How To Focus On Songwriting – Tip 3

Thanks for tuning in to Tip 3 of my “How To Focus On Songwriting” series.  If you are just joining us, I would like to encourage you to start off in the beginning of the series at how to focus on songwriting tip 1.   The last two weeks, we have worked to get new song ideas down and start to organize them.   This week, I would like to talk about how to start putting all of this together.  If you have been following these lessons the past two weeks you should now have around 40 song ideas.  Now tip 3 is to start listening to them.

Tip 3: Start Listening To Your Collection of Recordings From The Past Two Weeks.

This is fun.  Take all of your song idea recording for the past two weeks and put them on a playlist and start listening to them.  I put the playlist on shuffle and listen.   I listen to them when I am driving around, working out, or at home.

It is good to have some time between recording them and listening to them.  I guess It gives me more of a disconnected appraisal when I listing to my ideas a month or two later. Because I am doing a weekly course, I am slightly rushing the listing segment.   Personally, I separate my song ideas into seasons.  So for example, right now I am listening to Fall 2013. After that, I might jump into 2015.  I don’t know yet.  It is a good idea to have 30 to 60 snippets to shuffle around on your player.

Ahh . .  now this is where the magic starts happening.  Not only do I get inspired by listening to these recorded snippets but my subconscious starts playing with them.  Certain recordings will pop out. Maybe ones that I didn’t think were very good when I recorded them, sound great to me now, and vice versa.  They start playing in my head.  Repeating, looping, cycling through, my subconscious as I carry out my day.

Now I can start working on ones that are in my head or the ones I like.   I can start writing out lyric ideas, playing with accompanying chords, perfect the melody.   Maybe its just a chorus or a verse, and needs another part.   I can start putting them together.  Sometimes my head will put them together automatically.  I am telling you, once your listening to those playlist your ideas will start growing.  And once you get those recordings in your head, magic happens.  Your subconscious will start playing with them, twisting them, cutting them up and putting them together.  Start writing them out, and polishing them up.