Things sound ‘right’ to us when they’re familiar – when we hear what we expect to hear.  And things often sound ‘wrong’ just because they’re unexpected.

I can think of numerous times when I’ve heard some unfamiliar music that just didn’t sound ‘right’.  I disliked it… but later, when I got used to it, I came to love it.

So an experienced listener to music and songs learns to be aware that the unexpected will often sound bad at first – and that it’s better to listen with a willingness to be surprised and the knowledge that one’s tastes can change (quickly at times).

Mistaken first impressions also happen when writing.

Let’s say I’m writing a song (I usually write playing guitar) and I hear a sound in my head… or even just have a feeling that the harmony or melody should go in this direction.  I grab for that sound… and don’t get it.  My fingers find something ‘weird’, ‘wrong’, instead.  If I’m listening openly, this weird sound might be better than what I thought I was looking for.  It might be better than anything else in the song!  It might lead me to a whole new, better song.  But only if I’m listening – to myself – with an open mind.

(I’m not sure this kind of experience is always a complete accident.  Maybe sometimes my fingers are smarter than I am.)

This ‘making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear’  can also happen when just fooling around on the guitar, or when the fingers drift across a keyboard.

Sometimes I even make this process more intentional.  I play a chord or an interval or a melody… and then move one of my fingers one note away… listen to it… move another finger… etc.  Fool around, try things…  And just listen.  With a ‘beginners mind’, as they say.  When writing songs, conscious listening is useful.  Accidents happen… and that can be good.

If I hadn’t heard my ‘mistakes’ with an open mind, I know that a lot of my best songs, and some of the best things in my songs, would not exist.