What is songwriting? What is compose? Do you really compose when you write songs or are you just copying?
If song writers make a living from their writing, this will put a lot of pressure on them. Some song writers constantly listen to what’s popular and try to mimic the hooks in the songs.
I can see two ways to go as a composer:
1. Listen to many hit songs and try to write similar songs. Listening to songs and reading a lot about what’s going on trying to feel what kind of songs will be popular in the near future.
2. Try to be yourself and just work on creating songs that you like in the hope that others will feel the same way.
The last method is for me the most rewarding way to move forward when it comes to personal growth. I feel good and happy when I’m creative as a songwriter and I feel like the process involves something about getting to know myself better.
In the long run, it could also create the best hit songs. The song Yesterday is just one example of a different hit song.
Writing songs can be a very rewarding activity and the level of originality depends on how you write your music. You can help activate the creative parts of your brain or use the more calculating parts or a combination of both.
Can I share some tips from my own experience writing songs?
1. Sit down with your guitar or piano singing or humming without expecting to create anything brilliant. When you allow yourself to step away from your calculating parts of your brain and into the exciting forests of imagination and creativity, you can find amazing things.
2. Limitations can help your creativity. Put some limitations on yourself, for example using a chord progression like G Em Am D7. Many songs use this progression, but there will be room for more. You can of course use a weirder one like ECC#m G#m.
3. Record yourself playing and humming on your guitar or piano. Listening to what you came up with a few days later can help you find interesting melodies or hooks to use in your songs.
Sometimes you may feel that you are not able to write songs like the composers you like, but they cannot write songs like you. A comforting thought, isn’t it?