To Find Yourself In Your Song Writing

Are you there somewhere? I mean in the music you compose. How can you be creative in your songwriting and leave the imprints of your heart in the music you compose?

Have you ever asked yourself what songwriting and composing really is? What is the difference between composing and copying?

It can be a very rewarding activity to write songs and you can write your songs in many ways.

The creative parts of you brain can be more or less activated or you can stimulate the more calculating parts of your intellect.

Maybe you have experienced the same things that I have. That the demands to produce a good song can be contraproductive. The pressure stops the creative flow.

Many times it is more rewarding to just sit down humming or singing with a guitar or piano without expectations.

This way you practice your voice in comforable pitches and you can also practice the great art of comping. Yes, this songwriting activity helps you develop yourself as a musician.

Suddenly you find yourself with a wonderful melody in your lap. What to do?

Have you ever realized that you have forgotten a wonderful melody you have sung just a few minutes ago. It is a painful experience is it not?

It is better to be prepared for the wonder of finding a perfect melody. A recording device like an mp3-player or something else that will help you preserve your creative manifestations should always be handy.

Well, it could also be a piece of paper to write your lyrics and sheet music on.

It is a matter of faith. If you have faith that a creative wonder can happen you will always be prepared.

Another creativity trigging activity is to start your recording equipment and just start to play on your guitar or piano humming along.

The fact that you are recording what you do can help you do your best and if you actually create a fantastic melody it is there for you you improve upon and elaborate on.

Even if you do not create something fantastic you can sit back after having recorded this way and see if you can find something to spare for future use.

What about limitations? What is limitations and how can they help you be more creative.

Have you ever tried to write music to lyrics already written? sometimes this is easier than to start from zero.

The limitation of having lyrics already written consists of the fact that you have to write a melody that fits the lyrics and also recreate and maybe also enchance the mood of the song.

You can give yourself other limitations like deciding in which key to sing, what type of song you will compose, rock, ballad, waltz and so on.

Some people create the melody as the last crowning part of the song. They start with a rhythm, a groove, the chords, a nice bass part and so on. Suddenly it becomes easy to just put in a fitting melody on these backing tracks.

Triggering the creative parts or your personality may give results when you don't expect it. To find yourself in the music you create is indeed a refreshing mental and emotional experience.

Music Without Goals

I really love improvisations that go nowhere. Improvisations where there is no goal… just an impulse to follow feelings in the current moment.

In fact, some have described this kind of music as self-indulgent - a kind of musical fantasy world where the focus is more on the performer than the listener.

Of course, this isn't the case at all. You see, most of us are used to having our music wrapped up in nice neat little packages. We aren't used to actually listening to music. We expect an "emotional experience" right away. And it better happen in 3-4 minutes or else.

Take Japanese Shakahuachi music for example. For those of you who don't know, the shakahuachi is a Japanese flute. It's beautiful sound is appreciated by many in the East.

I have a few CDs of this music and everytime I listen to them I hear something new. It's as if each time the CD is played I hear it for the first time. It never gets old. Why? Because of the absence of musical form!

There is not much for the mind to grasp or hold onto. Repetition of musical phrases is almost non existent. Instead, we get music without goals!

If there is a goal at all, it's that the person performing the music remains in the present while playing. What we hear is the "state of mind" of the performer at the exact time the recording is made.

In one of my own piano pieces "Cirrus," (listen to it at http://www.quiescencemusic.com) I do the same thing. And everytime I listen to it, it seems that it's somehow changed. Yet the music always remains fresh and pliant - waiting to be discovered again and again.

Having said all of this, I have nothing against musical form and the works that come from it. I just think the "other" kind of music is just as valid and important