it is an absolute requirement to create something new every time they play a piece of music in any style, whether reading, playing from memory, improvising, or whatever…

I never want you, as a piano player/music maker to get "out of whack" and let the end game of making music get trumped by a focus on perfecting the re-creation of the repertoire. I've observed too many cases where the focus is too strong on trying to perfect a piece versus trying to turn a piece into a living, breathing work of art. I’ve caught myself red-handed as well as I’ve robotically cranked through a tune for the “umpteenth” time with no effort whatsoever being expended on the creating part, instead just letting myself off the hook being happy with “re-creating” instead. From what I’ve observed in many people, the act of creating versus re-creating seems to be the difference between those who truly enjoy making music and those who wish they enjoyed making music.

Be a Creator.