August Songwriting Prompts
We as creatives are known to hit creative blocks every now and then. When you’re feeling out of ideas, taking a turn toward prompts can help you unlock the block. Here’s ten songwriting prompts that you can tackle in the month of August.
Write an odd hour of the day. You can wake up and immediately start penning a song or write in the few hours prior to bed. Challenge yourself, by changing the time of day that you typically write a song.
Write about a dream. Dreams often have a surrealist edge to them. They’re spaces where your subconscious unlocks and takes you on a journey that you wouldn’t necessarily be able to access in your day to day. Use your dreams as inspiration for the lyrical content of your songs.
Write a song using strictly melody. We don’t always need words to communicate feelings. What happens to your songwriting when you eliminate the need for language?
Write over percussion. Cords can be inspiring but they can also be limiting. Discover what happens when you put down the guitar or the piano and simply write to a drum beat or rhythmic pattern.
Write one portion of a song at a time. Pen a verse and put the song down. Come back to it the following day and write the chorus. Put it down again and write the second verse on the following day. Sometimes our creativity comes in shorter spurts and downtime in between creative periods can help us figure out what we actually want to say.
Rewrite a song you never finished. We don’t always need to start from scratch. We all have songs in our catalogue that need to be reworked and refined. Find a song you think can be improved and do that work.
Write a 1 minute song. Tierra Whack’s 2018 effort “Whack World” proved the power of a concise musical moment. How much can you pack into a song that can’t be more than 60 seconds?
Pen a song in a retro style. What would a song from an earlier era sound like in your voice? Pen a song that might have been on the radio in the 50’s or 60’s.
Write from an animal’s perspective. Sometimes we need to get out of our head and into the head of someone or something else. What would a dog or cat write about if they could make music?
Write with a non-writer. Creativity is not limited to those of us pursuing songwriting as a career. Get out of your typical creative circle and write with someone who’s experience is limited. Maybe they’ll be able to help get you out of your rut!
