So you want to start songwriting? Congratulations! You have reached the first step of songwriting: Having the passion and inspiration to do it! But where do you take your inspiration?
The blog post from Lyric Studio offers a comprehensive guide for budding songwriters, emphasizing the importance of passion and inspiration in the songwriting process. Here’s a summary of the key points:
- Inspiration through Music: It suggests creating an inspirational playlist with songs you admire. This isn’t about copying but about understanding what resonates with you in those songs and incorporating similar elements into your own work, making them uniquely yours.
- Journaling and Keyword Listing: The article recommends starting with a journal entry about the concept you want to write your song about. It encourages being as detailed and vulnerable as possible. Alongside, it advises listing down phrases and words related to your concept, focusing on vivid adjectives, nouns, and verbs without worrying about rhymes at this stage.
- Creating a Song Map: Songwriting is likened to storytelling with music. The post suggests outlining your song’s direction, much like a story, and then piecing together your brainstormed lines and associated words. It outlines the standard song structure (intro, verses, chorus, bridge, outro) and encourages starting with the chorus as it carries the main message of the song.
- Musical Experimentation and Trusting the Process: For those who play instruments, it recommends improvising melodies over favorite chord progressions while singing your lines. It also suggests using platforms like Beatstars and YouTube to find beats that match the mood, genre, and tempo you envision for your song. Importantly, the article emphasizes trusting the process, acknowledging that songwriting can be challenging but rewarding, and encourages continuous writing and improvement.
The blog post concludes by encouraging songwriters to trust their journey, acknowledging that while the initial attempts might not be perfect, continuous practice and dedication will lead to better and more refined results, much like clean water flowing after the initial rush of muddy water when you turn on a tap in an old house.
Source: How to Start Songwriting – Songwriters Guide – Songwriting beginners
