Always Record Your Songwriting Session

Question: I find that when I am writing songs, I have a lot of different ideas. I usually use a writing pad to get my ideas down, but it takes so long to transcribe everything. Do you have any suggestions on how to speed up the process?

Answer: Using a recorder of some type, will assure that you get your song ideas down and assure that you don't forget any song ideas that you come up with.

Do As Professional Songwriters

Some of the most prolific songwriters never write without some kind of recorder going. They know, all too well, that it is so easy to forget your ideas when you are having a stream of song pieces flowing out of you. Most of these recordings are obviously not available to the public, but Disney has put out a Boxed Set:, "The Music Behind the Magic" that allows you to follow the songwriting process that Alan Menken, Howard Ashman and Tim Rice used to come up with the music for "The Little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast" and "Alladin". One of the great things about these recordings is that you first hear the songwriting process (Alan, Howard and Tim sitting around the piano) followed by the song demo and then the finished product. It's a great inspiration, even if you don't write in the broadway, or movie musical styles.

Using Nonsense Syllables And Temporary Lyrics

While writing in this way, don't be to concerned about the lyrics that are streaming out of you. It is also quite common for professional songwriters to create a basic outline of the song using temporary lyrics and nonsense syllables. Another great recording to listen to would be the "Everyday" single CD, by Phil Collins. The first track is the full CD version of the song, but they give you a demo version as well (rack 3) .You can hear Phil Collins using slurred speech and temporary lyrics while coming up with the outline of the song. It's also a great look into his production ideas during the demo process since can hear where the song started from and where it ended up. Again, another great inspiration and something that will remind you that you don't need your songs to come out exactly perfect the first time they stream from your muse!

Don't Criticize Your Lyrics And Melodies When Recording Your Ideas

You want to suspend your critical thinking while coming up with new ideas. This is a very important point and something you need to learn if you want to become, or continue to be a prolific songwriter. Make sure that you just keep going with your song ideas and let them flow through you without any thought of how good, or how bad it is.

Save Your Song Ideas

If you use cassette based recorders, then you know that cassettes are so cheap (if you can even find them) that there is no reason for writing over them unless you really don't like what you came up with. With digital technology allowing really good storage options, through huge hard drives at ever-falling prices, you can definitely save your ideas. When you are feeling a bit of songwriters block, just pick some random recordings that you did and see if you can find something of use from the past song ideas that you came up with.

Recording Your Song Ideas With Recording Software

If you want to take fragments of song ideas and create an arrangement, then you could start by by cutting and pasting sections together by using recording software on your computer. There are many different recording software programs on the market, some are even free to download via the internet.

Writing Down Song Ideas

Now that you have the recording, you can take your time in writing the song down. Using a writing pad is a good idea, but it can get in the way of the flow, so recording your ideas first will allow yourself to be extremely creative.

The process of writing (by hand) does have a place in creativity and is very important. The fact that you can visualize your ideas on paper also helps get the brain sort out its creative ideas.

Create A Songwriting Process

Once you find a songwriting process that works for you, try to do it the same way every time. Portable recorders, and laptop computers with music production software on them, make it so easy to write your songs just about anywhere the muse strikes you.