52 creative prompts for songwriters
52 creative prompts for songwriters
Or, play as discipline
Every creative person I know experiences it: the Block.
I have watched artists spiral during a session, questioning their decisions and refusing to put anything down on paper. I have agonized on many a studio floor, feeling like I’ve never written a song before in my life. Art-making is supposed to be fun, but sometimes we end up at a standstill. It can feel like an 80 foot high, 10 foot thick concrete wall with no way around it. BLOCKED. No creating for you!
What are the fears behind the Block?
It could be a fear of judgement from our peers, of disappointing ourselves, the imagined eternal embarrassment of putting out an Imperfect Thing, or how an Imperfect Thing might act as an omen for our professional future. We could be avoiding the feeling that our skill may not yet match our taste. Ultimately, I think a lot of us are afraid we’ll find out we’re no good and that we have wasted our time pursing art.
The truth is, no time spent making is wasted. The “bad” songs teach us more than our successes. Every artist you admire has had some stinkers. Absolutely everyone experiences setbacks. We make songs because we are alive, observing, feeling, and contemplating.
If that still isn’t comforting enough, here are some prompts to help get you out of the story of your legacy, and back into the zone of play! (If you’re looking for more, check out Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies).
Write a bad song.
Write a verse and chorus every day for a week.
Try to finish a draft of a song in 15 minutes.
Find 5 positive things to say about an artist you dislike.
Write a song on an instrument you suck at.
Write a song you play on your body.
Write a song using only major chords.
Write a one word chorus.
Write a one chord verse.
Experiment with a new-to-you jazz progression.
Harvest sounds from your environment for inspiration. What story do they tell?
Collaborate with someone new, outside your genre.
Find lyrics in the wild! Open a book to a random page. Steal a line from a movie. Eavesdrop in a coffee shop.
Steal an element from your favourite artist/song and build something new around it.
Record a cover, make it new.
Listen to your contemporaries: what can you learn from them? What do you wish you were hearing more of from them?
Listen to a favourite album from your childhood, and try to hear something new in it.
Create new symbols! Go on a walk and identify 5 objects or scenes that resonate with you. Write about why, and what metaphors come up.
Write a song about a living thing in your home, of any species.
Write a song starting with: I wish.
Write a song featuring as many colours as possible.
Write a song about/for a relative.
Write a song exploring your senses: no experience is too small for this (ex: pouring out a glass of water).
Go over your old journals, drafts and demos, and look for something you can use now or respond to.
Write a song for a child.
Write a song about the Block.
Write about the last time you felt surprised.
Imagine having been a fly on the wall during a historical event. Write!
Listen to songs you wrote that you are proud of. What made them great? How did you do it? Reflect.
Play with the circle of fifths.
Use a simple two-chord progression and see how you can make it interesting.
Listen for rhythms: footsteps, a garbage truck on the street, pipes, birdsong. Borrow that rhythm for a song.
Write a song for another artist, whether you know them or not.
Create a character in your head. Write a song as that character.
Wander around a secondhand store until you find an object that speaks to you. Why did it make you stop wandering? What does it remind you of? Write about it.
Imagine a conversation you didn’t get to have but wish you did. Write about it.
Imagine a conversation with someone who has passed on. Write about it.
Go to a museum (or open your laptop). Observe a painting. Write about it, see what story you come up with.
Hum for a while as you fold laundry or wash the dishes. Keep humming until you find yourself repeating a melody you like.
Try creating a melody that doesn’t touch the root.
Try creating a chord progression that doesn’t touch the root.
Move across your instrument in a way you normally don’t, until a melody arises.
Ask a non-musician to make something up with you.
Arrange something acapella to build a song around.
Write a song about a character from a book or film.
Write a song as if you were teaching a first-timer how to do it.
Write about a phone call you had recently.
Write around an article of clothing that has meaning for you.
Write a song with no meaning.
Re-arrange the songs on an existing album to tell a new story.
Think of someone you knew when you were a child. Write about it.
Write a song from the perspective of someone who is no longer living.
I hope some of these ideas prove to be helpful. In my experience, prompts like these can help manoeuvre around really stubborn fears and false beliefs about creativity by making things less precious.
Take some of the pressure off. Write a song!
Can’t to share some new ones with you :)
xx