Songwriting
- The American Guitar Academy
- May 14
- 6 min read
The art of creating a piece of music is an alluring prospect for many musicians. Some people are not that interested in writing songs, and others base their life around it. I do not profess to be a great songwriter, and seem to exist in a perpetual state of ‘writer’s block’, but there are a few techniques that you should be aware of that can help unleash some of your creativity.
In this blog post we will learn about some of those ideas, my personal experience and thoughts regarding songwriting and some examples of what I think are possibly the best songs ever written.
Each of these topics could probably be covered in more detail with a blog post on their own, but this is more of a general overview to help spur you on.
Mindset
I have met a limited number of people who just always seem to be able to create a masterpiece on a whim, and as much as there is a great deal of skill involved in that, there is much to be said for being in the right mindset. For example, consider the following words:
“The cat sat on the hill…”
There is some kind of image that appears in my head when I read those six words, but for some people it could be a catalyst for an explosion of ideas. They could already be thinking about style, tempo, speed and many other things. So not only is it different between each individual person, but also for yourself depending on the day, your mood, the weather and almost anything else. If you have tried to write a song and either you cannot think of anything, or you immediately dislike what you have, perhaps you were in the wrong headspace to see the potential.
Some people like to have a routine, a place they write songs in or even a certain time of day where they are more open to ideas. I would also recommend that you always try to write with what would serve the song best in mind; do not try to overcomplicate things just because you can. This will inevitably lead to you having negative feelings towards the piece, or the process of writing songs in general.
Some people write with anger, others write with jealousy or lust informing their choices. Just make sure that you find the mindset that works for you, and the ideas will soon start to come forth. I will not go so far as to say that you must want to write a song, because sometimes it just happens!
Techniques
There are so many techniques that you could use to help inspire a new musical creation, however, they do not work for everyone and, even if you have a modicum of success, it might not work for you everytime. Here is a selection of techniques I have used in the past.
Using A Catalyst
Sometimes having a memory, an experience or something as straightforward as an image or an object can help give you that initial spark. One method I was taught many years ago was to look at a simple painting and write down as many words as I can think of based on the content of the image. When using this with a student recently, I used the image below:
Between the student and myself, we came up with the following words that were inspired by this image:
Peaceful,
Green,
Nature,
Quiet,
New beginnings.
Remember, this is a personal approach that would be different for everyone; some people may find the idea of being by a stream in the forest abhorrent. For a fun exercise, try this yourself and see what you come up with!
When I interviewed songwriting extraordinaire, Paul Armfield, he mentioned that this is one of the methods he used. The story goes that he was playing a show in Germany when he was approached by a lady who had found some old family photographs.
“- when I wrote the ‘Found’ album I sat looking at photographs and writing words about them which I later revisited with a guitar in my hand.”
Writing to a Brief
A few times in my career I have met a person whose job is creating music for advertisements, or creating material for libraries that advertising companies can choose from. In this situation, they are given a brief which is usually a short sentence detailing what the music is going to be used for. For example, you might receive a brief stating that a company requires a fun, exciting song to promote a new breakfast cereal aimed at children. It is a similar situation for film composers, but the pieces are often on a much larger scale.
How these people imagine the music is something that happens in their minds and no one else’s; perhaps they imagine the scenario and can envision a finished piece from the start, or maybe they start off with a simple idea and develop from there.
To try your hand at this, I have written a short brief below and also included some extra details that you may, or may not, see when working in this area of the industry. Try and do something creative with it!
Brief:
We need a short piece of music (30 to 60 seconds) to help advertise our new retirement home that is due to open within the next 3 months. The establishment is well-presented with lots of activities for the residents, but is not too posh.
The advertisements will be distributed online and on TV for an initial run of three months. We aim to have all of the material ready in 1 month.
Here are some examples that we like:
Simon & Garfunkel - The Boxer
Jamiroquai - Love Foolosophy
Grover Washington Jr. (Feat. Bill Withers) - Just the Two of Us
Do what you can with this brief! I am sure you could come up with something interesting if you tried, and I often find you can stretch out your creativity when it is restricted in this way.
Notable Mentions
Sometimes I have written short examples of tracks for students, or for blog posts such as this one, that are supposed to sound like a particular artist or era. This is something I did recently when I wrote by blog post on ‘Using 4ths in 80s Metal Music’ that you can read here insert link.
You could also try writing a melody that only uses one string, a chord progression that only uses minor chords through the whole song, or challenge yourself to come up with a wacky rhythm that changes in every bar - the possibilities are endless.
Personal Experience
When I was in college, part of the course required students to create a tribute band. The groups and the bands in question were all chosen by the teaching staff. This was all great fun, but the next module required us to create an entirely original band with the same personnel.
We all agreed to come up with something that was a mixture between rock and funk and, after many hours of trial and error, I came up with a riff that I thought was really cool and fit the sound we were going for. Fantastic… until the drummer pointed out that it was exactly the same as the riff from the Red Hot Chili Peppers hit ‘Suck My Kiss’. We then tried to write a ska song, because that is what we had played before, and within 10 minutes we had a whole tune and nearly all of the lyrics were done! This was a combination of being in the right mindset, we were ready to write music, just not in the style that we first thought - working with the right people also helps tremendously!
Examples
Here are some examples of songs that I think are beautifully written, are extremely catchy or are just so cool I had to include them in this list.
Paul Armfield - Vapour Trails
Dio - Push
Robbie Williams - Man For All Seasons
Make sure you check all of these songs out!
Final Thoughts
There are many different avenues with which to express songwriting, at least in my opinion. Arranging a song, something I personally prefer doing, has an element of creativity. One of the best songwriters, or a composer rather, is the great John Williams. He wrote famous movie soundtracks such as Jaws, Star Wars, ET and Indiana Jones. In the video link here, you can view a documentary type video from the recording of the famous Star Wars tune ‘Duel of the Fates’ recorded in 1999. Williams makes an on the fly change, a considered songwriting choice based on how he hears everything being played by the whole orchestra.
Recently I interviewed modern guitar great Nick Johnston (you can view the 35 minute interview on The American Guitar Academy YouTube channel here). In the video we discussed how, even as a guitar player, all of his compositions begin on the piano - writing something on an instrument that you are not as familiar with can help break some of the walls you build up around your own playing.
Not every person is destined to write great songs, and that is perfectly fine! Why not try putting it into practice on your own, or working with some friends or one of the teachers at The American Guitar Academy? Remember, you do not have to sit down and produce a whole song in one go, though it is definitely possible. Even just a brief melody, chord progression or cool rhythmic idea of your own is a great thing to have.
-Alex
