As I began studying jazz, many of my close friends were not jazz musicians but artists of other kinds: filmmakers, visual artists, and fashion designers. Although we could not relate to one another on the granular level of our practice, we could relate to many of the same concepts concerning starting projects and finding inspiration. 

Later when I started composing, I found that most of my writing was sporadic, and based on internal emotional states. I also occasionally tried using poetry to start composing. Then, during my first formal composition lessons, I was introduced to writing by taking a more intangible conceptual approach, such as writing a song based on a color. This piqued my interest and paired well with my general fascination for learning about the creative process. 

As I considered my artistic future, I hoped to forge a career path centered on my original compositions. Wynton Marsalis, Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, discussed the future of jazz in the next millennium by saying, “I think that there will be more emphasis put on presentation and composition as opposed to just soloing” (Milkowski 2000) The importance of composition can also be seen with the recent push to include composition in middle and high-school jazz curriculums. Dr. David Fodor, suggests “infusing” jazz composition, much like performance ensembles, as a part of the curriculum in school jazz programs. He notes that “national music standards (www.nafme.org) include composing as an integral component of music learning, yet we often overlook the opportunity for our students to create and perform their own jazz music” (Fodor 2023). Similarly, Dr. Douglas Owens advises in The Oxford Handbook of Music Composition Pedagogy that “time invested in any creative musicianship during the jazz ensemble rehearsal, including composition and improvisation, will benefit the student comprehension and musicianship levels” (Owens 2024). These examples demonstrate the shift to recognizing composition as an essential skill for the modern jazz artist.

I enjoy writing when I feel “inspired” but this feels unpredictable and unsustainable—I do not want to wait around to be able to write. As visual artist Chuck Close says, “Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work” (CBS 2023). Luckily, research on creativity has revealed that anyone can be creative and creativity is a practicable skill. Psychologist Robert Sternberg argues, “People often speak of creativity as though it were a prized possession of only a few… We reject this point of view. We believe that creativity, like intelligence, is something that everyone possesses…and like any talent it is something virtually anyone can develop in varying degrees” (Sternberg 1995). One of the most widely renowned scholars on the value of creativity, Ken Robinson “believes that everyone has the capacity to be creative, and that creativity is something that can be nurtured and learned” the author of the article notes that “this is a claim that is now widely accepted among scholars and researchers” (Sullivan 2015). 

Now that it has been determined that creativity is a skill rather than an unexplainable phenomenon only accessible by the few, what is creativity? There are many proposed definitions. In Chetan Walia’s article, “A Dynamic Definition of Creativity,” in which leading definitions of creativity are discussed, he summarizes that “creativity is an act or process (Kahl & Hansen, 2015) of discovery, and creativity, for the creator, may lead to several creations, even emotionally and mentally (Vygotsky, 2004)” (Walia 2019). Based on this definition, creativity can be viewed as a result of deliberate action (an act or process), that leads to creation(s). Additionally, researchers Pearce and Wiggins say “we would expect creative individuals to consistently and continually generate creative products” (Pearce 2001) emphasizing the necessity of consistency for those creating. 

I have encountered little discussion of creativity practice beyond the technical/theoretical approach with regard to jazz composition. Jazz composition is often taught from the arranging and theory perspective. For example, one of the few well-known textbooks solely about jazz composition (a textbook from Berklee College of Music), Jazz Composition Theory and Practice by Ted Pease, moves sequentially through technical and theoretical exercises (Pease 2003). Given the opportunity for more resources in other approaches, this research aims to explore a different and valuable perspective. Developing a creativity practice in composition can be a tool to support composing over the long term, and as composition is becoming more important for the individual jazz artist, this research is timely. This research is an experiment in approaching creativity from other disciplinary perspectives. My hope for this research is to provide methods for promoting creativity and getting “inspired” for composing. I look at other genres of art for their perspectives on the process. The six methods used are a Daily Method from author Julia Cameron, an Animal Method from poet Ted Hughes, a Haiku Method from authors Linda Anderson and Derek Neale, an Improvisational Method from choreographer Twyla Tharp, a Habit Method from choreographer Jonathan Burrows, and a Modeling Method from visual artist Austin Kleon. These methods provide a basic framework and a stimulus to start the act/process of creativity with the end result being the creation of music. The goal of the research is not to determine which method is best but, by evaluating the process and musical results of each method of composition, the goal is to investigate the question: how can creativity exercises from the disciplines of writing, choreography, and visual art be used to explore the jazz compositional process?

This question will be answered through the documentation of the six methods starting with the writing methods, moving to choreography, and finishing with visual art. In each section, I will recount my writing process and experience. In the Animal, Haiku, and Improvisation methods, I will also compare this to the experience of ten colleagues who tested these methods as well. Each section will conclude with a full musical work created from the method and my evaluation of the resulting composition.