Song Writing: To Find Yourself In The Music You Compose
What is songwriting? What is composing? Do you really compose
when you write songs or are you just copying?
If song writers make a living on their writing it will put a lot
of pressure on them. Some song writers are constantly listening
for what's popular and are trying to imitate hooks in songs.
I can see two ways to go as a song writer:
1. Listening to a lot of hit songs and trying to write similar
songs. By listening to songs and reading a lot on what's up
trying to feel what type of songs will be popular in the near
future.
2. Trying to be yourself and just work on creating songs you
like yourself in the hope that others will feel the same.
The last method is for me the most rewarding way to go as far as
personal growth is concerned. I feel good and happy when I am
creative as a song writer and feel that the process involves
something about knowing myself better.
In the long run it might also create the best hit songs too. The
song Yesterday is just one example of a different hit song.
Writing songs can be a very rewarding activity and the level of
originality depends on how you write your music. You can help
the creative parts of your brain to be activated or use the more
calculating parts or a combination of both.
May I share a few tips from my own song writing experience:
1. Sit down with your guitar or at your piano singing or humming
without expecting to create something brilliant. When you allow
yourself to wander away a bit from your calculating parts of the
brain and into the exciting forests of imagination and
creativity you can come up with fantastic things.
2. Limitations can help your creativity. Give yourself some
limitations by for example using a chord progression like G Em
Am D7. Many songs use this progression but there will be room
for more. You can of course use a more odd one like E C C#m G#m.
3. Record yourself playing around humming with your guitar or
piano. Listening to what you have come up with a few days later
can help you find interesting melodies or hooks to use in your
songs.
Sometimes you can feel that you are not able to write songs like
the song writers you like but they can't write songs that is
you. A comforting thought, isn,t it!