Creativity Quote by Jules Shear

It lands like a throwaway question, but it’s really a tiny mutiny against how expertise gets enforced. “Shouldn’t the low strings be at the bottom?” is the kind of plainspoken logic a beginner asks, the kind a room full of trained players might smile at and then shut down. Jules Shear, a songwriter steeped in craft, knows the power of that “shouldn’t”: it exposes how many “rules” in music are partly physics, partly habit, partly inherited intimidation.

On the surface, it’s about instrument layout - guitar, bass, maybe even orchestral thinking - where “low” sounds feel like they ought to live “down.” The joke is that the world doesn’t reliably cooperate. Standard guitar tuning puts the lowest-pitched string physically closest to your face, not the floor. Violins and cellos invert expectations across families. The question pokes at the cognitive dissonance musicians simply normalize, and it does it with a polite tone that makes the disruption harder to dismiss.

The subtext is about orientation: how we map sound to space, and how tradition trains your hands before it convinces your brain. Shear’s line doubles as a songwriter’s credo: if something feels backwards, ask anyway. The intent isn’t to be naive; it’s to reclaim curiosity as a legitimate tool, even in rooms where competence is performed.

Culturally, it’s also an artist’s jab at gatekeeping. Music culture loves mystique - “don’t question it, just practice.” This question quietly insists that common sense deserves a seat at the music stand.