May Songwriting Challenges
Write a song for something in the natural world: a sprawling forest, the crustaceans in a whirlpool, or the moon hanging low in a springtime sky.
Despite what the courts might think, sampling has been a legitimate component of the creative process for generations. Use a melody or rhythm from an existing song and twist it into something original.
DROP WHAT YOU’RE DOING. Pick up a guitar and write a song that you could sing around a campfire. Use the immediacy of this current moment. Continue reading after you finish the song.
The timbre of a voice can effect what type of song we write. Change the color of your voice into something more guttural or something scratchier or whinier - it doesn’t matter just change it. What song would sound good in this new voice of your creation?
Structure a group of songs like a play with five parts. Make a story progress over the course of these five songs.
Consider what makes your writing unique: witty lyrics? Soaring melodies? Masterful instrumentation? Create a song that leans into your strengths without abandon.
Collaboration in the internet era can happen with people you’ve never met. Downlaod a track from BeatStar and use it as the basis of a new song.
Pick a news headline. Don’t read the story in the article. Imagine instead what the story might be about and use this imagined story as the content of a new song.
Restriction can be freedom. Set a timer for 1 hour and seek to complete a whole song within the time limit.
Revisit a page in an old journal. Who was that person? What did they do that day? What song can you write about a story you have previously put down on the page?
