The Songs to Write Project

Ever wonder how songwriters find the songs to write to get started? Like any creative process it varies from person to person. The one thing that all successful songwriters have in common is… They start. And they don’t quit. Songwriting can seem mysterious and inaccessible to those on the outside. Unless you have songs naturally popping into your head or writing themselves as some songwriters maintain, you will need to create the environment for songs to write.

Some songwriters start in childhood making up rhymes and little ditties. Johanna Burns had a toy Casio Keyboard and used to sit in her room picking apart pop songs she heard on the radio. Her interest in how the songs worked and were constructed blossomed into songwriting and singing career at the age of 24. She has two EPs released independently, “Everything Til Now” in 2005, and “Music From & Inspired By,” earlier this year. Burns has shared the stage with Ingrid Michaelson, the Click 5, Melissa Ferrick and Fountains of Wayne, and has finished a two-song EP she hopes to release in the fall.

When asked where she finds inspiration for songs to write, Burns says, “I’ve become inspired more by how other people’s songs make me feel. Maybe it sounds loopy, but I kind of get inspired by the essence of a song, the whole picture. For example, John Mayer has a song called “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room” off of his “Continuum” record. That song is so good, it’s almost something tangible.”

Connie Kaldor who teaches songwriting workshops suggests listening to a lot of music and deciding what you like and don’t like, “It is good to start with songs that you like.These are the ones that ring a chord in you. Those writers are doing something right. Not everyone has to write in this way. There are as many different writing styles as there are people. There are songs within every style that are worth examining.”

Kaldor loves the creative aspect of songwriting. She notes that is wonderful to make something out of thin air. The thing is songwriting can be a fun, playful activity. “It is the way I express myself and most of all, it’s fun to do.”

Some suggested steps to getting started on songs to write:

Take a song you know well and like and write new words. One of the easiest forms to start with is the blues. It has a clear pattern, it has a clear rhyme scheme and you can get by with four lines at a time.

If blues is not in your repertoire, try a simple children’s or traditional song. Take the first line and go from there.

There are always starting lines that will get you going, make sure the ending words are easy rhyme words like:

“I walked out and what did I see…”

“This is the way I feel today,…

“Tell me , tell me, tell me please…

“I saw you and what did I do…”

You can sit around and wait for a bolt from the blue and the songs to write themselves or you can get started now. Commit something to paper. Play with it. Have fun. I’ll be writing more about how to write songs from the beginners perspective.

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