Stephanie G. Mathis When she was five, my stepdaughter wore the following outfit: a bathing suit with sneakers, a belt fashioned from nylon rope, and a wooden sword.
When I was a kid with an adventurous imagination, clothes weren’t just clothes. They were also part of the gear she needed to be prepared in case she encountered a dragon or had to fight off a saber-tooth tigress.
I wonder why I no longer dress the way I used to. Unfortunately, like many adults, I lost my creative flair for fashion as the years went by. As a songwriter, I need as much creativity as I can.
Writing great songs requires that you have ready access to your playful side, which is your ability to see things in a new way, ask “why,” or make new connections. This wellspring of ideas and associations requires regular priming. But in the hustle and bustle of the music industry, we often forget to “play” with music.
Here are six quick exercises to jumpstart your creativity. If you’re stuck in a creative rut, try these six quick exercises to kickstart your creativity.
A picture is worth 1000 words.
This exercise was created by many songwriters as an accidental hobby: watching people. It will help you improve the character development and description of your lyrics.
Set them up on the table as dolls or a storyboard. On a separate sheet of paper, list their names, backstories, and connections. Start asking questions like:
What was the meeting like?
Who has broken whose heart?
Who has yet to wait for them?
Who is telling the story of the song?
What song is this anyway?
Your gossip will be in high gear. Listen to Suzanne Vega’s ‘Tom’s Diner,’ where she describes and introduces character after character while sitting at a restaurant. Vega does not include herself as a character in the story until the last verse.
Transport modes
Find six images of different modes of transport, such as a skateboard or a Hummer. Then, cut them out and place them on the table.
Create a disaster. Has the cruise ship been hijacked? Has the hot air balloon fallen from the sky? You may have bumped someone with your skateboard. Tell us about it.
This exercise is about creating sequential stories that will help you create a compelling narrative. You may have knocked the future love in your life out on your skateboard, causing them to miss their hijacked cruise. Who knows? You are the only one who can tell this story.
It is important to engage your listener quickly in a location that can be clearly identified.
Body Parts
This is a title provocation. Write down twenty body parts, from the sublime to the less obvious. Then, come up with ten song titles using these terms.
It’s best to start with a single-word title, such as “Hair,” then progress to a two-word title (e.g., “Your Arms”) before moving on to a three-word title (e.g., “In Your Arms”) or a four-word one (e.g., “Baby Has Blue Eyes”)—and so on.
Junk mail salad
Use a newspaper or any junk mail delivered to your door. From three different pieces of junk, cut out one noun and one verb. Also, take one adjective. Create three columns on a large sheet of paper for each type of word and paste them into the appropriate column. Find five random alternatives for each word. But stick to the categories.
Imagine you came across the words dark, strolling, and home. By mixing up different words you find in junk mail, you can create interesting imagery that you can use lyrically.
Mix and match. In a lyric, you might include “cold speaking town” or “cold dancing women.” A glue stick can reveal unexpected imagery, such as a “light-talking woman” or “red running cars.”
Alternatives are available in the land of alternatives
A part of reinvigorating creativity is to come into contact with new things. It is easy to fall into familiar routines like melodies or patterns in the same vocal range. This “alternatives exercise” will push you to try something new and out of your comfort zone.
Here’s a list of alternative ways to get started. Look through the list and find something that you don’t do often. Grab and go!
ROUND 1,
Structure: Write a song with the chorus first. (CVCVCBC).
Trigger: start a song with a melody. (A capella is best).
Chord: Write a song using an augmented chord.
Interval: Write a song in which the melody is an ascending major six.
Scheme: Write a song with an ABBA rhyme system in the verse.
ROUND 2,
Structure: Write a song without a bridge and with a refrain of one line repeated twice in the chorus.
Trigger: Write a song based on a minor chord progression.
Chord: Write a song using a chord that is suspended: sus2 or su4.
Interval: Write a song with a melody that uses a minor third in descending order.
Scheme: Write a song with a chorus that follows the rhyme scheme AAABBB.
Here are some generic creativity boosters that also rely on risk and novelty. You can also try working with a partner or collaborator, trying a new instrument or learning one, translating lyrics into another language, or using new plug-ins.
Wheel of Emotions
Songs can evoke strong emotions. While there are some obvious ones, such as sadness, anger, and disgust, there are also many subcategories that encompass a wide range of human emotions. Recent estimates have risen to over 3,400.
This was first outlined graphically by psychologist Robert Plutchik as a wheel with circles inside of circles. English teacher Kaitlin Roberts has adapted this to help her students determine the emotional tone they want in their creative writing. This can help you pinpoint the exact emotion you want to convey in your song. You can also use it to change your emotional gears quickly.
