You might be thinking, “a song can’t write itself.” Sure, a person writes a song, but that’s not quite what we’re getting at. The finest song ideas just seem to come to you easily and without much thought.
“People ask me how I make music. I tell them I just step into it. It’s like stepping into a river and joining the flow. Every moment in the river has its song.” – Micheal Jackson
Being extremely self-critical when it comes to creativity is a certain way to keep yourself from reaching your maximum potential.
Music is an expressive form of art – It should not be estimated or imposed. You’ll most likely enjoy the writing process and feel quite natural if you want to produce a song that’s authentic to you.
So, how does this happen? Can you learn to make a song write itself?
In this post, we’ll look at everything related to Organic Songwriting, and discuss some techniques that support a therapeutic writing process.
Let’s dive right in!
What Makes Songwriting Feel Organic?
When executed with intention and without too much self-awareness, songwriting feels organic. The end result is something that just develops since the artist was “feeling” what they were working on.
Everyone writes music and generates ideas in their unique way.
- Songwriting can be done mostly behind a piano or acoustic guitar for some people.
- Others may have a different technique that works best for them.
Before beginning to compose, songwriters often have some concept of what they want to achieve with their songs in terms of a creative vision, and at other times, they come up with whole new ideas on the fly.
Here are some tips to help you develop an organic writing process:
- Try To Have An Open Mind
If you approach songwriting with an open mind rather than a critical perspective, you’ll be more likely to focus on the great components and less on the drawbacks.
“I really realized in songwriting, the more open you are the better it is for you.” – Rita Ora in a chat with Notion magazine.
Don’t be concerned about how things “should sound” or how you must fit into a specific mold. Try to overcome any self-imposed constraints, such as being open to new approaches and incorporating aspects from various musical styles.
This sort of adjustment of viewpoint will allow you to perceive concepts from a different point of view – you may learn that something you didn’t like before can be transformed into something extraordinary.
- Accept Imperfection
Spending a lot of time perfecting a song is not only time-consuming, but it also makes it difficult to appreciate music if you’re always dissecting it and trying to make it perfect.
“My message behind this album was finding the beauty in imperfection.” – Beyonce
It’s typical for a songwriter to go through multiple variations of a song. If you spend too much time overthinking and revising a concept, you may lose sight of what is truly working in the song as a whole. You’ll also be dwelling on the negatives, which isn’t conducive to good internal discourse.
- Embracing a Relaxed Mindset
Adopting a calm mentality is one of the finest methods to encourage an organic songwriting process. This does not imply that you should be lazy or undiscerning when it comes to music, but rather that you should be broad-minded to new ideas and inspiration.
Let a composition run its course and see where it takes you. You could learn things about yourself as a musician that you didn’t know before, and it might help you step outside of your comfort zone and attempt new things.
- Let It Happen Naturally
You should trust your intuition to recognize when an idea doesn’t seem right or isn’t working, and instead of pushing it, try something new. But if something fresh or fascinating catches your eye, seize it!
“What comes first? The melody, always… I try not to record them on my Dictaphone when I first hear them. If I forget all about it and it pops up later on, then I know it’s good enough. I let my subconscious do the editing for me.” – Björk
The creative process should flow much more effortlessly if you are open to new ideas and willing to attempt new things. If a seemingly random concept piques your curiosity, stick with it and watch how it develops. It might result in something very unexpected! Creativity may emerge from any place and at any time! So accept it and let the music lead you wherever it may.
Final Thoughts
We hope this post has given you some ideas on how to encourage an organic songwriting process by being open to new ideas and embracing spontaneity in your creative process.
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