Childlike mind

When we were little, our imagination just exploded with fantasies, improvisations, dances, and plays of all kinds. At four, we all told a joke which hasn't been told before. At seven, we all made a drawing which was unique and original. The world was one big adventure and miracle, a mystery to be revealed (for the brave few it still is).

But once we got older, society's rules made everything clear and put everything in the boxes of how to behave, how to learn, how to speak, and how to play.

As organists, we learned about the right notes and the wrong notes, didn't we? As organists we learned about consonances and dissonances and yes, about the forbidden parallel fifths and octaves.

But what if we remembered how to be kids again? What if we stayed curious at least some of the time we are on the organ bench? And what if we weren't afraid to hit the wrong note?

As Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra says, the secret of true spontaneous music making lies in having a childlike mind.

Try it. Hit the wrong note and see where it leads.