Step Up Your Mental Game

Part 1: Sharpening Your Internal Senses So You Can Observe and Recognize the creative Process That Runs within You.

Internal Senses
To become a highly creative songwriting force, you need to learn to “build links” to your unconscious, creative resources.
When you can do this, you will be able to develop an unstoppable flow of creative musical ideas.
In the following chapters you will learn how to become intimate with much more of what’s going on inside your mind. You will learn how you represent musical ideas to yourself. You will also learn how to notice much more musical information than you’ve ever noticed before.
Until now, it’s very likely that you’ve been creating music from a consciously controlled environment; only drawing from what’s in the center of your attention.
The problem with this is there is much more going on outside the focus of your attention than within the center of it.
And it’s the ideas and musical perceptions outside of the center of your focus that hold the most meaning and quality. By learning to look outside your normal focus of attention, and by becoming intimate with the way you represent music to yourself you will become an expert at locating these musical ideas created by your richer resources.
In the following section you will also learn to train your “musical ear” so you can hear any note and immediately know exactly what note was being played. This skill, known as “perfect pitch,” will allow you to easily decode the musical ideas that you create.
Let’s begin by developing your internal “musical senses.” Once you’ve practiced the following exercises for a few hours, you will have the ability to clearly hear music inside your head, in stunning detail.
Modalities: How do You Decode Musical Ideas in Your Brain?
To fully take advantage of the musical ideas that occur to you, you need to understand and become fully aware of how you represent music to yourself.
This involves going “inside your head” and watching to see what happens!
To do this effectively though, it will save you a lot of time if you know what to look for. So in this chapter you are going to learn what and how to look for the musical ideas that are presenting themselves inside your head.
What does the word “thinking” mean to you?
Most people assume that the word “thinking” means “talking to yourself.” This internal dialogue is, in fact, thinking, but you can think in many more ways than this.
There Are Twelve Different Ways You Can Think
There are actually 12 different ways in which you can represent things to yourself.
These 12 ways of “thinking” are called thinking modalities.
What are the 12 types of thinking modalities that you can use to “think” with?
Here’s a list:
1. Auditory-This form of modality occurs in the form of sounds inside your head. Obviously this thinking modality is important in the process of writing music.
2. Auditory Digital-This modality is when you hear your own voice inside your head. When you talk to yourself inside your head you are using this auditory digital thinking modality.
3. Visual-The visual modality is being used when you see pictures in your minds eye.
4. Kinesthetic-This modality is describing internal sensations of touch. For example when you
5. Gustatory-This modality is referring to internal tastes. If you think to yourself what an apple tastes like, and get an internal impression of this taste, this is utilizing your olfactory thinking modality.
6. Olfactory-This modality refers to an internal impression of smell. If you think of a really pleasant perfume, and get an internal impression of this smell, you are thinking with this gustatory modality.
These are the six ways that you can represent things internally.

But wait! I said 12 ways!
You’re right. Here’s why you can represent things internally to yourself in 12 different ways.
Each of the thinking modalities I’ve listed above can be used in two different ways, which are:
1. Remembered
2. Constructed
If your favorite song is playing in your head that is an example of using your remembered auditory modality.
On the other hand, if you are creating a new musical idea, it is constructed auditory.
Here’s another example just to make this very clear. If I asked you to remember the first house you lived in, you would see a picture in your head of this house. This is visual remembered.
If though, I asked you to picture the house you would live in if you had $20 million, you would make a visual constructed picture of this luxurious house.
Internal Representations
You can think in 12 different ways. These different ways are like building blocks that you use to create what goes on inside your head.
Every time you make a picture in your head, hear a sound, smell an internal smell, taste an internal taste, or feel an internal touch, you are making an internal representation.
And these internal representations are going on inside your head, 24 hours a day. And there aren’t just a few—there are millions and millions of them!
You might say, “But I don’t notice millions and millions of internal representations. In fact, I only notice a few of these flashing in and out on occasions!”
The reason for this is that most of your internal representations happen at an unconscious level.
As you have learned, most of your processing power lies in the depths of your unconscious mind. Your conscious mind can only handle five to seven bits of information compared to your unconscious mind whose processing power is practically infinite!
What Modalities Do You Use To Create Music?
This is where things really get interesting!
Out of the six modalities, which ones do you use when creating fresh, inspiring music?
Well, you use your auditory modality. This is when you hear sounds in your head.
Another important one is your kinesthetic modality. For example, when you are “feeling inspired” there is usually a kinesthetic element in this state. Also, when you come up with a musical idea, you may get a kinesthetic sensation that gives you feedback as to whether the idea is great or not.
It’s also possible to involve your visual modality into the music creation process. In fact, it can be very useful to do this and is a fascinating part of the way a musical genius composes. (We’ll cover this much more later on.)
It’s rare, but some people can use their olfactory modality (internal taste) in the musical creation process.
Synesthesia :DSome FP will be happy about this.
Synesthesia is a condition that occurs in a small percentage of the population where there is a crossover between the way information is represented.
For example, people without synesthesia will represent a piece of music to themselves as “sounds,” and only use their auditory modality to represent this incoming information.
However, a person with synesthesia may hear this music and also see it as a color. This is the “synesthetes crossover” of the auditory and visual modalities.
Another example is somebody hearing sounds as both sound and taste. In other words the sound is being represented using both the auditory and olfactory modality.
These crossover relationships are called “synesthetic relationships.”
Ok. You might think, this is interesting, but how on earth does it apply to me making great, memorable songs?
Well, here’s why it’s important. When you study the musical geniuses of the world, there is something that all these great minds have in common. In fact, this seems to be true for geniuses in just about any field.
They all have synesthesia!
Isn’t that interesting?!
For example, when Mozart would write a piece of music, there are three clear synesthesia relationships. (More on this in "The Mozart Report")
There was a kinesthetic/auditory relationship; an auditory/visual relationship; and it’s also speculated that there was a relationship between sound and taste, i.e. auditory/olfactory.
And this sort of synesthesia seems to be common territory to any artist who has changed the face of the earth with their music.
Read these quotes from three musical greats and see if you can spot the synesthetic relationships… (Ok, the bolded text gives you a few clues!)
“I begin to elaborate the work in its breadth, its narrowness, its height and depth, and, since I am aware of what I want to do, the underlying idea never deserts me. It rises, it grows, I hear and see the image in front of me from every angle, as if it had been cast like a sculpture, and only the labor of writing it down remains…”-Beethoven
“A genuine creator… will… have the gift of seeing—illuminated in the mind’s eye, as if by a flash of lightning—a complete musical form… he will have the energy, persistence, and skill to bring this envisioned form into existence, so that even after months of work, not one of its details will be lost or fail to fit in to his photographic picture.”
Paul Hindermith
“Once you set up your idea of the material, you kind of sit back. You look at it. You think about it, and you feel it. And then, if you’re sensitive to it, it starts to tell you what it wants to do. It’s like it starts to move in a certain direction. If you’re sensitive, you’ll just kind of say ‘um humh,’ and then you’ll just start writing it down… These are amorphous images that I am speaking of now, not the eighth notes or sixteenth notes or b-flats. It’s kind of like a painting, but not exactly. It’s an abstract image.”- Michael Colgrass (Pulitzer prize-winning composer)
Here’s The Good News
Two things: Firstly, there is a growing body of evidence that suggests that everyone is born with synesthesia. It’s just that as we grow older we learn to suppress it (among many other things, such as our genius musical ideas!)

When you listen to somebody talk you can even notice this bottled up synesthesia come out in their speech patterns. They might say something like, “The color blue is cool, while red is hot.”
This suggests that there is a synesthetic relationship between color and temperature or kinesthetic (touch).
This is a visual/kinesthetic synesthesia.
Neurologist Richard Cytowic, in a study of people who were born fully synesthetic, hypothesized that the intertwining of senses must occur deep in the limbic system. This portion of the brain is completely outside our awareness and is responsible for primitive drives, such as hunger, emotion, and sexual desire.
This means that everyone has synesthesia relationships happening all the time. It’s just that for most of the population, it happens outside of their awareness.
The second important thing is that there are exercises and procedures you can do that will encourage you to notice these synesthetic relationships in your music creation process.
Now, I’m not suggesting you develop fully blown synesthesia here—not at all. There can be many drawbacks to having a strong dose of this condition, and most of the “co-mingling of the senses” are best done in your unconscious, outside of your awareness.
But you can learn to use multiple modalities in your musical creation process that will enable you to utilize your brain in a similar way to the geniuses in the quotes above. Later in this book you will learn procedures to help you become aware of your musical co-mingling of senses. And it will be as fascinating an experience for you as it was for me!
 
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Best thread of all time. Thank you. I asked an internal question, and now, tomorrow I better make the best beats I've ever made and I better play the best few rounds of modern warfare 2 that I've ever played.
 
"Just as electricity or gravity make no distinctions or judgments as to WHO they work for, Universal Laws operate in the same precise, immutable and unwavering fashion..."

"You have been given the ability as well as the inalienable right of free will as we all have to consciously or unconsciously choose what your individual life experience will consist of..."

"What you will soon discover and realize is that these falsely formed beliefs which are directly responsible for determining and projecting your "perception of reality", will reflect back to you outcomes...physical outcomes in the way of events, conditions and circumstances in exact proportion to the "beliefs" and perceptions you hold....that you are actually often times "unconsciously" attracting and drawing to you more of what you "consciously" claim that you choose not to experience into your life!"

EPIC

---------- Post added at 06:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:38 PM ----------

you were intended to live a life determined by and based only on your choosing...

again...powerful statement
 
This for me is like a light bulb being switched back on in my head, Ive been in a block for months upon months now and now because of this thread I realised why I got into it and how to get out of it.

Basically Id heard a couple of good tunes on the radio which I loved and played over and over again and was like shit I have to make something like that. So for all these months ive been CONCIOUSLY thinking about how I can re create something similar, pretty much suicide in a creative world. I read this, thread thought about how I want my stuff to sound like, watched TV for a while came back with a clear mind and stuff just came flowing out. From a position of having nothing ive now got 3 different songs in the making and its all because of this.

Its often been said that people with mental 'issues' have gone on to create the most innovative things. These people often seem a little weird and in their own little world. Is this 'little world' they are in their sub conscious mind? I think it is, they can just zone in and out of it when ever they want and the more you think about it its not a issue or disability, its a gift. No im not talking about being in a vegetated state like Stevie Hawkins, just the people that seem abit weird and 'out there' you know, the quiet kid who got picked on at school etc.

As for the 'laws of vibration' part, do people like certain songs/genres partly because the vibrations created by the music are in tune with something in their mind, like the vibrations appeal to them. After all each sound is just a vibration, just different genres use these vibrations slightly differently. Actually I think im just looking to much into it lol.

But seriously there definately is something about this, the way everything just clicked cant be coincidence can it?

---------- Post added at 03:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:05 AM ----------

"Just as electricity or gravity make no distinctions or judgments as to WHO they work for, Universal Laws operate in the same precise, immutable and unwavering fashion..."

"You have been given the ability as well as the inalienable right of free will as we all have to consciously or unconsciously choose what your individual life experience will consist of..."

"What you will soon discover and realize is that these falsely formed beliefs which are directly responsible for determining and projecting your "perception of reality", will reflect back to you outcomes...physical outcomes in the way of events, conditions and circumstances in exact proportion to the "beliefs" and perceptions you hold....that you are actually often times "unconsciously" attracting and drawing to you more of what you "consciously" claim that you choose not to experience into your life!"

EPIC

---------- Post added at 06:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:38 PM ----------

you were intended to live a life determined by and based only on your choosing...

again...powerful statement

Its all powerful but obvious, we have been brought up to live by rules set way in the past. A car HAS to have 4 wheels, a plane has to have 2 wings etc. Imagine if a baby was born and then locked in a house all its life so it never seen the outside world, then was (when it was older) asked to design a motorised box to transport people one place to another, or was asked to make some music. What would it produce having never heard or seen any music or car before (i.e not knowing about pre defined rules)?

shit even TIME is a rule that was brought to us by man, 'time' itself is not a product of mother nature yet it dictates our whole lives. For example its 3:15am here so I should really be going to bed because its 'late'.
 
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But seriously there definately is something about this, the way everything just clicked cant be coincidence can it?
Nope :cheers:

---------- Post added at 09:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:20 PM ----------

I was going to make a new thread and put it in the Break Room.But this is basically the same subject.Here one of the best meditation techniques i have done.I'm not going to say what the guy who wrote this technique, is for because he had a hidden agenda.But please use with CAUTION Do not do this at work or before driving. This exercise activates the quadrants and enhances the synaptic
activity. This intern puts the consciousness in an elevated state of
alertness that the subconscious picks up on, it literally puts you in
the information stream .The colors represent a
frequency that like everything in existence are made up of energy.

It's quite simple. Either sit comfortably or lie down. Close your eyes
and begin breathing deeply and evenly through your nose. At the top of
your head, imagine your brain being divided by a + sign into four
quadrants. Now put your attention in the right front quadrant and
picture the Color Red. Keep your attention fully in that quadrant with
the color red prevalent in your mind's eye. After a minute or so, move
your attention straight back and put your attention in the right rear
quadrant and picture the Color Blue, and keep your attention and the
color blue there. After a minute or so, move your attention diagonally
towards the left front quadrant and picture the Color Green,and keep
your attention and the color green there for a minute or so. Now move
your attention straight back to the left rear quadrant and picture the
Color bright Yellow, and leave your attention and the color
there for a moment.

Now move your attention diagonally forward to the right front quadrant
and again picture the color red. That imaginary diagonal line should
more or less intersect the center of the + sign you started with. Simply
repeat the process over and over. You'll begin to recognize that you're
describing a figure of 8 over the top of your head. When your quadrants
are active and balanced, you should feel warmth in the right front
quadrant, coolness in the right rear quadrant, coolness in the front quadrant and warmth in the left rear quadrant. View attachment 28092
 
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First time i did that technique,it felt like someone turning on the light Bulb to my Brain.
 
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This is alot of information to take down. I wish I could do that meditation technique now, but I have to leave the house soon.

It's crazy though. The way that ALL of this is useful, every last word, and it's things that most people will never realize, this is the kind of stuff that separates people from successful people.
 
the best work always comes when you have no walls, no ceilings, no restraints, no expectations, no pressure, no containers,
and just like water............. it flows out of you
 
This is a great post. The power of the unconscious mind truly is limitless. Tap into your unconscious mind to obtain the powers of the immortals :D I once saw an image of a Buddhist monk that sat in one spot and burned himself to death without flinching in protest to the brutal acts committed by his government. This is the power of the mind. Hopefully you use your mind to create dope beatz instead of suicide though.
 
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Sike Naw, lol

This is one of the best threads I've ever read. I've been curious as to why this years old thread has been floating around lately, but I was hesitant to do all the reading, lol.

With a lot of points that are made here, I realize that some of these things have been at work in my mind all along. I've always talked on FP about how I know so little about being able to formally recognize chords, scales, notes, much anything that has been defined by musicians as rules. I sometimes feel like a dumbass for admitting that I pay so little attention to those rules when I create music, but all the same I've always felt sure about what I create with the internal processes I've always naturally used.
I have certain ideals in my head that a lot of people could disagree with me on and give me reasons as to why I'm mistaken, but in my head it all makes perfect sense. When it comes to things like music, I always question the standards of the majority if my own point of view or gut feeling doesn't line up with it. It's hard for me to accept things "just because". If I disagree with something, you HAVE to give me a legitimate reason or, better yet, straight PROOF that what I disagree with is fact before I will let go of my doubts and cosign it.

For example, when somebody says that they can't see a certain type of artist or an artist period on one of my beats, I always want to disagree, because I can hear it in my own head that an artist can fit there. I guess in this case, that's my constructed auditory modality at work. But in this case, I tend to concede if the person reviewing my work has more experience than me. I've wondered if that could be a detriment to my own potential.

People can get frustrated with me because I'm so stubborn or question things too much. I can just see potential promise or benefit in my own POV of something or I'm just trying to come to a crystal clear conclusion on something that on the surface made no sense to me.
 
I don't think the mind is all that great. Of course there is a ton of unlocked potential in everyone. But most people cannot think outside of themselves or their circumstances to bring ideas to life.

So the mind holds the answers but people are not able to access the inner depths of their minds. So most potential goes wasted. Isn't that great.
 
You think that is interesting you should read Think & Grow Rich. Its basically 400 pages of that lol. Cept for replace apples and phone numbers with success and money.

I wasn't too impressed with the book. Maybe I've read to much stuff like that that's why.
 
I wasn't too impressed with the book. Maybe I've read to much stuff like that that's why.

I really like that book. The only thing I really don't appreciate is how they seem to jump over the importance of taking action. I think another one of Napoleon Hills book "The Law Of Success" is much better. It's long as hell so here's a summary:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Law_of_Success

It's a tremendous work, really. Very worth the read. But one needs to invest a lot of time.
 
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