{"id":13741,"date":"2018-03-07T00:44:38","date_gmt":"2018-03-07T00:44:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.roadietuner.com\/?post_type=blog&p=13741"},"modified":"2020-07-08T07:08:11","modified_gmt":"2020-07-08T07:08:11","slug":"3-killer-habits-for-songwriting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.roadiemusic.com\/blog\/3-killer-habits-for-songwriting\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Killer Habits for Songwriting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before writing this article, I did some research on the habits of great songwriters. You know what I found? Not a whole lot. <\/p>\n

It never ceases to amaze me that songwriters who\u2019ve penned incredibly profound and emotional lyrics suddenly are completely unable to articulate themselves<\/a> when they\u2019re asked how they do it.<\/p>\n

I could of course regurgitate some wishy-washy quotes from 25 Great Songwriters on the Art of Songwriting<\/a>, and let you think that songwriting is something mysterious that requires you to balance your meridian system and channel your chakras.<\/p>\n

But you deserve better. So below you\u2019ll find three of my personal habits for writing songs, learned and adapted from years of painful experience.<\/p>\n

Chain that muse to your desk<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Barbara Kingsolver<\/a> was right. Take it from someone who has struggled with writer\u2019s block time and again. All creative people have an inner critic<\/a> whose job it is to make sure we don\u2019t embarrass ourselves. That\u2019s cool and all, except for when it moderates our ideas into oblivion.<\/p>\n

Some will say that you have to wait until you\u2019re inspired. You could also wait until you find money in the street \u2013 but getting to work is a much, much safer bet. I view the concept of \u201cgetting inspired\u201d the same way I view luck: the harder you work, the luckier (and more inspired) you get.<\/p>\n

The inner critic that kills your creativity has its uses \u2013 but those uses are best saved for later in the process. What you should get in the habit of is to just let it flow. Sounds too easy? That\u2019s because it is. Most of what will flow will be sewage. Don\u2019t take it from me \u2013 I stole the analogy from Ed Sheeran<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Once enough sewage has flowed out of the dirty tap that is your imagination, you send in your inner critic with a sieve to pick out the gems. It might be ten gems hidden in the garbage, or it might be just one. But you\u2019ve managed to produce something, even if it\u2019s small, that you can be proud of.<\/p>\n

Be a weirdo<\/strong><\/h2>\n

First, they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. Do you think anyone liked that Igor Stravinsky<\/a> used dissonant sounds in his music? No. But his daring experimentation revolutionized music nonetheless.<\/p>\n

Back in the day, brass players tried to play their instruments like singers sang. Louis Armstrong<\/a> decided to do the opposite: he sang like he played the trumpet. That was weird. And it totally worked for him.<\/p>\n

Feedback from guitars sounds terrible. Except when Jimi Hendrix<\/a> is the one doing it, and doing it on purpose. Then it creates cultural waves, and inspires a whole generation of guitarists trying to do just that.<\/p>\n

Yodelling isn\u2019t cool. It\u2019s something you do in Lederhosen, which also aren\u2019t cool. That\u2019s why yodellers wear their Lederhosen yodel in the Alps, where no one can hear them or see them. But when Jimmie Rodgers<\/a> incorporated yodelling into country music\u2026 guess what?<\/p>\n

What I\u2019m trying to get at here is that in order to create something new and fresh, you have to get into the habit of doing weird things. Do enough weird things, and maybe you too can one day create a beat from a pencil and a plastic cup like Timbaland<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Create a system<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cPractice makes perfect\u201d. Yes, thank you, we know. But not all forms of practice are equal. Becoming a good songwriter is a bit like dieting \u2013 skipping days will be your downfall, and you can\u2019t make up for the week by starving yourself last minute.<\/p>\n

Similarly, you shouldn\u2019t get all your \u201csongwriting hours\u201d in all at once. It\u2019s better to practice for 30-60 minutes every day than trying to cram in hours of practice before your gig. Getting into a routine will help you in the long term, even if it doesn\u2019t seem so at first.<\/p>\n

Again, you don\u2019t have to take my word for it \u2013 Jocko Willink<\/a> is a former Navy SEAL, and he knows the deal. Practicing regularly, and without fear of failure, uses the same concept as letting the dirty tap flow when you write or compose: even if it\u2019s garbage, you are still doing it.<\/p>\n

But what if your schedule is so hectic that you only have Sunday afternoons to pursue your craft? BS. You can sing in the shower. You can practice chords when you watch TV<\/a>. You can practice freestyling in your head during your commute.<\/p>\n

There will be moments throughout the day where you can get your time in – and if you\u2019ll excuse me, I\u2019m off to do some songwriting of my own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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