If you asked me to coffee for some advice about how to get moving with your songwriting practice, this is what I would say:
1) Use repetition thoughtfully to create a form
It doesn’t matter what the repeating structure is, but it’s pretty much essential that the music and lyrics repeat somehow.
2) Start wherever you like
Lyrics, chords, melody — hang onto at least one idea that you have a little crush on and let things build from there.
3) Use the tools you have, don’t worry about the ones you don’t
Use whatever you already know about music theory or your instrument to help guide yourself. Know how to use the circle of fifths in a turnaround? Amazing. If not, don’t worry about it. You don’t have to be able to teach a music theory class in order to write something beautiful. It just has to sound good to you 😉
4) Make difficult decisions, but not at the beginning
Don’t let the editor side of yourself come in too quickly. Yes, there will be a moment to viciously slash certain things away, but I rarely find that it’s helpful to do that until there are a lot of ideas on the page or recorded in the voice memos.
Recently I had the pleasure of teaching a group songwriting workshop at a ukulele festival in Nova Scotia. It was a magical experience! Here’s video evidence of what we created together, using the above principles.
xx
-s
p.s. If you’ve been wanting to complete your ukulele album, but feel intimidated by the immensity of the project, join the waitlist for my songwriting mentorship program. Your album is waiting for you!