This is a question that have been asked by almost every successful writer in the music industry. To a dummy who feels no natural talent for song writing, learning how to write a song seems like an impossible task. If you asked any of the most prolific songwriters how did they started their careers, chances are that at first they had no idea of music notation or playing an instrument, but surely they felt a strong urge to communicate some deep feelings in a richer manner than it could be possible using the spoken language. Through this series of articles, I will give you some ideas and tools to have a solid understanding of how music works and to deliver effectively any message you want to transmit through your art.
Developing a mental state is the key to achieving inspiration and in doing so you may be surprised that developing a technique how to write a song is not that all too difficult. I have met many writers stuck in long blockages just “waiting for the Muse” in a passive manner, just hoping that one day inspiration will come magically without any effort. It is true that creativity is not something that can be invoked any time you want, but on the other hand it is pretty obvious that a successful song won’t come to you in dreams (Yeah, leave the Yesterday example for Paul McCartney). Our main goal is to set a mental state by some kind of ritual or activity that you will follow every time you want to produce some song material until the point that your brain is trained. I have found the following ideas very useful for this purpose:
1. Walking
By walking, your brain and heart get synchronized to the metric of your steps. This is a powerful tool to think about a tune that fits the rhythm of your feet.
2. Listening to new music
Some of my best ideas have come to me after listening to new songs. This is because your musical brain is full of expectations and it will try to complete the musical phrases and cadences of the new material as you listen to it.
3. Playing a new instrument
Just grab a piano, a guitar, a tuba, a pair of sticks. The new sounds will increase your motivation and the same mechanism of expectation/resolution can provide you with new ideas.
4. Give me 3 chords
There are plenty of chord maps in the Internet. Just pick up three of them (like Am, Fm, G) and start playing them in your favorite instrument while you whistle anything that comes to your mind. You will be surprised by the amount of tunes that come automatically, based on the music you have previously listened.
5. Write random music
Just write down some notes in tablature system or any you feel comfortable and try to reproduce the notes in your instrument. Some catchy patterns can come to your head.
These are just a few ideas that you can apply and tailor to your own style. The most important thing is to be disciplined and find a place where you can spend at least one hour without being interrupted. At first, maybe nothing will come up, but I promise that after 2 or 3 sessions you will have 3 or 4 promising sketches like a rhythmic pattern or a catchy phrase.
In the next articles we will talk about choosing the right instrument and discuss about other important elements needed for your songwriting needs.
1. Choosing a musical instruments
8. Chord Linking and Extensions
9. Chord Linking and Extensions II