Simple Songwriting Techniques That Will Take You Halfway To Genius Level
If you'd like a collection of the most powerful songwriting techniques, I've released a book called The Songwriting Genius Within You. In this book you'll discover how to tap into your inner genius, explode your creativity, and learn the 3 keys to maximizing your songwriting potential.
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You can learn about these songwriting techniques here.
Today I want to show you a simple technique that has the potential to take you halfway to songwriting genius.
Sounds crazy right? Well, just wait until you hear the results for yourself...
I had a good friend ring me up just a couple of days ago. He took ten minutes to tell me how much he was struggling with his songwriting, And how he was completely miserable about it.
Songwriting shouldn't be this way.
Here's how songwriting is in my view.
It's a fun, joyous activity. It's EXCITING!
It's where you get to use that part of your mind that creates blissful dreams... your creative side...
It's pleasurable... and the better at it you get, the more pleasurable it feels...
So...
Why is my friend finding things so difficult?
Well, the first thing that occurred to me is he's approaching things in the wrong way. He's trying to use the wrong thought processes, the wrong parts of his brain, and the wrong attitude to create music.
If you have to "try hard" to create music, you're doing something very wrong.
Creating wonderful music, intriguing lyrics, and hypnotic melodies is actually pretty easy when you know how...
So how?
"Gimmie some answers"! I can hear you say!
Ok, this should help...
When I was talking to my friend the other day, I decided to give him some advice to cure his songwriting problems.
I told him that I had a songwriting technique that would take him "halfway to musical genius" if he had the discipline and determination to follow it through...
He said, "Geoff, I"ll do whatever it takes to get out of this rut!"
I'm going to give you the same advice I gave my friend. Try this songwriting technique and you will truly feel what it's like to be a "genius songwriter", if only for a few moments.
This songwriting technique draws on your more powerful creative resources (something we'll talk about more in future articles), by leveraging a few important principles. Understanding and leveraging these CRUCIAL principles will multiply your creativity in your songwriting like you wouldn't believe. You HAVE to try this for yourself to understand what I mean!
These principles are:
1. The law of Effect. This law states that you get "more of what you reinforce".
2. The principal of articulation, which states that "the more you express or articulate a given perception, the more you will perceive and understand of that and related perceptions"
3. The point of "most learning". This principle is about increasing the intensity of feedback at the point in the "learning loop" where the most profound understanding andlearning occurs.
Ok... let's back up a little!
These three principles are "big ones" and I can't do them justice in this short newsletter. So if you didn't understand those last few paragraphs, don't worry...
Just know that the following songwriting technique leverages these three principles, which is why it's so effective. And you will learn more about these principles in future editions...
By the way, I explain these three principles and much more in detail in my latest book The Songwriting Genius Within You, as well as how to use them to improve your songwriting abilities very quickly. If you want to become a master of your creativity, and learn how to write compelling, spine-tingling music, you need this book.
You can get your copy at this website:
http://www.genius-songwriting.com/book.html
Here's the steps to take to use this songwriting technique...
Ok. Let's get into the songwriting technique...
Firstly, you need to sit down with your instrument. Fiddle around with it until it's sounding as good as you can get it.
Also, make sure the room you're in has a "creative feel" to it. Clear up all the clutter, and hang some nice pictures on the walls... buy some interesting lights... whatever you can do togive it a relaxed, creative feel.
Next, you need to hook up some kind of recording device. Nothing fancy here... if you have a tape deck that records sound, use that.
Ok... you've got your instrument ready? And your recording device is fired up and ready to go?
Great... you're ready to engage your creative side, and use the exercise that takes you halfway to genius level...
Excited? I surely am! Let's get into it...
1. Hit record on your recording device.
2. Now, begin playing. Play anything that comes to mind.
The idea here is to play... improvise... but unlike normal improvisation, I want you to try and AVOID the common patterns and ideas that you usually fall into. That's right.
Avoid them.
Instead, play your instrument, just "making things up" as you go... and whenever you fall into a common routine, or if your playing sounds "familiar", immediately direct your playing away from that theme.
Do this for 30 minutes straight!
Don't stop playing for one second during this period. Even if you don't feel like you're playing anything good. Keep going. Keep exploring different ideas. Ignore the urge to stop playing. Ignore the voice in your head that says, "what you're playing sucks!"
Keep playing for 30 minutes straight, deliberately staying away from common themes and melodies. The whole time, search for the new. Tune into that deep, relaxed feeling when ideas seem to flow easily...
Done?! Great!
Now... take your recording of this performance and listen to it not once, but TWICE.
The first time you listen, pay close attention. Listen to the ideas that you thought "sucked" AND listen to the ideas that you liked. Listen the whole way through... the full 30 minuteperformance.
The second time you listen through, you don't need to pay close attention. Just have it playing as back-ground music as you do something else.
Now, here comes the bit that requires some discipline!
Do this same routine for 7 days straight.
It'll take you 1 hour each day for a week (plus the second listening session per day that doesn't require your full attention).
And the rewards for completing this songwriting technique?
Well, I guarantee that if you complete the songwriting technique I've just described, you will have discovered MANY song ideas of such quality you have to hear to believe.
Here's how it will go...
The first few days are tough. Ideas may seem hard to find (they may come easily... it can go either way). When you listen back to the performances you may have many "groan moments". You may go "red in the face" from time to time from embarrassment.You will also find some "gold" out of these first few sessions as well.
After the first 2-3 days though, because of your "listening back" sessions, you are learning what you like, and what you don't like. Most of this learning is happening on an unconscious level, so you won't be aware of it. But you will notice this affect, because on day 3 to day 5 you will notice that you LOVE most of the ideas that you play.
You will notice that there is far more "gold" than there is boring, stale ideas. This is due to the "point of most learning" principle I discussed earlier.
Days 5-7 get very very exciting!
You will come up with ideas that are of a quality you'll find hard to believe. Compelling, wonderful musical ideas that are completely original and unlike any music you've ever written.
This happens because the large "feedback loop" that you've created. By doing the 30 minute "improvisation sessions" and listening back twice each day, you've begun re-programming the way you write music.
Firstly, you're training yourself to allow your ideas to flow from your unconscious (you will notice in each session, there is a point where you settle into a deep, relaxed state, where ideas flow through you easily).
You are also feeding your mind a lot of information to decide things like:
-What ideas you like
-What don't you like
-How it feels to create ideas you like
-Many subtle little tweaks that cause your music to sound GREAT.
And much more.
You don't even need to control this process yourself. Simply listening back to your sessions twice a day will cause this to happen naturally and automatically.
And because you're "improvising freely" with no limitations, and no judging, you're putting yourself into a position where inspirational ideas can emerge easily.
Do the 7 day songwriting technique I've just described. If you want to accelerate and increase your abilities as a songwriter, there is no better or more enjoyable way.
My friend (the one I told you about before) rang me up a few days after beginning this procedure and said to me, "Geoff, the songwriting technique is amazing". "With one session I've managed to come up with more ideas than I usually have in a whole month!"
He went on and on about how much he enjoyed it, and how it's the most relaxing and inspirational way to write music. I agree with him.
I think you will too. Take the time to try this songwriting technique. It'll only take you an hour a day, and by the end of the week, you'll have more great ideas than you can imagine.
Also, if you are serious about becoming the best songwriter you can possibly become, go read about my book, "The Songwriting Genius Within You" right now. Here's the website where you can get a copy. In this book you'll find many more songwriting techniques that will make your song writing sessions an absolute pleasure, and the quality of your songs will increase to a world class level.
In the book, you'll find out much more about the three principles that I touched on briefly above, and also some ways to supercharge the songwriting technique you've just learned. As well as that, you'll learn many ways to accelerate your abilities as a songwriter which will put you light years ahead of the rest.
You'll also learn exactly how genius musicians and ultra creative people, use special songwriting techniques to "tap into" their deeper, richer creative resources. This is the key to being highly successful at songwriting.
When you can do this, you will produce a torrent of exceptional musical ideas that won't stop. All you have to do is pick which ideas you like and use my advanced songwriting techniques forarranging these ideas into fresh, inspiring pieces of music.
Here's that link again...
http://www.genius-songwriting.com/book.html