7 Steps to end songwriters block
When we sit in front of our instrument or midi controller, we can often be overwhelmed with the endless possibilities. So much so, that we end up 'tinkering' around for hours and never get anything productive going. The key is to have structure in mind and limit our possibilities. I know, it sounds counterproductive as an artist! But there are lots of times when we need to 'create' something, yet, the water isn't flowing. Here is an exercise to overcome any writers block you have.
- Pick any song you are familiar with
- Copy the chord progression
- Change the Tempo and Key (and/or time signature). Try holding some chords in the progression for a different number of beats than the reference song.
- Change the instrumentation
- Change atleast one chord in the progression, and use alternate chord positions or inversions from the original reference song
- Write a new melody over the progression, taking care not to copy the original reference song. At this point, assuming you followed along and added some creativity, your song should be completely different from your reference song and the original melody wouldn't fit anyhow.
- Listen back to what you have created and it will be completely 'yours'. Build on it by adding your own sweetening touches (IE: guitar licks, piano licks, Vocal stabs, Strings, Percussion etc)
This technique can be done quickly and easy, I can all but guarantee you will be surprised with your final results. These concepts are used by songwriters and music makers all the time. To sum up, the key is to limit your options and search for a structure to work in. Sometimes when we stare off in to space, we can spend an entire nighttime dreaming about all the stars we can visit, but if we look at a city map, we are forced to create a route which will bring us to our destination.
Mike Lizotte