Songwriting Sunday: Personal Preferences for Songwriting Sessions

Do you ever think about how you write songs? Now, I don't mean the theory or the way you match pitches with chords and that stuff. I mean the environment, the materials, and stuff that you have around you when you compose.

For me, and this is a completely personal thing for all of us - so, you don't have to do things like I do them, I like using the keyboard to compose rather than any other accompanying instrument. For some reason, it is easier for me to figure out the notes that I am singing when I am playing the piano than when I play the guitar. I don't have to think as much with the keyboard, so creativity is easier to access, I guess. When I use the guitar, I have to figure out notes, and that process takes me away from playing around.

It is time to compose again, so I have my songwriting kit, my keyboard, and my brain to engage.

Once I have my materials around me, I just start to play things on the keyboard. Most of the time, my lyrics and melodies emerge first, but there are times when songs tumble out of my brain and into my fingers fully formed. When things aren't emerging from my brain easily, then I play.

I tend to compose most of my music in C Major or a minor because that is the easiest key to play in. I do not tend to play songs in C major because of the F chord and how it fits in my vocal range - I am able to transpose easily, so I can write a song in C Major and play it in E Major without too much work. I also publish most of my music in C Major or a minor because it is easiest. There you go - work smarter and not harder, right??

When I am getting ready to do some composing, I have to have a pencil, some sheet music, post-it notes or index cards, and a very good eraser because mistakes happen! I like being in a decluttered space, and I like to have a long amount of time to find ideas and to practice. I find that I need to decrease distractions when I am in a songwriting mood.

Once the creative process happens, I can then take the songs that I write and put them into my songwriting software. After that, I turn the sheet music into therapeutic music experiences. If appropriate, I put the finished TMEs into my sing about songs series. If not, then they join my TME database. Either way, I have new music to share with my clients and with others.

How do you capture your music?