I Asked for Help!

I realized that I just needed a little help to get me started. The target date for writing my first song was fast approaching. (Tomorrow to be exact!) I decided to reach out and ask for help from someone I had not met before but was known to me as a professional songwriter who started later in life, just I am.

Last week I called Rosemarie Ashley of ‘Tude Vox on http://www.SassyAlternativeMusic.com. After reading about her journey on her website I realized that she transformed her self from a non-songwriting singer to a singer-songwriter and she is now writing professionally. I related to her desire to create meaningful and inspirational music because that is what I am working for too.

Rosemarie very graciously spent time with me on the phone and gave me tips on how to get started. I am happy to report that I now have the first draft for lyrics of my first song.

Here are some of the tips from Rosemarie:

• There are a number of different ways to start a song.
• Pick a subject or idea to explore and write a poem. Ask someone to write the music for it.
• Take a piece of music that has the feeling that you want to write about and write vocals for it.
• Listen to the music that you will be writing vocals for over and over. Start improvising melody. Get a feel for what the song is telling you, how it makes you feel.
• Meditate on the piece
• Listen and then set an intention, ask for guidance and listen for the answers.

The subject I picked is a pretty personal one – about a relationship that is bothering me. Here are my first attempts at the lyrics:

My First Song!

A Common Thread

© Jayne Burch 2009

Sailing in the universe
Waiting to be led
You joined me in this world
Pulled by a common thread

We sailed along together
Until it was time to fly
You pushed away, but not so far
Leaving me wonder why

Pulling me to sooth your fear
Yet yearning to be free
You push away from seeing clear
Your own life aside from me

Letting go is painful
Full of anxiety and dread
You’ve joined me in this world
Still joined by a common thread

It’s not complete, but it’s begun finally! Next step is music! My thanks to Rosemarie Ashley for being the catalyst to get me started!

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I am committed to at least doing my daily practice around my music. Writing every day may be unrealistic right now. The most important part is to establish a habit or discipline around my music.

Today’s focus is on choosing a theme for a song. Amy Appleby notes in her, You Can Write a Song, that there are only a handful of themes out there. The trick is to take a tried and true theme and present it in a fresh and updated way.

It’s also a good idea to start by thinking through your audience or the purpose of your songwriting. When writing songs for church, for children, your community play or a concert you have much more freedom to choose a theme. If you want write a mainstream pop song writing about some of the following themes will work better because they are more familiar.

Here are some of the major themes. There may be more of course, but these are a good start. Many have to do with love.

• Looking for Love
• Proposing Love
• Making Love
• Celebrating Love
• Unriquited Love
• Broken Love
• Personal Portraits
• Places and Objects
• Events
• Friendship
• Family
• Self-realization
• Dance
• Music
• Novelty
• Fantasy
• Work, Money, Survival
• Philosophical/Moral
• Political/Patriotic

My goal is to write pop songs so I plan to explore some of these themes for the songs to write. I like that the book gives examples of each theme. I am drawn to writing about what is going on in my life right now, especially, self-realization and things that are inspirational. Songs can have subthemes too. For now, I’ll see where this goes.

How about you? Who are you writing for? What themes attract you most?

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Here’s how I’m priming the pump…

Do Your Dailies

One thing that I find gets in the way of any creative expression is the day-to-day distractions. I’m sure you know what I mean. Life gets in the way of other plans. Unless I specifically set aside time to clear the junk out of my head, the really creative thoughts get lost in the rush. So there are two things I do every day now to help prime my creative brain.

1. Centering (or meditation practice) that involves relaxation and clearing my mind and emotions. I do at least 15 minutes a day, preferably in the morning.
2. Writing is the second daily activity that I have practiced on and off for years. I write at least three pages long hand in the morning. Nothing special, just what’s on my mind. It’s amazing how ideas just flow through my pen some times. I first picked up this practice reading The Artist Way, by Julia Cameron.

I have other things I do each day like read special affirmations and goals.  Now it’s time to add daily practices related to my big goal of becoming a songwriter. I have been spending 15 minutes  per day at the piano and piano exercises. And I am spending 15 minutes  per day completing a songwriting exercise. The amount of time I set aside for each activity is a minimum. 15 minutes is doable. I can always spend more time if I have it. I often do.

The third new activity is to write this blog about my experiences with the Songs to Write Project. I believe that if I can become a songwriter, anyone can. The blog helps to keep me accountable.

Oh, and I believe in measuring progress so I created a checklist just to keep myself on track. I’ve found them very helpful. Send me a message if you would like a copy of it.

How about you? How do you keep yourself on track with your goal to learn how to write songs?

Technorati Tags: how to write a song, songs, songs to write, songwriter, songwriting

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My intention is to learn to play piano well enough use it to compose at first. To create melodies I know I will need to learn a bit more about harmony and chords than I do now. Songs need to have melodies that follow certain conventions, of course, in order to be appealing and pleasing to the ear. I’ve learned that creative genius comes from being prepared with the fundamentals first. Learning chord structures and chord progressions is a great place to start.

To me, song lyrics should be singable, interesting and ideally have meaning. I like lyrics that have some surprises. What to write about seems to be a common dilemma with new songwriters. One suggestion I’ve heard is look at your every day experience for inspiration. Write about what you know and what moves you in your daily life.

References

I’ve done a lot of research to find songwriting and piano instruction books to help me along. For now I’ve chosen two simple books by the same author that are very easy to follow. The author is Amy Appleby and the books are You Can Play Piano and You Can Write a Song.

I have a small electronic keyboard that I’ve had for years. It’s a Yamaha PSR-270 with a midi hook up for my computer. The midi is useful for learning as well as for recording.

I discovered a shareware computer game called PianoHead that is very helpful for learning notes, scales and intervals on the piano. When I hook my keyboard to my laptop I can improve my skill easily and in a fun way. I read music but I’ve played solo instruments all my life and only learned the Treble clef.  Harmony and chords are a whole new world. PianoHead is helping me learn to hear notes, intervals and to read the Bass clef.

Becoming a songwriter in fun, but it’s also serious business as an adult. It requires learning and changes in habits. As with any major goal I’ve achieved in my life, I will need to find a process that includes daily activities. One doesn’t learn to play piano or become an accomplished songwriter over night.  We can accomplish amazing things just chipping away at it even 15 minutes a day. Tomorrow I’ll share more about the daily practices, routines and disciplines that I’ll be putting in place.

How about you? What practices and disciplines do you use to accomplish your goals? What daily activities are important for your songwriting. I’d love to know so please comment below.

Technorati Tags: how to write a song, how to write songs, songs, songs to write, songwriter, songwriting

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Over the years I’ve started and stopped the process of songwriting before I even got one song committed to paper or recorded. Was it lack of courage or lack of the right support and resources? Possibly both. I was recently cleaning out clothes (an excellent thing to do to spark change in one’s life, by the way) and I found a notebook with lyric ideas and fragments I started over 10 years ago!  Then last year I started this blog only to let it sit idle.

I’ve never lost my passion and desire to make music, though. I just haven’t put all the pieces together to make it happen – yet. 2010 is the year. I promise.

I am making a promise to myself to put together the pieces and produce. Produce songs, bad songs and good songs, it doesn’t really matter. As Julie Cameron says in her book, The Artist Way, “Take care of the quantity and the Universe will take care of the quality.”

I also promise you, the reader (whoever you are and for whatever reason you are reading this blog – whether it’s because you have your own buried desire to write songs or you just want to see me possibly make a spectacle of myself), I promise to write about what it’s like to go from a complete beginner as a songwriter to creating a body of work, recording and actually performing that work. I promise to write every day to share my resources, the pieces I’ve found to help me. I’ll share the challenges I’m facing, too.

How about you? Have you had a desire to start writing songs? What’s stopping you? Please comment below. I’d love to hear from you.

Tomorrow I’ll share the process I’m using and the resources I’m using.

Technorati Tags: songs, songs to write, songwriter, songwriting

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