• From: BELGIUM
  • Registered: 2007-01-27
  • Posts: 3,403

Topic: SONGS: THE MUSE, does she exist?

IN ANCIENT GREECE:
The muses are a sisterhood of goddesses or spirits, their number set at nine by Classical times,  who embody the arts and inspire the creation process with their graces through remembered and improvised song and stage, writing, traditional music, and dance.

There were three original Muses: Aoidē ("song" or "voice"), Meletē ("practice" or "occasion"), and Mnēmē ("memory"). Together, these three form the complete picture of the preconditions of poetic art in cult practice.
In Delphi three Muses were worshiped as well, but with other names: Nētē, Mesē, and Hypatē, which are the names of the three chords of the ancient musical instrument, the lyre.

Isn't this an amazing story? See this:
The canonical nine Muses, with their fields of patronage, as established "since the Renaissance", are:
* Calliope (the 'beautiful of speech'): chief of the muses and muse of epic or heroic poetry
* Clio (the 'glorious one'): muse of history
* Erato (the 'amorous one'): muse of love or erotic poetry, lyrics, and marriage songs
* Euterpe (the 'well-pleasing'): muse of music and lyric poetry
* Melpomene (the 'chanting one'): muse of tragedy
* Polyhymnia (the '[singer] of many hymns'): muse of sacred song, oratory, lyric, singing and rhetoric
* Terpsichore (the '[one who] delights in dance'): muse of choral song and dance
* Thalia (the 'blossoming one'): muse of comedy and bucolic poetry
* Urania (the 'celestial one'): muse of astronomy

So all these NINE muses with their specific task. They are HELPING AND INSPIRING YOU to create a beautiful song. There are only nine so it is IMPOSSIBLE that they inspire every song writer.
Where do you get inspiration? In love, nature, protest in fact even a mosquito can be subject for songs. MY THEORY + IF IT TAKES LONGER THAN 20 MINUTES YOUR SONG WON'T BE GOOD.
In my case, I have the "car crash" muse, inspiring me to write down what I have in mind.

HOW DO YOU SEE WRITING A SONG?

[color=blue]- GITAARDOCPHIL SAIS: TO CONQUER DEAD, YOU HAVE TO DIE[/color]   AND [color=blue] we are born to die[/color]
- MY GUITAR PLAYS EVERY STYLE = BLUES, ROCK, METAL, so I NEED TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY IT.
[color=blue]Civilization began the first time an angry person cast a word instead of a rock.[/color]

gitaardocphil's Website

  • From: Starkville, Mississippi USA
  • Registered: 2006-03-04
  • Posts: 2,069

Re: SONGS: THE MUSE, does she exist?

Hi doc!
The Muses are wonderful imagery to help describe inspiration and the creative process.  For me, the creative process is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.  An idea happens very quickly (1%) but it takes time and effort (99%) to convert any raw idea into something that is usable.

For me, it is rare for the 99% part to happen within 20 minutes.  Usually, it takes much longer - but the initial ideas (1%) always happen very suddenly.  I believe a very important part of being creative is to be open and sensitive to ideas - however, without some diligence and real effort these flashes of brilliance are gone and quickly forgotten.

In New Orleans, the nine Muses are all honored with street names in the old Uptown neighborhood.  Just past Lee Circle as you head 'up' St. Charles Avenue you will see the streets named after all the Muses.  However, Urania St. is no longer there - I believe it was obliterated by the construction of a modern multi-lane elevated highway.

"That darn Pythagorean Comma thing keeps messing me up!"
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_comma[/url]

James McCormick's Website

  • Zurf
  • Zurf
  • Blunt but well meaning moderator
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  • From: Virginia, USA
  • Registered: 2007-06-27
  • Posts: 7,522

Re: SONGS: THE MUSE, does she exist?

Don't exist.  Just a different name for blessings.

- Zurf

Granted B chord amnesty by King of the Mutants (Long live the king).
If it comes from the heart and you add a few beers... it'll be awesome! - Mekidsmom
When in doubt ... hats. - B.G. Dude
  • From: BELGIUM
  • Registered: 2007-01-27
  • Posts: 3,403

Re: SONGS: THE MUSE, does she exist?

Well James is this a joke or for real that NEW ORLEANS named 9 streets to the 9 muses?
When I started the topic and googled muse, I was really surprised to see the "story" of the muses.

If you are driving your car, DRIVING over a bridge, you can hear a kind of rhythm, the noise made by your car inspiring you? I did, and it was a really nice song. At home I remembered still a few things. So what if the "muse" hits you while driving? Do you register the basics on a cell phone or do you have always a "recording device" on the passenger's seat? Dictaphone, a zoom H4...
Or does the melody stays in your brains. It is really "dangerous"to continue listening to music in your car, your song shall be influenced by other songs.

[color=blue]- GITAARDOCPHIL SAIS: TO CONQUER DEAD, YOU HAVE TO DIE[/color]   AND [color=blue] we are born to die[/color]
- MY GUITAR PLAYS EVERY STYLE = BLUES, ROCK, METAL, so I NEED TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY IT.
[color=blue]Civilization began the first time an angry person cast a word instead of a rock.[/color]

gitaardocphil's Website

  • From: west TN
  • Registered: 2007-07-27
  • Posts: 48

Re: SONGS: THE MUSE, does she exist?

who knows where inspiration comes from?  Sometimes I can sit down with my songwriting partner (I do music and she does the lyrics) and we can come up with a song in a few minutes.  And there have been times when we have tried for hours and cant come up with anything.  Maybe it depends on your mood?  She writes better when shes angry.  lol  But we are on a roll now writing new songs and recording them in our studio.  We hope to have a new cd ready by late summer.

Bobby
kickin.ws

bobby6string's Website

  • From: Teesside
  • Registered: 2007-08-01
  • Posts: 94

Re: SONGS: THE MUSE, does she exist?

Well i've never actually written a full song as yet. Everything is just bits and bobs, odds and sods strewn over reams of paper initially and then later on my PC in a folder marked "Guitar Idea's and Samples"

Currently I just mess about with bits of notes in no particular order to find something that sounds good then when I do find a little lick that sounds good I work out what scale they are in and then work around it from there. At the moment i'm messing around alot to try and sweep pick with some efficiency so I can add that into a solo.

As far as chord progressions are concerned generally I will just mess around with open chords, bar chords and power chords until such a point I develop a good sounding rhythm section - or at least something that sounds good to me. Everything with me is unfortunately a jumbled mess at the moment as i've only been playing just over a year and still learning (saying that someone once told me it doesn't matter how long you've been playing your always learning)

My muse tends to be boredom coupled with hearing a catchy riff in a song or in some theme music on a game or tv show and that makes me start out from there

Wibble's Website