Finding inspiration for songwriting: 7 techniques

As a musician, there are so many ways you can practice your craft and find the inspiration you’re looking for in songwriting. While it’s highly likely that at times in your creative journey the inspiration has come to you, there are plenty of other times when you may need to go out in search of it. 

Everybody has their own methods of getting inspired — and yours will likely be unique just like your music is. While some techniques work better for certain people than they do for others, you can try out a variety of options to see which ones work best for you.

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6 ways to create more consistent content.

As someone who’s been writing both songs and articles since January of this year — and moved halfway across the country, and survived a shooting, and started working twice as many hours — I have discovered the wonders of burnout.

 

Lately, I just haven’t felt inspired. Only a few days since I have been in Boulder have I had an influx of ideas that I vomited onto the computer screen. So much has happened since March, yet my Muse idly sits in the grass, unwilling to budge.

 

Any creative will become intimate with burnout. The creative process reaches a plateau similar to what Seth Godin calls “The Dip,” and everything begins to feel stagnant and tiring. The office cubicle you longed to escape becomes the creative rut you long to escape.

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Most Inspiring Artist For Leaders

TSW, a leading UK training provider, analysed over 2,500 Spotify playlists with the themes “inspirational”, “motivational” and “leadership” to reveal the ‘Top 20 Most Inspirational Songs and Artists that Leaders and Managers Listen to’.

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10 Unlikely Blogs Where Songwriters Should Seek Inspiration

Guest post by Sammy Hakim. This article originally appeared on Soundfly’s Flypaper

One of the questions I get asked most frequently as a professional songwriter is: “How do you stay inspired when writing every day?” And it’s a valid question — one with multiple answers!

Songwriters like me often draw from personal life and experience, or from the experiences of those around us; which is probably true of almost any writer in any literary format. But we may also get inspired by and invested in the characters in TV shows, films, and books as well. In fact, it is completely possible to get inspired by anything and everything in the world around you as a creative person. As long as you’re looking for it…

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How To Stay In Love With The Craft Of Songwriting

This post by Caleb J. Murphy originally appeared on the Bandzoogle Blog. 

I hate songwriting when things aren’t flowing.

Okay, that’s not totally true. I always love the craft of songwriting, but I get super frustrated when nothing is showing up even though I am. When I’ve been working on a song for months or even years and it’s not finished, I feel like giving up.

So to help you (and me) stay in love with the craft of songwriting, here are some things you can do.

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High Notes: How Intelligent Artists Seek Further Inspiration

Artistry isn’t the easiest thing. Making great art isn’t something that you can simply do on command. It’s a process that calls for a lot of thought and care. It’s a process that requires a degree of “magic,” too. If you’re a smart artist who wants inspiration that can assist you with your work, then you should look into various helpful routes right now.

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Song Generation: Where Does Inspiration For New Music Come From?

New music has been a major influence on people in society basically since the beginning of time. Nothing is changing much in that sense, either. New music approaches, however, change dramatically all of the time. Sources of inspiration change on a frequent basis as well. Musical acts get ideas in all sorts of intriguing ways.

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How Music Impacted Our Lives

Songs become a part of the story of our lives. Their lyrics linger inside of us. We recall those words, but what we remember isn’t what they meant to the person who wrote them. It’s what they mean to us. We relate their lyrics back to the events that have happened in our lives. We interject our personal narrative into their songs, and it feels as though they mirror our own memories and emotions. 

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How To Work A 9-to-5 Job And Still Be An Inspired Musician

This article originally appeared on the Sonicbids Blog

I speak for myself when I say this, but I’m sure plenty of other musicians think the same: we all want a consistent, full-time, make-a-living-off-of-music job. Whether that’s behind the scenes or center stage, being able to sustain a life off of our music would be fantastic.

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