Breaking Out Of The Box

[fenderbender9]

I feel like my brain is capable of so much more than i can get it to do. Creative songwriting is such a talent but i believe i am capable of doing some of it. What are some of your methods for pushing out of the box of feeling confined and coming out on the other side as a stronger songwriter with a more vast imagination when it comes to writing?

[DukeOfBoom]

dont write with an instrument.

 

write everything on paper and hum the stuff into a recorder.

 

then go back to your instrument and figure it out.

 

otherwise you're going to do what your muscle memory already taught u to do on the instrument.

 

i also think covers really help too. Covers get you thinking about transitions and progressions/sequences/melodies you may not have thought of on your own. Another thing is to just take the chord sheet of a cover tune without even KNOWING of the original and mess around with it until you get something cool. Some old david bowie has crazy key changes which get u thinking outside the box.

 

edit: sorry blue2blue, i forgot!!!!!!!!!

[grace_slick]

True to an extent, yes. Unless you're an amazing player on whatever instrument(s) you play, you will be somewhat restricted by what you know how to do. And also even if you ARE an amazing player, sometimes that comes from a lot of technical knowledge as opposed to pure creativity and learning through playing over many years by ear...and that technicality can get in the way too...

 

I myself say if you want to make music that's "out of the box", it's a lot easier to do so if it comes naturally. My music is apparently quite odd...but that's just me. If my music is out of the box, then so am I.

[Cliftonb]

1. Listen to a ton of different kinds of music. That may sound cliche, but there's the catch. For three months straight don't listen to anything you've already heard before. A good place for this is WFMU's live stream and researching the newest releases on places like Forced Exposure.

 

2. Ditch you Western ears - embrace microtones. For a while at least. Listen to a lot of artists like Gholam-Hossein Banan and dive into the Sublime Frequencies catalog. I suggest Choubi! Choubi! Folk and Pop Sounds From Iraq for starters. After that, get familiar with the Western Art Music utilization of these tones. Example:

 

3. Ditch traditional instruments. Get an old MPC 2000 or SP 1200 (if you can find one). Start crate diggin and chopping samples while tapping out kicks, snares, and hi-hats.

 

4. Ditch composed music. Two words for you: Electroacoustic Improv (EAI).

 

Any one or combination of these things will open can open new creative doors for you. Even if it's just a temporary excursion, you'll hopefully have a different perception on music that could help greatly in whatever you do.

[grace_slick]

If you can sing (or not), try sounding like an animal and/or alien or robot...just make weird sounds into your microphone and use a HEAP of reverb and effects. You most likely won't keep any of that stuff, but it might inspire you...into sounds as opposed to traditional composed music.

 

I can't play the guitar at ALL and yet I put a bit on a song I did of just picking one chord...in a weird, reverby way...sounded damn cool if I do say so. That bit could've carried the whole song...

 

And yes, listen to a heap of random different stuff. Old 60s psychedelic songs, The Great Society, 50s doo wop songs, 70s disco songs, Kate Bush's early stuff, 80s ballads, 90s grunge, Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention, classical, japanese music, european music, Sigur Ros, gregorian chanting monks, just anything at all.

 

Oh, and also, you don't need to push yourself to do something WEIRD just for the sake of it. Your song could be really quite traditional or standard, but if you've just got ONE bit of it, one aspect, one vibe or mood or sound...that's different and unique...that's all you need, man. Feel it. *hippie*

[LeonardScaper]

The best way to break free from the confinement of........yourself........is to get your stuff out for others to hear and critique. It is difficult at first, but the rewards can be worth it.

 

It is both easy and inexpensive to record your material these days and even before you ask others to listen you may find yourself hearing things that surprise and motivate you.

 

Post your songs.........I know just the place!

[Chicken Monkey]

Lenny's got good advice. If you want more of a silver-bullet approach, doing a song-a-day type project really helped me get into new areas. It's one thing to use the same chord progression as the song you wrote three months ago, but once you notice it in three songs in a row, three days in a row, you start to become aware of your go-to songwriting moves and you're forced away from them. But, like Lenny's advice, it's actual hard work, which a lot of "creative" types shy away from.

[Dingoist]

Hmmmmm.

 

* Stylistically challenge yourself.

* Pick time signatures you've never dabbled in before, until comfortable. Then try mixing signatures in a song, perhaps take a bridge and change that.

* Same thing with keys.

* Listen and think, pick a new artist or style. I'm currently listening through the whole Frank Sinatra catalog. A couple of months ago it was Prince. I had a weezer stint. A Jack Johnson stint. etc. Never be closed to at least giving new music a listen, before choosing to discard it.

* I alternate public radio, with pop or classic stations for the drive to work. I don't really like much of the pop stuff, but I like to think and understand of the reason why I don't like it, and occasionally there are some gems (I think I've admitted my liking of Lady Gaga her before, as a deep secret). I feel that I can not be dismissive of a style/music/artist until I give it a listen.

* PLAY. In several meanings of the word. Play, have fun. Play, as in do on whatever instrument you choose.

 

 

 

I should take more of my own advice