Self Sufficient Musician

How do you start a song?

My answer: anywhere I can.

Songwriters are creatures of habits just like everybody else, and they tend to develop a single method of writing that they stick to. Then they fall into a rut or hit a writer’s block, and wonder why they’re stuck. 

In reality, songs don’t have to be born any certain way.  While it’s not wrong for a songwriter to have a primary/favorite method of writing songs, being aware of other entry points can greatly enhance your writing and reduce the chances of you getting stuck.  Below, let’s list up all the places where a song begins to hatch out of its egg:

1. Chord progression/riff: Probably the most common method for everybody who plays instruments to write songs, including yours truly.
2. Melody: Many times I stumble on a great melody from humming in my shower. 
3. Rhythm: Not the easiest place to start, but if you build a song off of a rhythmic hook, I guarantee you it’ll be memorable.  Rhythm is the most instinctive element in music and a distinct pattern there gets under listener’s skin.
4. Lyrics: A surprisingly natural place to start, as all language has built-in pitches and stresses.  Pop music is guilty of completely ignoring inherent rhythms and emphasis built into the language, because writers would force words on melodies without considering how the lines are naturally spoken.
5. Sound: U2’s The Edge has commented on how a certain effect or a sound kick start a song in their band.  The danger there is that then the song’s identity gets locked up with a particular sound, but sometimes the sound itself has so much interest that a song emerges just from playing around with it.  I’m guessing that Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine/Audioslave must write this way.
6. Loops/layers: A drum or percussion loop can start a song, but here I’m talking about layering — even the simplest and most boring repetitions can concoct something interesting when combined with other loops/layers in creative ways.
7. Jamming/Improvising: Sometimes, you just start playing without having any ideas.  It can get more interesting if you jam with other musicians.
8. Mood/Atmosphere/Feeling: Finally, this is a must if you plan to write for film/TV — you have a specific emotional effect in mind and you write to cause that effect with your music.  I’m not talking just about being inspired to write out of certain feelings.  A skilled composer can write with an intention to conjure up particular feelings, and manage to do so.

So there are at least 8 places to start a new song.  How many have you tried?  Which one is your favorite?

Special thanks to Songwriting Zen for an inspiration for this article.

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