Getting Inspired

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Leah Kruszewski
ModeratorInstructor
Getting Inspired

Most songwriters agree setting aside time to compose is the most important place to start (see this forum discusion).  Using that time is way more fun and productive if we feel inspired, and we don’t necessarily have to wait around for inspiration to strike by chance.  We can seek it out ourselves!

I loved watching Lessonface instructor Hannah Christianson’s video ‘5 ways to start writing a song’.  She has some really great advice for getting inspired, and gives examples from her own experience and songs to demonstrate.  Plus, I love her voice and imagine she’s really fun to take lessons from.   

Her 5 Ways are: 

  1. Start with a chord, or chord progression, and invent a melody to go along with it

  2. Start with a Lyric, or even an object, let your ideas flow, and see where they lead you

  3. Start with a Title - Hannnah talked about her song Let’s Be Frisbees, which was inspired by misreading a phrase written in her journal

  4. Start with a Rhythm and let a melody fall into place around that rhythm

  5. Start with a Sound - a different instrument, a computer program, a sound from the environment (she mentioned pine cones, birds.  City sounds can inspire too.)

Have you tried any of Hannah’s approaches?  What worked for you? What was the most fun?  

I wrote this article and list of music writing prompts a few years ago. The article is geared towards my younger students (I had a few specific students in mind when I wrote it), and with instrumental guitar songs in mind, but writing prompts are fun and inspiring to songwriters of all ages.

Have you used other resources to inspire you to write music?  For example, Pat Pattison’s Writing Better Lyrics is a popular book for songwriters, has anyone read it?  

What other ways do you have for getting inspired to write music?  

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