Hi,
I actually have all the patience and will necessary to learn all that is needed to translate what's in my head. When I was talking about music psychology, I wasn't looking for another way out--I was just looking for an added addition that would be ideal for really helping me out. But, of course, it doesn't exist.
It could exist. I never doubted it. The problem is that I hear things in my dreams that are likely to be instruments that will be created and played 200 years from now, if a synthesizer effect does not come up with the sound before then!
Translating what is in your head, FOR ME, is not hard, but the more you do the better it feels and the strogner it gets, until one day you put together a set of notes, lines, or words, that clicks big time. When this comes is not an issue, but if it comes really early, it is harder to learn backwards in my experience.
Now in terms of translating what I hear in my head, there is also another major problem which is that when I do attempt in creating the notes, I cannot even tell if the notes I've created match with what's in my head as I do not have a means of direct comparison between the notes in my head and the notes I've created....
I don't think this is as much about the "note" (or chord) as it is the context that it is placed in, and the notes/chords around it. This has been my experience in writing, and the main reason why I make sure I keep the movie going and write as fast as possible and worry about little details later. One interruption has the unffortunate effect of stopping it all completely, or simply change the course of events.
But, as is the case in poetry with "pregnant pauses", or what I call "thinking pauses", I tend to space things out, but some folks think that my use of ... (dotdotdot) is stupid and does not help their reading and comprehension. But it is the only thing I know to use at that moment ... basically we need to take a deep breath ... a sort of Pinter pause without the smoke rings, you could say!
Therefore, I cannot tell if the song I created has the same feel as the one in my head or if it's a completely different song with a completely different feel.
In my experience, this means there was an interruption in the process that broke the stream of consciousness.
Therefore, I would have to rely on a trial and error process in which I present the song I've created to the audience and see if they agree that it portrays the feelings that I've described (the feelings I've described for the real song in my head).
I don't. I go back to the "source", and try to define it better. The only issue/problem here is that these inner seconds can be VERY fleeting and it is too late for you to go back and try to make them come alive again. Usually, they only have one optimum time span for it to happen, and when the thinking mind gets involved, some of it loses its freshness and what appealed to you in the first place!
I go back to the "source" and "moment" if I can. If not, that is not exactly a moment that is ready to "come down the stairs" as I like to say. If not, then we start somewhere else and it is a new experience.
I, again, understand that everyone feels differently about music. But there are, in fact, songs that do successfully portray emotion across to the audience.
I would suggest that you not compare what you are trying to learn to anyone else. It's good to "know" and "appreciate" these emotions when you find and see them, but comparing yourself to them is too confusing and will stop/destroy your ability to define your own.
It's a similar thing in spiritual exercises like meditation, which I would suggest to you to help define/work the inner vision better, when you finally get to the point where you can see and feel the light and there is a massive moment in there ... do you just want to observe it, or do you want to try it and be "in it". Most folks are too self-conscious to try something this difficult and deep. The funny thing is that it is one of the finest experiences, that teaches you so much more about artistry than any word ever will in your life.
Once "inside", you no longer need explanations and definitions. And your hands accidentally find the right notes, and you will surprise yourself.
... I completely feel that the songs in my head have generalized feelings to them that will get through to the audience and that how I feel about these songs in my head are not just my own interpretations.
I try not to judge whether Mick Jaeger or Madonna or Rhianna are true with their words or not. ANYONE's expression is anyone's expression and that's that. I tend to not spend time in a lot of this, because there is too much out there, that can distort the whole thing badly.
The only thing that comes to my mind is that I can see some nifty colors when I hear some folks sing, or play. In other cases, there is no "color" for me, and I tend to think that their playing is way too mechanical for it to flow, although there are some folks that absolutely magical with their mechanics. Guitarist Jon McGlothlen is one such excellent example. At this point things blur a bit, but one has to appreciate the musicianship involved.
... But weren't famous composers such as Mozart and Beethoven successful at doing this?
I don't know, and sometimes I doubt it. I don't think that they had as much appreciation in their time as we do a lot of popular artists. Remember that there was no "media" to carry the music across the oceans, and most of it that did would be off a manuscript of some sort, as long as the Catholic Church in Europe did not get their hands on it.
The history of music, and any art, has been about people that CHANGED things, and did something different. It could/should be stated that they were capable of seeing something else and they learned how to translate their own vision into music. But we have to be careful with this ... as understanding the inner side of these things is not about "understanding" as it is about our own feelings and emotions, and that is way too subjective to put down as a "process", and we need to accept that we're all different.
Btw, I do not consider, progressive and experimental music as "songs". To me it is all MUSIC, and deserves the credit and consideration. There is far better rock music and jazz music these days, than there is contemporary classical music, that is not yet being accepted because we're stuck on old academic models.
The mind is not a "model". It is a person. And it does not fit a "mold".
So you either study your own abilities and forget the others, or you will end up confused in the semantics of it all. It does not mean, however, that these other folks can not be appreciated. There are a lot of very good folks out there, that do things in a very interesting way.