Songwriting Tools
Egg Timers & The Songwriting Process
Now that FAWM (February Album Writing Month – 14 songs in 28 days) has officially started it’s really important to find ways to make time to develop your songwriting ideas into completed songs. As you would already know, I’m a huge advocate of building a songwriting ideas archive and constantly fine tuning your songwriting process.
For quite a while now I’ve been adding to and maintaining quite a substantial songwriting ideas archive of my own and the challenge I’m faced with now is that I have so many songwriting ideas at my disposal, I don’t know which one to start with first.
I’m becoming paralysed by too much choice. Hmmm, maybe the answer lies in randomness and restriction. Confused? Ok, let me explain.
In my experience, I’ve found that giving yourself all the time in the world to complete something allows the beastie called procrastination and your inner critic to join forces and provide you with (what seem to be) very valid reasons for not doing what your supposed to be doing.
If you restrict yourself to a deadline then your focus becomes much stronger and your procrastination/inner critic dialogue becomes less obvious. That’s the restriction part of the equation now what about the randomness part?
The randomness comes from picking any songwriting idea at random to start with. An example would be that I take a page full of possible song titles (see picture above) and pick one at random. Then, I set a timer for 10 minutes and in that time I start building on the randomly chosen songwriting idea.
Once the 10 minutes is up I determine whether I have sufficiant momentum to keep going. If not I start the process again with another randomly chosen songwriting idea from my archive.
The timer I’ll use will either be one of a few online timers or this wonderful example (see picture below). Whichever way I go it will make for an interesting outcome.
Here are the steps again for you to consider:
1. Pick a songwriting idea from your archive at random
2. Set your timer for 10 minutes and start expanding the songwriting idea
3. After 10 minutes if you’re going with the flow then keep going. If not, repeat process with another randomly chosen songwriting idea
Give it a go and see what happens and if you’re not registered with FAWM yet then consider doing so because deadlines are sometimes good for you.
Until next time, happy writing,
Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician
PS: Feel free to download my FREE eReport “11 Ways To Eliminate (Song) Writers Block FOREVER” if you need a little help getting out of a rut.
Keywords: songwriting idea, songwriting process, songwriting, songwriter, songwriting tip, songwriting help, songwriting zen, songwriting blog, corey stewart
Songwriting Tool – Free Worksheets For The Songwriting Guitarist
Tom Slatter who runs Songwright, a wonderful songwriting blog has a free ebook to download called “Worksheets For The Songwriting Guitarist.”
I downloaded it myself and let me tell you, it’s great!
To download the ebook you need to first of all sign up for his newsletter but don’t let that deter you. Tom’s insights into the musical aspect of writing songs are fantastic reading and well worth the subscription.
Tom describes the inspiration to create “Worksheets For The Songwriting Guitarist” in this way:
“In my everyday life as a music teacher, I tend to design quite a lot of worksheets.
In my online life trying to share songwriting ideas, I’ve never put this skill into use. Until now, that is.
You see, a written worksheet can be a very useful thing. As songwriters we’re often scribbling on random bits of paper. A worksheet, properly designed, can give order to the chaos of our ideas, doodlings and scribbles.”
The ebook contains four worksheets all specifically designed for use in various parts of the songwriting process:
1. The Chord Diary
2. The Lyric Brainstormer
3. The Chord Progression Chart
4. The Song Analysis Guide
Best of all it’s FREE so what have you got to lose? I’m going to try them out myself. I’ll let you know how I go.
Click here to download “Worksheets For The Songwriting Guitarist” by Tom Slatter for FREE!
Until next time, happy writing,
Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician
Keywords: songwriting, songwriter, writing, songwriting zen, songwriting tip, songwriting idea, songwriting blog, songwriting resource, corey stewart
PS: Check out Tom’s band “We’ll Write” while you’re at it. It’s very cool!
Songwriting Tools – The Singer/Songwriters Toolbox + The Creative Mind
One of my main aims with Songwriting Zen is to create an online platform to promote products and services related to the art and craft of writing songs.
These products and services will either be developed by me or come highly recommended from the huge list of songwriting products out there on the web.
Let me tell you, there is a lot of stuff out there.
In saying that, it’s with great pleasure that I introduce you to the first songwriting tool to use Songwriting Zen as its means of online distribution:
For me, Cal Williams Jnr epitomises the stereotype of the working artist.
He is totally devoted to his guitar and to the craft of songwriting. So much so in fact, that he wrote The Singer/Songwriters Toolbox as a way share his thoughts on how to create a welcoming environment for the muse through everyday life.
He is also a performer who captures your imagination and leads it on a beautiful journey through his songs.
Cal has agreed to release a sample chapter The Singer/Songwriters Toolbox called “The Creative Mind” as a FREE gift for Songwriting Zen readers and everyone interested in exploring both the creative and practical sides of songwriting.
Click here to purchase “The Singer/Songwriters Toolbox
Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician
Keywords: songwriting, songwriter, songwriting zen, songwriting tip, songwriting tool, songwriting idea, songwriting resource, songwriting blog, corey stewart
Using A Thesaurus To Conquer Songwriters Block
I believe that as songwriters we need to do whatever it takes to get our songwriting ideas out of our heads and onto paper.
I started Songwriting Zen to document the many different tips, tricks and techniques that can be used to enhance the songwriting process.
I have written about using a Thesaurus in an earlier post called “Songwriting Tools – Rhyming Dictionary & Thesaurus” however, I came across an article by Orlando Gutierrez from www.songwriteradvisor.com, detailing the way he uses a thesaurus to help him write songs.
The article is called “Songwriting Help For Songwriters’ Block”. I hope you get as much out of it as I did.
By Orlando Gutierrez
Few songwriters use thesauruses during the songwriting process, thinking it’s either a form of cheating, it ruins their natural creativity making lyrics sound forced, or simply because they don’t own a copy of one!
But a thesaurus offers the most songwriting help when it comes to songwriters block and there are actually several techniques on how to use it.
First, I assure you it’s not a form of cheating. Furthermore, when used properly, a handful of related words fished from a thesaurus for a given theme can open your mind up to possibilities you would never think of on your own.
Guess what happens after that? Yep, your natural creativity follows, springing ideas from each useful word you can find.
Plain lines become original and interesting, small ideas turn into larger ones with perhaps alternate story lines or feelings for your song themes, and you ultimately become more and more creative on your own as you write each song.
I call that totally original with a helpful push!
By using a thesaurus correctly, you can actually get rid of writers block forever. Understand, however, that you’re going to have better songwriting sessions than others, but you will certainly not fall into writers block!
Next time you proclaim, “Help, I’ve got songwriters block. I need some songwriting help,” don’t feel so frustrated. We’ve all been there and share your pain.
Use this awesome “use-a-thesaurus-to-get-rid-of-writers-block” tip to get you started on the right track, and you’ll be on your way to getting rid of songwriters block forever:
1. Pick a theme for your song. (i.e., let’s say your song theme is something plain like, “I feel so alive because I’m in love with this person”).
2. Pick an interesting or even bland word from your song theme (i.e., the words feel, alive, and love stand out, so we’ll pick the most interesting one first- “alive”). Don’t worry if the original word is bland. One average word brings others to life!
3. Look in your thesaurus or use an online thesaurus such as Rhymezone, and find related words to the word “alive” while thinking of your theme.
These are the related words I found in Rhymezone: aware, awake, vital, give, exist, breathing, life, remember.
4. Now write down these words in a single column on the left side of a paper.
5. Repeat the process with every single related word retrieved from the word “alive”, starting with “aware”, keep building your word list , and keep writing each word until you have two to four columns.
6. Now you have a worksheet to pick words from, which will naturally spring ideas as they relate to your song theme!
As an example let’s review the original words we found on Rhymezone from the word “alive”: aware, awake, vital, give, exist, breathing, life, remember.
Here are four original, interesting lines quickly sprung from this process:
I keep staying awake
Too aware of my breathing
My pulse is amplifying
Everything I’m feeling
It took less than 1 minute. These lines are definitely keepers and can definitely be the start of a solid song. There are some added words not on the list (last two lines), but that’s the whole idea!
These words naturally came to me by using the other words. Mr. Thesaurus once again to the rescue!
Orlando Gutierrez is a former Warner/Chappell Staff songwriter who dedicates most of his time to his website, www.songwriteradvisor.com, in order to provide innovative songwriting tips and techniques to give songwriters an edge over the competition in an ever-changing music industry.
Look at the free 7-step songwriting blueprint, and sign up for your free monthly newsletter “Tune Sleuth” today at www.songwriteradvisor.com
© Copyright – Orlando Gutierrez – All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Orlando_Gutierrez
I’ve always felt that when used correctly, the thesaurus could be a powerful songwriting tool but after reading this article I now know for sure that a thesaurus needs to be an essential tool to help with your songwriting process.
Just in case you feel a little blocked from time to time.
Until next time, happy writing,
Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician
Keywords: thesaurus, songwriting, songwriter, songwriting tip, songwriting idea, songwriting help, songwriting blog, songwriting idea, songwriting process, corey stewart
Using Your Answering Machine To Capture Songwriting Ideas
As of tomorrow (Thursday July 3rd) I’m going away for some well earned R&R for a few days.
I’m not going to be blogging until Monday July 7th which also means that I’ll be three days into my 50/90 challenge when I return.
My intention over the break is to relax, enjoy myself and not be near any computer and mobile phone for that time. I will make one exception though.
If a songwriting idea comes into my head I’ll be phoning my answering machine either at home or the office and leaving a message. I’m anticipating a lot of songwriting ideas on my return.
What a way to catch up on the three days I’m missing out on.
You know I’ve probably said this before but the answering machine is one of the best songwriting tools around.
There are some situations when it’s not very practical to carry a recording device or even a notepad around with you however, you’ll always have your mobile phone (or cellphone if you’re in the states) close by.
When a songwriting idea pops in your head just excuse yourself and use it.
Call home and hum the idea. Beatbox the rhythm if you have to. Do whatever you can to preserve the moment.
That’s what I’ll be doing.
To all you taking on the 50/90 challenge I wish you all the best. Lets all help and support each other to achieve whatever goals we set for ourselves. My biggest challenge is not musical ideas but writing lyrics.
Any lyricists out there that want to help me out, let me know. In the meantime, my getaway awaits.
See you all Monday.
Until next time, happy writing,
Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician
Keywords: fawm, 50/90, 50 song challenge, songwriting contest, songwriting, songwriter, songwriting tip, songwriting help, songwriting idea, songwriting resource, songwriting blog, corey stewart
Brian Eno On Oblique Strategies
Here is a very interesting video of Brian Eno being interviewed by Jools Holland in 2001.
In it, Eno talks about the concept of the Oblique Strategies cards and how they can be of immense help to songwriters, performers, studio musicians and even brain surgeons.
Speaking about brain surgeons check out what happens at around the two minute mark. It’s very, very funny and a great example of Oblique Strategies at work.
Until next time, happy writing,
Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician
Keywords: brian eno, oblique strategies, songwriting, songwriter, songwriting tip, songwriting tool, songwriting help, songwriting idea, songwriting blog, corey stewart
Songwriting Tool – Oblique Strategies
Oblique Strategies (with the subtitle “over one hundred worthwhile dilemmas”) is a set of published cards first created in 1975 by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt.
It was designed to break creative deadlock by generating thought, discussion and inspiration from randomly chosen phrases or a cryptic remarks written on seperate cards. Oblique Strategies is now in its fifth edition.
I’ve mentioned Brian Eno before in my blog post “Favourite Songs – “By This River” By Brian Eno”.
In the post I mentioned that the song “… shows that Eno is a songwriter of extreme confidence”. Why wouldn’t he be confident with a songwriting tool like Oblique Strategies at his disposal.
A number of songwriters have used the concept of randomness as a songwriting idea generator.
Most notable of these writers is David Bowie who used the technique of cutting up words, throwing them up in the air and creating lyrics from the end result.
If my general knowledge is correct the songs that were written in this way are featured in his albums “Low” (1977), “Lodger” (1979) and “Scary Monsters” (1980).
I have been facinated by the Oblique Strategies concept for a long time and even though I’ve never used it as yet, I can see how they would be very helpful in my own songwriting process.
Like everyone else, I have songwriting ideas in my archive that I can’t seem to progress any further because I’ve set the idea in concrete. Every time I revisit the idea I find myself playing the same things over and over again.
It’s in these types of situations that I’d find the Oblique Strategies concept useful.
If you have taken my advice in my blog post “Brainstorming Possible Song Titles” and “Expanding On Your Possible Song Titles” you’d have a very large collection of lines, phrases and semi completed songs at your disposal.
Look at this list as your own personal set of Oblique Strategies.
Even if one line from your list sparks an idea that finishes a song that you’ve been agonising over for ages, it would’ve been well worth the effort.
Personally, I have a huge list that I add to every week. Pages and pages of random lines and phrases that I get from all sorts of places. I wonder if there’s a way I can share them with you.
Maybe we can create our own collective list of strategies and work on them together. What do you think?
In the meantime, here are some other Oblique Strategies links for you to look at:
Oblique Strategies Widget For MAC
Oblique Strategies – Web Version 1
Oblique Strategies – Web Version 2
Oblique Strategies – Web Version 3
Oblique Strategies – Web Version 4
Until next time, happy writing,
Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician
Keywords: david bowie, brian eno, oblique strategies, songwriting, songwriter, songwriting tip, songwriting tool, songwriting help, songwriting idea, songwriting blog, corey stewart
My New Songwriting Tool – Zoom H4 Handy Recorder
As a songwriter, it’s always important that I have some sort of audio recorder on hand to put down any songwriting ideas that come my way.
As you would’ve gathered from my previous blog posts, I believe that songwriting ideas can come from anywhere and everywhere.
Until now I’ve been putting my guitar and vocal noodlings onto analog tape. From this, I have boxes and boxes of 90 minute tapes full of works in progress that I can look back on and complete when the muse pays a visit.
The problem with using tape is that, being an analog medium, it’s a very time consuming process putting stuff onto computer. As I’m now computerizing my songwriting process I need to have a digital way of capturing my songwriting ideas.
I initially tried a digital voice recorder however, I found that I didn’t like the sound quality of the end result. I wanted something that I could record my songwriting ideas and put them online straight away.
Hence my new toy.
Recently I purchased a Zoom H4 Handy Recorder and, even though I’ve just started to work it out, it’s an amazing songwriting tool.
I was turned onto the H4 by a songwritng friend of mine who had the model below mine, the H2.
I was really impressed by the fact that the H2 is a digital recorder which was easy to use and small enough to take anywhere.
The difference between the H2 and the H4 is that I can also use it as an audio interface and, as a 4 track digital recorder.
Wow, perfect for my songwriting studio.
My initial goal with the H4 is to re-record all of my analog songwriting ideas and start cataloging them onto my hard drive.
This will give me lots of opportunities to practise using the H4 plus the Cubase software that comes bundled with the package.
Once I have some recordings under my belt I’ll post them online for your listening pleasure.
Let me tell you, saying that I’m excited is an understatement. My songwritng process has been enhanced 1000% with this new purchase.
Now, let me see, how do I turn this thing on again…
Until next time, happy writing,
Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician
Keywords: songwriting, songwriter, songwriting tool, songwriting tip, songwriting idea, songwriting help, songwriting news, songwriting blog, corey stewart
Songwriting Tools – The Capo
IMHO, the capo is one of the most overlooked and underrated songwriting tools around.
Recently, I had to buy another capo for my guitar as my old one finally snapped its spring after 12 years of faithful service.
It prompted me to think about why I use one and how much of an influence it has over my songwriting process.
(I am making some assumptions that you, dear reader knows what a capo is and what it looks like. If you dont know I suggest that you go here. It’s very interesting stuff)
The capo is either loved or hated intensely by the guitar community.
In the hate camp opinions range from ‘it encourages laziness in playing technique’ to ‘you’re not a real guitarist if you use one’ .
I, on the other hand am in the love camp. My primary reason for my love of the humble capo is because it greatly helps my songwriting.
Heres how.
A capo is used to change the key of a chord progression whilst still playing the same chord shapes. One of the things that I like to do is to take a chord progression of a well known song and transpose it.
Once transposed, I start playing the chord shapes again, changing the strumming and rhythm plus, I start humming another melody over the top of the transposed chords.
For me, this is where the benefits of using a capo comes to light.
Of course if nothing comes of the exercise that’s okay but most of the time by doing this I get a flash of inspiration and that’s when the real fun starts.
I don’t see anything wrong with adapting a new songwriting idea from an old source. A capo is a great songwriting tool for facilitating this.
Songwriters like Bob Dylan has stated in interviews that he has done this on a number of occasions. If it’s good enough for him, then it’s good enough for me.
Capo’s also take the general headache out of transposing a song to another key. Especially if you’re working with another singer.
If you are a songwriter/guitarist and you have been resisting using a capo then don’t anymore! Go and get one (at least for your songwritings sake).
Until next time, happy writing,
Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician
Keywords: songwriting tool, songwriting, songwriter, songwriting tip, songwriting help, songwriting idea, songwriting resource, songwriting blog, corey stewart
Using Jam Sessions As A Songwriting Tool
Music and songwriting is my life.
I find it hard to have room in my life for anything else. Music is also my social life as well. I know lots of musicians and we all have one thing in common. WE LOVE TO JAM!
Getting together with other musicians and playing music for its own sake is a form of songwriting collaboration.
Just because there is no real definite goal in mind doesn’t mean the interaction between the musicians/songwriters is of any less value. I tell you now, the energy a good old fashioned jam session creates is amazing.
What’s also amazing is when musicians who’ve never played together synchronise their ideas to generate a song which becomes alive in that very moment in time.
I look for any opportunity I can to play with other musicians and songwriters. It’s a great way for me to meet other people in a setting in which everyone shares something in common.
A love of playing music.
To maximise the songwriting idea gathering benefits of jamming with other people here are some suggestions:
1. Go in with an open mind. Dont have any pre-conceived ideas or notions as to the result of the jam.
2. Always record the jam sessions. Bring a tape recorder or, if you’re jamming in a studio, ask to have it recorded.
3. Keep the jam session as informal as possible. Any idea that leaps forward just run with it, explore and HAVE FUN.
4. Listen back to it after your done. You’ll be amazed by what all of you have created. You’ll be inspired.
The most important thing is that you record the sessions. For me, many songs have been written using this method.
Jam sessions is a great way to collect songwriting ideas and enjoy playing music at the same time. Who can you jam with today?
Until next time, happy jamming,
Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician
Keywords: songwriting, songwriter, writing, songwriting tip, songwriting help, songwriting idea, songwriting blog, corey stewart
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