Don’t get hung up on a single line of your song. If you find yourself hitting a creative wall with one part, just write down the general idea and move on to the next one. You can come back and refine it later.
By doing this, you’ll create a certain rhythm to your songwriting workflow. This will allow you to produce content with regularity and it will reinforce your general discipline as a songwriter. It will also ensure you don’t find yourself in a situation where your songwriting habits are the reason you can’t finish a song.
If you’re always trying to use the same sounds and shapes, try using your available musical effects or software to inspire your writing.
You’d be interested how you can create musical segments that come directly for timing and rhythmic effects. Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine, for example, uses effects to push his creativity to the next level.
If you’re already thinking about song dynamics as you’re composing each part of your song, then you’re giving yourself an advantage performance-wise. Are some parts going to be louder than others? Is there a need to create smooth transitions between the segments?
While most songwriters can put a melody together, very few are aware of the importance of musical dynamics. Figure out the dynamic range of each song you write as you write them, and your compositions will doubtlessly be enhanced.
If you’re writing with a band, then you could take a page out of creative writing workshops. Have each member write their own song and then take turns offering constructive criticisms on everyone’s efforts.
Check out this Songwriting Workshop Handbook for more information on doing your own workshopping. Assuming you manage to do it successfully, you could engender a strong creative dynamic in your band.
By finding a solid balance between repetition and novelty, your songs will be considerably strengthened. This is because listeners like to hear elements of the familiar mixed with unexpected and unique approaches.
If your songs have ever seemed as though they weren’t engaging or as if they weren’t transitioning fluidly, then your songs probably are lacking in this balance.
That amp goes up to 11, so crank it up. This doesn’t actually mean you have to play the loudest show possible (although it helps), but make sure to crank your energy level all the way up (plus one!).
If you do this during every live performance, you’re bound to gain some kind of grassroots fanbase. After all, if you can’t get excited about your music, then why should your fans? This is just one of the many reasons to play live, but it’s one of the best.
You’re creating a narrative whenever you’re putting lyrics together into a song. Without context and a well constructed narrative flow, your listeners aren’t going to know where your lyrics are going. They’ll get left behind.
If you’re looking to combine music and the personal narrative, all it really takes is some conscientious work. The personal narrative, specifically how it interacts with music, has the potential to engage your listeners on an emotional level.
Image via Flickr by Eva Rinaldi Celebrity and Live Music Photographer
Hard work and persistence will take you 90% of the way to greatness; raw talent only accounts for the other 10% of success. Don’t ever fool yourself into thinking you can just float through on your natural abilities.
Being naturally gifted, in fact, has an interesting effect of putting you at something of a disadvantage. You may feel more complacent if you don’t think it’s 100% necessary to practice and work as much as possible. Check out this blog post titled “Talent or Hard Work?” to find out more about this phenomenon.
Use your various senses as launchpads for your creativity. Any of them — touch, smell, taste, sight, sound — can serve as a basis for your songwriting inspiration.
Just by developing your descriptive skills, you’ll be better able to enhance the effectiveness of your lyrics. It’s one of the primary ways of how to increase your creativity. Pay heed and you’ll reap the benefits.
In addition to your main lyrical/musical hook, you should attempt to create and include secondary hooks to generate and augment your listeners’ interest. Think about inserting short guitar, bass or piano riffs between your song’s lines, or add a chord change when there’s a pause in the lead vocals, or maybe a catchy ad-lib.
Doing this will potentially have the effect of making your song more dynamic. It will also almost certainly make the composition more memorable in the minds of your listeners.
From an objective standpoint, it can be hard to tell if the song you’ve written is really any good. Often you’re too close to the work to judge it in any meaningful way.
This is also complicated by the fact that songs are a complex machines with a ton of different theoretical components. However, there are some songwriting virtues that are older than the English language — check your song against them and see how they stand up.
Although it may seem like extra work, put some time into expanding your vocabulary. Some phrases might be laden with meaning, but some words likely will better fit the image you want to evoke.
Essentially speaking, there are two types of songwriters — the ones who write only when inspired and those who create their songs on a structured schedule. However, if you just wait for lightning to strike, you’re missing out on a lot of meaningful opportunities.
As they say, genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. You might ask: Is a great songwriter made or born? The answer, simply enough, is both. If you aren’t taking your god-given talents and honing them to their full potential, then you’re missing a serious opportunity for greatness.
Don’t get too tied to your original idea within your writing process. By being too rigid about your concept, you might be missing out on an unexpected epiphany.
Instead, think of that idea as a blueprint to guide you to where the song needs to go. By doing this, you’ll be giving your song flexibility to speak to you about what it needs to become complete.
Avoid being too literal in your songwriting. As the old adage about writing goes, “show, don’t tell.” Never miss an opportunity to use strong imagery and metaphors.
Just because songs aren’t usually a visual medium, this saying is still relevant. The secret to “show don’t tell” writing is to focus more on how you’re trying to say something rather than simply saying it.
