I was about to post another old post, since I didn't get any posted over the weekend, but I've had some interesting stuff happen in the song writing area...
First, I wrote Vanessa a love song - very personal and very special - for our Anniversary a few weeks ago. I still have not put it online, because I've not recorded it yet. I've been fighting a cold the last week or so, but intend to get it recorded and shared very soon.
Meanwhile, I went to lunch a few weeks ago to Pizza Hut and took a legal pad with me. I started making some notes just to see what would happen when inspiration struck. It was almost like I couldn't get the words on paper fast enough. I wrote a song while sitting there - just a 'cute' little thing, not a love song (in the traditional sense) but one I thought was worth pursuing. I've worked on the words a little more and the chord progression. I'll be recording it to share as well.
So - the other day I'm reading my Twitter posts and there's a link to an article by @stringjuggler - Adam Levy. It's about songwriting. He mentions some different techniques to help get the conscious mind out of the way and let the inspiration flow. Here's a link to the article.
The first thing I tried - last night - was the "write for seven minutes non stop" technique. I have the ability to type at hight speed and not even look at the keyboard. This lets me truly go 'stream of consciousness' and not even look at what I'm 'writing.' I did this last night with one of the many, many notes I've made on things that MIGHT have a song buried in there. I typed over a page full, but I didn't really see a song in the middle of it. Of course I've saved all of this so maybe I can get something out of it another day.
Right behind that I took the suggestion #3 - which paraphrased says to take the first line of one of your favorite songs and write it down. Then write as many new lines as you can, matching the tone, rhythm and rhyming of the first. I did this and only rhymed maybe three lines, but at the same time I felt myself really open up and pull a TON of stuff from down deep somewhere that I didn't even know about. It was an interesting feeling, but one that left me a little emotionally drained. I stopped at that point and went to sleep.
Today, I was in another office down the hall and I noticed a picture on the wall. This reminded me of suggestion #1. There was one particular feature in the painting that drew my eye. I had some quick ideas about it and how it would fit into a story and song. I couldn't get to a legal pad fast enough... Someone started talking to me as I was writing, so I know I had more I could have recorded, but had to stop and get back to work, but I have a kick start on the next idea...
Thanks, Adam, for the help! :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment