Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

No, I'm not saying that you should copy someone elses song and then call it your own however, asking yourself "what songs do I like to hear?" and studying those songs to define what unique voice you have is a great start.

Remember, you dont have to promote or perform every song that you write.

Just like a painter goes through a number of drafts from rough sketches to a finished painting we as songwriters can do the same thing with our songs.
Sometimes its good to play around with other peoples songs just to see what happens.

It seems that creativity has become 'outcome' driven just like everything else in this world. There seems to be an underlying attitude in this society of 'creativity is only good if it makes money'. What a load of codswallop (oh, I've waited a long time to use that word)

One of the ultimate goals of a songwriter (or any creative person for that matter) is for them to find his or her own voice and share that voice with the rest of the world. How do we find our own voice? One of the ways is through imitation.

Imitation is how we develop our own personalities.

As a child we copied what everybody else was doing. At this time in our lives we were doing everything for the first time. We had no point of reference of our own so we had to utilise someone elses. Its the same with songwriting.

How do we know our voice if we dont compare it with others first?

Ask yourself some questions:
1. Who are your favourite artists?
2. Who are your favourite bands?
3. What are your favourite songs?
4. What artist, band or song is popular at the moment?

Armed with this information you can start your songwriting study project "Learning from the experts"

With your favourite artists and bands write them down and then try to find reasons why you are so attracted to them. Is it the emotional content of their songs? Is it the way they play live? Is it their philosophy on life? Write that down too. By doing this you are finding out what makes you tick emotionally.

Your favourite songs might be from your list of artists and bands but then again they might be from others. Songs are funny things. They can get into your psyche and wreak havoc or they can allow wonderful memories to never be forgotten. The list of songs that you'll have in front of you will be the physical and tangible benchmark of where your songs will eventually end up.

By looking at what is popular at the moment you will have an idea as to what the listening public are tuning into right now! Your own taste in artists, bands and songs may not be the same but it is still good to put all of your preferences aside and study what is happening now as well as what you like.

Immerse yourself in this exercise, start listening and researching lots of music and keep writing along the way.

If you play an instrument start learning your favourite songs and play them around the house. Notice the form of the song, the chords and arrangement used and the melody and how it fits with the rhythm.

If you dont play an instrument then get the lyrics and study how the words fall together to allow you to paint a picture in your mind or to follow a well told story. Sing or hum the melody and try to feel where it is going. Does it take you on a journey or do you have to work with it to have it make sense to you?

Once you have done that write a song in the style of your favourite artist or take one of your favourite songs and write out the chords and invert them and see what happens. Play around, experiment with speed and pitch. Dont let your inner critic tell you that it is a waste of time.

Remember what I said in the beginning of this article 'you dont have to promote or perform every song that you write'.

As you are doing this you will discover what works for you and what doesn't. Eventually the sum total of what works for you plus your own experiences and emotional triggers will be the beginnings of your own songwriting voice.

Give it a go. Creativity is supposed to be fun.

Until next time, happy writing,

Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician
www.coreystewartonline.com
www.soultradermusic.com
www.theliarsbench.com

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