related post:
Four Ways to Start Writing a Song

Force of Habit
Way back in the day big record companies figured out that the more people hear a song, the more they like it. So they passed envelopes stuffed with cash to dj’s at big radio stations across the country to get their songs played over and over. (We won’t mention the more, um, salacious gifts).

The first time a producer worked on my songs I hated every idea he contributed. I thought my songs were far better the way I’d been playing and performing them. And why was that? Because by the time he entered the process I’d been playing and hearing them for months, over and over. But after incorporating his ideas for a few go-rounds I began to like some of them. He signed on to produce my record, and we kept at the same game: I deemed every idea he contributed to be truly awful, until I’d played them enough to dislodge my prejudices. Finally I grokked this pattern and resolved to listen to every new idea with an open mind. And that’s when things started cooking. It kicked off a 20 year-plus producing and songwriting collaboration. (Thanks Rob!)

The Hardest Thing
What’s the hardest thing about writing a song, the scary blank space we start from, or the difficulty of keeping an open mind once we begin to fill that space? I’ve written about four ways to overcome writer’s block and jumpstart songwriting ideas. In this article I’ve got a tip for you on how to keep the creative space fluid after you begin to fill it with ideas.

For the past few weeks I’ve been helping a student, who plays 200 shows a year, with songwriting for an upcoming recording. He’s remarkably open to new ideas – no problem there – and responds each week to my suggestions by going home and generating new chord progressions, melodies, rhythms, and forms. Thing is he spends all week playing and practicing these in order to memorize them and play them well at his next lesson. And THAT is a big mistake.

Don’t Do It!
Every time he plays his song ideas they get more deeply lodged in his mind and imagination and muscle memory, until through repetition and familiarity they feel inevitable. The open space of discovery and inspiration closes more each time he plays them, and alternative ideas and variations become harder and harder to imagine. So what’s a songwriter to do when the very process of songwriting seems to diminish creativity?

Keeping It Fresh
It’s simple really. Rather than practice work in progress, record ideas as soon as they arrive, and immediately move on. I’ve suggested to my student that when he needs a chorus for a song, rather than write one, write four. Write one, record it, and put it aside. Then write another, record it, and put it aside. Repeat twice more. When he’s got four potential choruses, do NOT practice and learn them. Do not spend the week playing the verse into these choruses to audition them. Instead record the verse once with each chorus (or just edit recordings of the verse and each chorus together) and put the files on the shelf for a couple of days. Move on to the bridge, and to other songs. He’ll come back to these recordings with fresh ears, few expectations, objectivity, and the perspective of a first-time listener. In the meantime his subconscious may still be writing choruses and a great chorus may emerge seemingly on its own.

© 2013 Brenna Method (updated January 2018)