#16
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Between August and November I wrote about twenty songs, a lot of them keepers and enough to write a second album I worked on with a friend. I haven’t written anything I am satisfied with in the last two months though. I do wish I could tap into creativity all the time but for me it comes and goes without explanation.
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#17
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Artistic creativity is a very unpredictable visitor. It arrives unannounced and departs in the same manner. It can't be convinced to stay, nor will it leave a trace of itself behind.
I write a lot of melodies. That's pretty much my interest. Some call it noodling around and it's true. I think that's where originality lies. For that reason I stopped actively listening to published music in 76. I just sort of drifted away from it when writing shifted my interest. Not being a wordsmith, I will take poems and put them to melodies I write. It's like a collaboration. Anyway, poetry has a wealth of dynamics available to assist the writer in honing his craft. A by-product of it is the exposure to various writing styles, word usages and associations. |
#18
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I find songwriting is no different than any other specialty; it takes practice. I can look at the song lyrics I wrote over 30 years ago and compare them to now (or any in the past 20 years) and there's a significant improvement. I'm sure any writer would tell you the same thing ... write.
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#19
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This might not help with organizational aspects of songwriting, but the best advise I ever received is allow your self to suck as a writer. It’s ok to write crappy songs as long as you are writing. This shuts the editor off. And every now and then you will surprise yourself with a song that does not suck
I have loads of crappy songs. But I now have a collection of songs that I feel proud of. They would never have been written if I did not allow my self to write the crappy ones. And some of the crappy ones have potential to improve.
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David Webber Round-Body Furch D32-LM MJ Franks Lagacy OM Rainsong H-WS1000N2T Stonebridge OM33-SR DB Stonebridge D22-SRA Tacoma Papoose Voyage Air VAD-2 1980 Fender Strat A few Partscaster Strats MIC 60s Classic Vib Strat Last edited by Mbroady; 01-25-2020 at 05:05 AM. |
#20
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A few suggestions:
1. Try to start your day with a stream of consciousness, full page of writing. Ignore your inner critic and just write whatever comes in your head. It doesn’t have to make sense or have ideas that connect. Just write from pure instinct. Fill the page and put it away. After some time - hours or days, go back and look at what you wrote. There will be mostly junk, but usually one or two phrases, lines or words will grab your attention. The exercise is as important as the result. 2. I often take the challenge of using a new theoretical device in a song. For example, I was learning how to use secondary dominants to spice up chord progressions and decided that I needed a song that skillfully changed keys using this device. The challenge provides some inspiration in and of itself. 3. I will sometimes shamelessly steal one device from a song I love. It could be the rhyme scheme, a syncopated rhythm, a broad lyrical idea or the melody, but inverted. The key is to take only one factor and use it as a starting point. It gives the writing process some direction and no one will be able to tell where you “borrowed” from. 4. Keep a songwriting book close at hand. Write stuff down. Use your phone to record stuff as much as you can. It keeps good ideas from slipping through the cracks. 5. Give yourself permission to write some bad songs. Often perfect is the enemy of good. Your greatest work will come eventually, but sometimes trying to make everything great will just sap your momentum and prevent you from writing anything at all. 6. Don’t let emotional moments go by without using them to create. It can be good for your soul to do the self examination that writing provides. Like a self discovery journal but with melody, harmony and rhyme. 7. I sometimes find that singing with an artificial harmony generator can spark something. Those algorithms can be so inspiring. I’m sorry Sean, just kidding. Have fun.
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Mike 2018 Furch D31TSR 2008 Martin OMCRE 1992 Takamine EAN20C 1996 Fender Telecaster w/ Barden Nashville set 1986 Charvel Model 5 2005 Art & Lutherie Ami 1980ish Hohner copy of a 'burst |
#21
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I have just started writing songs. For years, I had written non-fiction, but never songs or poetry. The way it seems to work for me, is first, I need to daydream a bit. Then, a phrase, be it musical or prose, seems to start the process. If I am lucky, it starts to grow and morph and bloom. That being said, I am filling notebooks with seeds that didn’t sprout.
On TrueFire.com, Ellis Paul has created several courses on songwriting. He developed a couple of graphic posters aimed at generating ideas and refining songs. His thinking is to engage as many senses as possible in order to spur your creativity. Check his stuff out as it can really lead you to a path that pushes ideas forward. Enjoy the journey. Rick
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#22
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Artistic creativity is a very unpredictable visitor. It arrives unannounced and departs in the same manner. It can't be convinced to stay, nor will it leave a trace of itself behind.
Love this!! It's a fabulous lyric all by itself!
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1993 Bourgeois JOM 1967 Martin D12-20 2007 Vines Artisan 2014 Doerr Legacy 2013 Bamburg FSC- 2002 Flammang 000 12 fret 2000 McCollum Grand Auditorium ______________________________ Soundcloud Spotify Mike McKee/Fred Bartlett Spotify playlist |
#23
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I watched a very good documentary on Bob Weir, called "The Other One"...I think it's still showing on Netflix...
He was talking about songwriting, and that he had spent a lot of nights writing when he would have rather been asleep in bed... He said, "It comes through the window when it WANTS to come through the window..."
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"Music is much too important to be left to professionals." |
#24
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More good stuff, folks; thanks. Some fundamentals are definitely emerging here, and they are familiar because, I’m sure, they’re true. One being keep writing! Even the Beatles wrote some clunkers and if any among us thinks we’re going to bat .800 with our songs, I’m sure we’re sadly mistaken. I’d think that a 1-in-10 songs being a keeper is a pretty good batting average. And that’s an issue with me — expectations are too big and when you don’t attain them, you discourage yourself. The idea of getting ideas down right away is of course a big one and I use my phone, as well as pen and paper, to do that. Capture even little nuggets when they appear. I do that both with audio and lyrical ideas. I just have to do more of it, and keep the ball moving, doing it regularly and consistently. I also loved the thought of creativity being an unpredictable visitor — definitely true, and all the more reason to practice the above habits — again, regularly and consistently.
Keep ‘em coming; I know many of us will be reading.... And LaughingBoy — six good tips and one funny one!
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.[SIZE="2"] - Sean Debut album Time Will Tell now available on all the usual platforms -- visit SeanLewisMusic |
#25
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Quote:
And borrowing/stealing doesn't even have to be from a song you love. Just take a riff, melody or chord progression you heard and use it as a starting point. I've even gone as far as to take the whole "feel" of a song and try to write something similar. In the end, it's not similar at all but incorporates elements I want. |
#26
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Try these suggestions:
1. Give yourself permission to write imperfect songs. Make them as good as you can right now, but perfect can be the enemy of good. 2. I will sometimes use something that I’ve recently learned in music theory as a starting point. For instance, I learned what chromatic mediants are and then tried to write a song using that idea. Another topic could be using various secondary dominant chords or other borrowed chords to spice up familiar progressions. The added melodic motion often inspires. 3. Sometimes I will shamelessly steal one part of a song that I love. Nothing too obvious, but maybe a rhyme scheme, a melodic contour (maybe inverted or played in a minor key), or a rhythmic syncopation. It gives you a starting framework rather than a blank page. 4. Keep a notebook to write down phrases you hear that grab your ear. Record new things that you play on your phone. These things accumulate and then might be the spark that drives creative momentum. 5. First thing in the morning, write a full page of stream of consciousness expression in a journal. Don’t think, don’t worry about spelling, grammar or sentence structure; just let it flow. It works as a creative exercise to get your brain to stop listening to your internal editor - who can be the killer of good ideas. Sometimes looking back on your journal sheets, you’ll find a gem of an idea; a rhyme, a metaphor, a phrase, some alliteration - something that will inspire creativity. The more you do this the better you’ll get at it. 6. I’ve found that a great source of original inspiration for melody and harmony is to sing into a device like a TC Helicon Harmony G-XT pedal . Sorry Sean, just kidding.
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Mike 2018 Furch D31TSR 2008 Martin OMCRE 1992 Takamine EAN20C 1996 Fender Telecaster w/ Barden Nashville set 1986 Charvel Model 5 2005 Art & Lutherie Ami 1980ish Hohner copy of a 'burst |
#27
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Quote:
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"Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans."-John Lennon 2015 Taylor 512ce 12 fret early 80's Ovation Ultra 1517 2011 Seagull Entourage Rustic 2011 Taylor Limited NS214ce 2010 Taylor 512c 2016 Ibanez AG75 2014 Taylor GS Mini Koa e 2018 Loar LH 301t 1998 Breedlove Fall Limited # 10 of 20 Redwood/Walnut |
#28
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I am not familiar with the name. That does not mean the person who gave me the advice is not. I will check out the book, thanks
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David Webber Round-Body Furch D32-LM MJ Franks Lagacy OM Rainsong H-WS1000N2T Stonebridge OM33-SR DB Stonebridge D22-SRA Tacoma Papoose Voyage Air VAD-2 1980 Fender Strat A few Partscaster Strats MIC 60s Classic Vib Strat |
#29
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Quote:
Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way has some interesting insights and practices to help artists get out of their own way. But again, reading books can become a rabbit hole of excuses to avoid the thing that we fear most - the work.
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seeindouble.com Yamaha AC3M Martin GPCPA4 Martin DXC1E Martin DXM Alvarez PJ311C *** TC Bodyrez T-Rex Soulmate Acoustic Mackie ProFX12V2 Mixer QSC 12" Powered Speakers Alto 8" Stage Monitor |
#30
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Not nearly what I should have been doing
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Enjoy the Journey.... Kev... KevWind at Soundcloud KevWind at YouYube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...EZxkPKyieOTgRD System : Studio system Avid Carbon interface , PT Ultimate 2023.12 -Mid 2020 iMac 27" 3.8GHz 8-core i7 10th Gen ,, Ventura 13.2.1 Mobile MBP M1 Pro , PT Ultimate 2023.12 Ventura 12.2.1 |