Crawling out of the songwriting rut - how to stop writing the same thing over and over (Part I)

Part I - Using a different instrument to write songs

In my previous post I talked about my new single release, Too Drunk To Kiss. I'm not lying when I say I love writing these kind of songs - upbeat melodic alt pop with a kooky edge. The kind of stuff made famous by Stephin Merritt and his Magnetic Fields - possibly my favourite band of all time, and a great influence musically and lyrically. There comes a point though when you realise that you love writing a certain type of song so much, that you're writing pretty much the same thing over and over...........

What can you do to steer your songwriting into a new direction? In this post I'm going to talk about my number-one trick - begin to write a song using a different instrument to what you would normally use.

If you're fortunate enough to be able to play more than one instrument - this can be the most valuable skill to help you come up with something new. For years I wrote all my songs with my trusty ukulele, starting with some chords and letting the melody and lyrics come after. This worked well for a time, until I realised that my limited knowledge of the ukulele meant that I was using the same chords for most songs. And, let's be honest, the uke is a great instrument but it will always produce a similar sound, and is limited to what it can do.

So.....getting back to my piano roots, I sat down and started to play around with some new ideas. I was a little scared at first, as I hadn't used the piano to write songs for about 10 years. But after relaxing into it, I was amazed at how quickly the ideas came - and what followed was a new sound and style for me that added much-needed versatility into my songwriting hoard.

The resulting song, Broken Down Dumping Ground became a good example of how changing instruments can give you inspiration. With piano, 4 vocal parts, cello, violin and synth effects, plus a slower tempo (and no ukulele of course), the song turned out to be completely different to the uke-pop songs I'd been churning out for years, and I was very excited to discover this relatively simple and obvious trick that had been eluding me.

Since then, I have spawned a new set of songs that complement each other without all sounding the same. I urge you to give it a try if you are stuck......do not fear! There is always a way dig yourself out of the songwriting rut.

I will be posting some more tips and tricks in the coming weeks....so stayed tuned...........and if you would like to follow the progress of my EP trilogy Spare Parts, the first installment due out in June 2011 - be sure to sign up to the email list on the right!