As songwriters, we know that inspiration isn’t always on tap. Some days, the words and melodies pour out effortlessly. Other days? Nothing but tumbleweeds and frustration.
That’s where your Ideas Bank comes in.
Think of it like a creative savings account, a personal stash of lyric snippets, song titles, melody lines, themes, and random thoughts just waiting to be turned into your next great song.
It’s not just a good idea, it’s a songwriting habit worth building.
What Exactly Is an Ideas Bank?
An Ideas Bank is a place where you collect your song fragments before they slip away into the ether. It’s not a polished song or even a full verse. It’s a spark. A seed. A thread that might one day lead to something great.
You might have one already and not even realize it:
- That voice memo app full of mumbled melodies
- The notebook with scribbled phrases you can’t quite throw away
- A folder on your desktop labeled “song stuff”
The difference between random scraps and a functioning Ideas Bank is intent and organization.
What Can You Store in an Ideas Bank?
Honestly? Anything that could someday lead to a song. Here’s what most writers keep:
- Lyric ideas – One-liners, verses, interesting turns of phrase
- Song titles – Even a good title can spark an entire concept
- Hooks – Melodic or lyrical phrases that stick in your head
- Themes – Like “forgiveness,” “midnight anxiety,” or “the space between us”
- Voice memos – Hum a melody, strum a chord progression, beatbox a groove
- Quotes – From books, conversations, movies, dreams
- Wordplay – Rhyming pairs, double meanings, unique language
- Emotions – Jot down how you feel in the moment. Raw is good.
The idea is not to judge any of it, just collect first, curate later.
Why You Need One
You might think you’ll remember that catchy chorus idea later. Trust me…You won’t.
We all overestimate how sticky inspiration is. The truth is, your brain is better at creating than recalling, especially when life gets noisy.
That’s why building the habit of collecting ideas as they come will give you a steady stream of material to pull from when you sit down to write.
Here’s what a good Ideas Bank does for you:
- Eliminates the “blank page” problem
- Keeps you in a creative head-space even when you’re not actively writing
- Makes your writing sessions faster and more productive
- Allows you to connect ideas across time (a chorus from last week and a title from last month might make magic today)
How to Build One That Works
You can go analogue (notebook, index cards, sticky notes) or digital (Notion, Evernote, Google Keep, Apple Notes). What matters is that it’s easy to use, easy to access, and regularly updated.
Some tips:
- Tag your entries – Use categories like “lyric,” “melody,” “title,” “theme”
- Date everything – It’s fun (and useful) to track your creative seasons
- Review weekly – Make time to scan your Ideas Bank and pull what feels fresh
- Stay judgement-free – Bad ideas sometimes lead to great ones
Optional: Sort by Songwriting Element
If you like structure, you can divide your bank into sections like:
- Lyric fragments
- Title ideas
- Musical sketches
- Themes/emotions
- Potential song starters
- “This could be a bridge one day…”
Or just keep it messy and free-form. Whatever keeps you coming back to it.
Turn It Into a Ritual
The more regularly you deposit into your Ideas Bank, the more useful it becomes. Try making it part of your daily or weekly creative practice. Even if you’re not actively writing songs, you’re feeding your future creativity.
My Final Thought
An Ideas Bank isn’t about hoarding scraps. It’s about trusting your creative brain and giving yourself something to work with when inspiration feels far away.
You don’t need to wait for lightning to strike. Just keep your jar open. Collect the sparks and when it’s time to write, you’ll never start from zero again.
