Where is everybody at?

[StephenM]

Bruno said    "- every one can sing, but you have to mean it"  I am becoming a big believer in this and also I heard this from somewhere else "a bird doesn't sing because it can, a bird sings because it has a song."  I follow that up with does a bird know if it sings well or not? 

I am finding that singing is just like playing.  You have to practice.  If you spend 1 hour a day playing guitar then if you want to sing one must apply same approach to be good at it.  Everyone can and will get better with practice.  Also must try new things because you will surprise yourself.  Singing into a microphone and recording it well and then mixing it is the hardest thing I have ever done in recording and it kicks my arse.  Little by little I am learning to do better.  It takes practice.

I just got an idea for a festival.  Write a song where the lyrics are made up from comments on the site.

[Farrell Jackson]

When I'm in a musical/songwriting rut I just write lyrics...a lot of complete lyrics without any music in mind. I find that if I have the lyrics written, then when the melody or chords present themselves it's easier to complete a song. As I work through the song the lyrics almost always get changed and re-written. Sometimes to the point where they have a completely different meaning than when I originally wrote them...or I buy a new pedal or microphone, lol! Which btw, I just ordered a new Aston Element mic this morning...it's a mic designed and manufactured with new technology in mind. I'll give a review when it gets here and after I've tried it out. 

[Zoltan]

I was going to share some turds of wisdom here, but i feel like i would be beating a dead camel. So i'll just post some outsider ideas.

1.
If you're always writing similar songs, or playing the same riffs. Find a new short chord progression / simple riff that you like and make playing it a habit. Instead of grabbing the guitar and always playing your favourite riff / chord, play the new one instead. Don't turn it into an exercise (like trying to learn it in other keys, or move around). Just enjoy that one riff and don't worry about anything else. Eventually it'll become a second nature. Then when you feel like writing a song, try to approach it from the perspective of this new habit. If it's a two chord vamp that felt great to play, build the song from that. Whatever you do... Don't make it a learning experience. The next stage would be to force yourself to make more songs from this ONE habit. When you'll get back to normal you'll be overjoyed of the possibilities at hand And you'll still get to keep that chord progression / riff

2.
Forget about the chords. When you'll approach the instrument from that perspective it's almost the same as writing from a command. You can probably write from command, but the songs you make could be those that make you feel that you're in a rut. The chord progressions are cool and fine, but they're still just chord progressions. I know this is backwards advice, but situations vary and sometimes things that you think can help might be actually those that keep you from progressing. For me approaching songwriting from chord / chord progression perspective is almost like using the wrong side of the brain. The non-creative part. It's a different hat. The same one used for other tasks. Valuable for learning and getting the craft down, but not when you're teasing the muse. Sometimes the chord stuff can spark a song idea, but don't rely on it.

3.
Try the "hit record" and yell something into the mic approach. Preferably with a somekind of an instrument at hand and a now you can hit some chord. Just don't think about it too much I agree with Berrypatch that with piano the notes are somehow more "available". Or at least they don't feel the same as when you're playing guitar. Overall i'd say piano and acoustic guitar are most often the tools where the songs popout more often. Also you don't have to really know how to play the piano to make it happen...

4.
Buy a new pedal, or get a new instrument. Weird instruments can spark creativity and you might find new songs from them. Also getting rid of musical instruments / pedals you don't use, or get any inspiration can be inspirational (!).

5.
Do you really need to write a song? Do you have something to say? If you don't hear anything inside your head and don't have anything to say. Just maybe you're pushing yourself into making a song without really even wanting to. Sounds weird, but happens. If you still want to make a song, but are "empty" just force it out. Grab that chord progression you learned (even though i didn't recommend it ) and write the lyrics. If you don't have anything to say then just force them out. Choose a topic and write the lyrics. They're probably bad, but as you didn't have anything on your mind / heart then that shouldn't bother you too much
Now what happens is that you might actually get inspired this and what you did might suddenly turn into a great song, or it might spark something that'll come out with the next song.

6.
Think about what kind of sound you really like. Are you getting it? Is it more about the sound, or the feel? The connection, the signal? For me it took ages to really understand what i like. Turned out it wasn't as much about the sound as it was about the signal - connection to the sound.

7.
Learn to throw away good ideas that don't fit the song. Sometimes the parts you like the most in your songs are the things that are the problem. You might start with a cool riff, or an idea and then the song develops. Suddenly you'll notice that you're stuck. Perhaps the part / parts you felt were necessary are the problem.

8.
Check your old songs. Perhaps you could develop them further. Also try to change songs from one genre to another. Like if you have a good guitar based rock song, but you're stuck with it, or aren't happy with it. Turn it into an electro song. The change of style makes you approach the playing, singing etc. differently and this might help you to hit a home run with the song. You might even get back to the original style, but with new ideas derivered from the temporary style change.

9.
Do lots of bad songs.

10.
"Paint" with broad strokes. If you have an inkling of a song idea, but nothing 100% formed then avoid using chords that outline tonality. Keep the chords simple, and if you can... Use lots of space. You can always add chords later and define the chords more properly (major, minor, or gasp... some grown up chords ). Or you can just approach your first track as a rough sketch and "paint over it". Then you can find melodies and ideas by just humming over the backing track. Often you'll find more interesting ideas this way. They might be simple, but they're more human, melodic and different than if you'd try to solo immediately. As long as you keep thing VAGUE you'll be able to hear lots different things and find happy mistakes in the form of melodies as everything is still open. When you've painted yourself into the corner you have less options.

11.
Work faster. Make faster decisions. Rome wasn't build in a day. So you're already late.

*
I've been suffering from a some form of writer's block for a while now. It's not a total block as it's more of an "i can't write the kind of songs i'd like to write" block. I've used all of the above ideas, and some are part of my routine. I thrive on musical error and bum notes. I've forced songs out, i've changed genres and i've done really bad songs In the best times i don't even know the chords i'm playing. As soon as i start to think too much my brain takes over and i lose all the spontaneity.

I've also written lyrics and song ideas down, but i don't think i've ever used them. For me the lyrics suggest a certain kind of melody and i can't just write them without thinking about the melody. Currently i don't have anything to say / offer so i can't just "channel lyrics" from the sky either. Which does happen to me when i do have something to say... Also i've never managed to write a verse, or a chorus and use it later. I usually get most of the song immediately and the place where i get stuck is the place where it usually stays So i hope i'll get at least verse + chorus going.

[Hook]

Here I am.
All good ideas. Odd how writing  can be easy one day and impossible the next. I love new gear but it's been a while since I could. I've been listening to alot of music lately with I think has been creeping into my choices. I try to find new progressions or odd outlines for songs. Instead I'd V-C V-C- B
I'll make it C-V-B-C or just basically screw around with the unexpected . Make something work that shouldn't.  For lyrics I listen and look for titles and phrases all the time. Save them on my phone. I dictate my lyrics into phone now, that helps especially to get that stream of conscious stuff.
Your recent offerings have been outstanding, I would worry yourself too much. It's always 80% time issues for me.
Rock on!

[StephenM]

this one cracked me up...
Zoltan 9.
"Do lots of bad songs."

for me I like them all (mostly).... so I do lots of bad songs...but I don't know it... ha... there is so much good stuff on here...hope people keep chiming in

[AndyR]

I saw this the other day.

I love Zoltan's reply - loadsa wisdom

I was at "not doing too much except remaster all my old recordings using Studio One".
I've got some AMAZING versions I'm sat on, ready for postings at some point in reasonable sets.
(I've actually refreshed the last 15 songs already - but I've learnt MORE since then, and I have a workflow that, well, don't take quite so long as that set did... So I will be redoing those too).

But, but, BUT!!!

I just found out yesterday about something called FAWM.
It's what RPM was based on, but it's about SONGS not recordings.
The "target" is 14 songs written in the 28 days of February.

I can buy into that. I've always been a songwriter, recording is something separate for me. RPM was a no-no for me. But I can do songwriting.

I ummed and aahed and then joined up... a bit late to achieve the 14 songs in 28 days in 2022, maybe.
But I've already written one.

Also, after much heart-searching, I decided to post the songwriting demos.
You don't actually have to do any to join in FAWM, just write the things.
But I decided I'd do single mic demos, can't be that hard can it?
I just conquered how to do that, master it and post it alonetone so I can link to it from FAWM.ORG and here.
First one's up already

So... where am I at?

Yesterday: "yeah, woteva, don't stress about it, it's a hobby guys... love, peace, and spaceships "
Today: "YEEHA!!! Do lots of bad songs "

I realise that not everyone's writing technique is well suited to this sort of thing, but mine is. I always have written sat on the sofa (or toilet, or where ever) with a guitar, a pen and a pad of paper... I sing the songs to write them. It's recording them that's the big drag for me...

[godinqc]

Good sum-up Zoltan, I will try to follow this advice.
As I also get this feeling all the time. I always seem to gravitate towards the same chord progressions and scales and been trying to change this recently.  I've been trying different chord processions , different tuning DropD, DropC to get a different tone and feel.     I mainly use the Pentatonic minor scale for leads, but recently I've been trying to included the Natural and Harmonic minor scales.
And been trying to pay more attention to song structures when listening to songs, to see how different artists start their songs, how they bridge the verse and chorus etc ..  I always start with a guitar or piano/synth riff and when most of the song is build I add the lyrics,  I will also try to change that process, maybe write the lyrics first ...
Will see where this takes me .. But the main thing is to keep having fun doing this

[WarpCanada]

> If you get in a rut, buy a new pedal

Or a new guitar.  I've been dreaming of a Gretsch White Falcon for so long.

I got sucked into the flight simulator wormhole at some point in 2021 and disappeared from the song writing thing for a while.

but I did keep playing guitar every day, and just jamming with my looper pedal and my boss br600, even though I didn't bother transferring any of those jams off my boss recorder, I notice that in six months of playing pretty much every day I have levelled up as a guitar player.

Today I wrote my first new song in several months.  And then I remembered how nice it was to post those on SC.  So I'm back.

[StephenM]

Warren, so glad to hear you are back...!!!!!

my son is a pilot so I know a bit about the flight sim wormhole...ha.. it is fun though...

the site isn't the same when you are away!!

[T.C. Elliott]

Between my mother's illness and her passing last year, I was in a funk. I still wrote a fair amount of songs, but it wasn't the same. After going on vacation to Seattle and San Francisco to see my daughter for the first time since she was married, I've finally gotten my groove back a bit. In addition, I've returned to school so my spare time is even more limited. But I've been super creative this past January and February. Having to make specific time to write songs (or poetry, that's another conversation) has suddenly made me super focused for an hour or two at a time. It's a strange feeling and I'm kinda worried I'm gonna burn myself out.

A few things that help me.

I give myself permission to suck, to fail, to do the best I can with what I have and move on. More accurately, I "do the best I can today and try to do better tomorrow. Sometimes I fail. That's okay."

I start in different ways. Sometimes it's a few lines then grab a guitar. Sometimes it's load a synth and start playing with sounds. Sometimes it's grabbing the guitar first. Sometimes a mixture of all of those.

Rejuvenate. I'll be creative in other ways. Making album art for songfight entries or writing prose or poetry (or homework.) Or go for more walks with the dogs. Or do house repairs to get a feeling of accomplishment and try to hold onto that feeling when being creative.

And I've learned to make time to spend with my wife. I just find a time and spend it with her. If she's watching T.V. (I don't like it much) I'll do that. If she's grocery shopping, then I do that. If she's cleaning then I help.

Hope this helps.