On Songwriting Part 5

Never miss an opportunity to write songs while you are traveling. We all know the phrase “Traveling broadens the mind”. You are forced to look at things in a different way while you are traveling, so why not utilise this opportunity to delve into some songwriting while you are in that frame of mind? The regular readers of my blog know I have my Journey Instruments guitar with me all the time these days, but even if you don’t have an instrument with you, just work on some lyrics.

In fact sometimes the restrictions of not having our usual tools can be enough to help us break free from our mental restrains. If you always start your songwriting with lyrics, this is not so much of a problem for you, just pen down loads of lyrics and work on the music when you get home. But if you normally start with music, this is a perfect opportunity to try a different approach.

I can hear some of you at the back of the classroom saying “I can never write music without my instrument”. Well, then you are not trying hard enough! I have written in the past complete songs on my iPhone, lyrics and chord charts from my head into notes. This is like anything else, you just need to practice and you can get better at it. For example I wrote the “Soldier Boy” while laying in the bed late at night. The lyrics and the chord structure kind of just spilled out at the same time and the next day the notes were enough to bring it all back 🙂

Try it out, you might be surprised about the results. Happy songwriting.

J.P.

The author J.P. Kallio is a singer songwriter
To get three of his free songs go HERE and click Download