Songwriting Tip #6
Always write for yourself. Writing to impress or flatter others or even thinking about what other people will think while writing the song, can lead to a short or long-term case of songwriter's block.
Think ahead to what you want your end goal to be, from your eyes about your reaction to how great the song is instead of from your friend's eyes and their reaction. That way, you can figure out how you want the song to sound.
In most cases, writing for others instead of oneself happens when you've already played an original composition for this person and you want to make sure this one is up to par by imagining the worst possible reactions and changing your song to fit them, when you truly value someone's opinion and you will be playing this piece for them,or when you're writing a song for your band and you're afraid they won't like it, because the last time they didn't like your composition, you blew up and asked if they could do better, which led to a big fight, and you don't want a repeat of that.
Whatever your reason, don't fall in the hole, it's a long way back up, and overall, just a waste of your musical talent.
To avoid this predicament;
Pretend you won't be performing to this person -they got sick, couldn't attend, family emergency-.
Ridicule the value of the person's opinion in your mind. -Remember that time when s/he said that ...
Aim not to exceed expectations, but to do so well you lift the weight of expectations off you.
Create a system for you and your friend so that there won't be harsh judgement placed on any one person.
Think of what you want your end result to sound like before you commit to the song and tell others about it
Ignore criticism from people who don't have a reputation for liking your music.
Consider completely removing outsider input to your composition process
Expect low-inspiration times, but instead of writing for others and what they'd like to hear at these horrible songwriting block times, prepare earlier by keeping a recording of"bits of inspiration" aka. prompts that you can turn into a real song when you can't find any other inspiration.
The best thing to do to avoid falling into the spiral of doom is practicing not writing for others.
After all, perfect *or mediocre -who am I to press my demands upon you-* practice makes perfect!
QueenoftheWorld
Image: https://ruthhoganpoulsen.com/team-poulsen-blog/2017/1/31/perfect-practice-makes-perfect
© BeTheMusic 2018
Think ahead to what you want your end goal to be, from your eyes about your reaction to how great the song is instead of from your friend's eyes and their reaction. That way, you can figure out how you want the song to sound.
In most cases, writing for others instead of oneself happens when you've already played an original composition for this person and you want to make sure this one is up to par by imagining the worst possible reactions and changing your song to fit them, when you truly value someone's opinion and you will be playing this piece for them,
Whatever your reason, don't fall in the hole, it's a long way back up, and overall, just a waste of your musical talent.
To avoid this predicament;Pretend you won't be performing to this person -they got sick, couldn't attend, family emergency-.
Ridicule the value of the person's opinion in your mind. -Remember that time when s/he said that ...
Aim not to exceed expectations, but to do so well you lift the weight of expectations off you.
Create a system for you and your friend so that there won't be harsh judgement placed on any one person.
Think of what you want your end result to sound like before you commit to the song and tell others about it
Ignore criticism from people who don't have a reputation for liking your music.
Consider completely removing outsider input to your composition process
Expect low-inspiration times, but instead of writing for others and what they'd like to hear at these horrible songwriting block times, prepare earlier by keeping a recording of
The best thing to do to avoid falling into the spiral of doom is practicing not writing for others.
After all, perfect *or mediocre -who am I to press my demands upon you-* practice makes perfect!
QueenoftheWorld
Image: https://ruthhoganpoulsen.com/team-poulsen-blog/2017/1/31/perfect-practice-makes-perfect
© BeTheMusic 2018
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