Berklee Online course author Andrea Stolpe provides 20 tips to help you jumpstart your songwriting process and generate song ideas.
The article “20 Tips to Write 20 Songs in 20 Days (Part One)” from Berklee Online offers practical strategies to break free from habitual songwriting patterns and spark creativity.
The author, a classically trained musician, shares personal insights on how sticking to a familiar process can lead to repetitive songs.
The guide presents 20 diverse songwriting activities to challenge comfort zones and encourage new musical and lyrical possibilities.
Key strategies include:
- Writing over a new chord progression: Experiment with different tempos, grooves, or minimalistic progressions to inspire fresh ideas.
- Jamming while recording: Freestyle for 15 minutes, then analyze the recording for standout moments to develop further.
- Two-page free-writing sessions: Use sensory language to generate lyrics without judgment, mining these writings for potential song titles or ideas.
- Using external beats: Borrowing beats or progressions to ease the pressure of creating every song element from scratch.
- Melody exploration: Record spontaneous melodies, experimenting with rhythm, starting notes, and melodic motifs.
Additional exercises involve experimenting with metaphors, trying new instruments, creating simple song structures, and even writing deliberately “bad” riffs to find unique hooks.
The emphasis is on consistency, letting go of perfectionism, and maintaining a playful approach to songwriting.
Source: Song Ideas: 20 Tips for Songwriting Inspiration – Take Note
