If you are finding that ideas aren’t flowing, one thing that you can do that’s very effective is to change a few things in your approach.
The idea is to make some drastic changes to things such as: • The way your instrument sounds
• Your location
• The way your location looks And anything else you can think of!
This seems like a simple idea, but by feeding your mind a completely new stimulus you will evoke new sidebands of perception and thought, which, in turn, will lead you to new ideas.
The other thing at work here is this: When you find that ideas are dry and hard to come by, it’s very likely that you are consciously trying to mold new ideas. When this happens you tend to just play the same old thing over and over, and struggle to come up with anything new.
By drastically changing something, like the sound of your guitar or keyboard for example, you are feeding something your mind isn’t used to. This puts your conscious mind on the back foot and “short circuits” it so it can’t get in the way of your creativity. This opens things up for the right “creative” part of your mind to begin sending a torrent of new ideas.
I came across this tip when I was relatively young, but I didn’t realize what was going on until after I studied a lot of cognitive psychology, and
creativity topics.
I stumbled onto the idea when I began playing a right handed guitar upside down (I’m left handed). When I did this, I no longer had an intimate
relationship between all the strings, my fingers, and so on. It felt like I’d been thrown in deep waters to either swim or drown!
The thing that surprised me though, was I didn’t “fail miserably.” I played along with this upside down guitar and came up with some beautiful chord progressions and melodies. And the best thing of all? These new ideas were unlike anything I’d ever created before!
The reason was, I could no longer consciously go through “routines” and keep writing the “same old stuff.” My conscious mind was short circuited because it didn’t understand the guitar in this way. Most or all of the knowledge I’d accumulated from playing normally was useless in this situation.
Instead I just trusted my unconscious to create the ideas, and I was excited by the results!
So here’s the tip!
Find a way to “throw yourself in the deep end” by drastically changing something about the way you create. In doing this you are sending your mind a different stimulus, which will allow the creation of fresh new ideas. You will also “short circuit” your conscious mind, opening yourself up to the creative possibilities of your more powerful resources.
Take a moment to think about this.
How can you change something about your “creative routine” which will “throw you in the deep end?”
Write down a few ideas that come to mind. Try and make them drastically different from anything you’ve done before.
Here are a few examples that I’ve used before to get you on the right track. • Change the tuning on your guitar so it’s different from the norm. • Sing with a very different tone quality and different range to your
normal singing.
• Take your equipment to a friend who has an inspiring place to jam (also find a way to reward them for their generosity). This can be anywhere. I’ve created music in churches at 6am! I’ve also taken acoustic guitars to mountain tops, played music from a rooftop overlooking the city, and created music in a cinema as well. So get creative about this! Where could you go to create music?
• Shift around furniture and create a new look to your music space. • Buy some new interesting lights to change the mood of your creative
space.
• Add too much reverb or some other affect to your sound
• Adjust your instrument so it sounds very different to your normal sound.
• Ring up a musician friend who you don’t usually jam with and invite them round for a jam (their ideas will feed you a new stimulus to create new sidebands with)
And I’m sure you can think of many more ideas!
The idea here is to open yourself up to new possibilities. By finding a way to “throw yourself in the deep end” you have to reach deep for ideas. This is great because your best ideas are those created by your deeper, richer, unconscious resources. Making drastic changes in your approach is a very effective way to bring these resources online and benefit from them.
Finally, it’s optimal if you can take a portable recorder so you can capture the ideas created in this new environment. When you make drastic changes as described above, you must be ready for the bizarre and magical ideas that come your way!
One last thing—don’t hesitate to send me stories of your adventures and experimentation, and also the great ideas that result from them. I’d be delighted to hear about them!
The End
And that brings us to the end of this wild ride!
It's been an absolute pleasure sharing this knowledge with you, and I hope you've enjoyed it as thoroughly as I have.
More importantly, I hope this information inspires you and assists you in taking a large leap forward in your songwriting abilities.
Let me tell you something…
You now know more about how amazing music and lyrics are composed than 99% of musicians out there. And that includes most of the composers who write music every day for pop artists, movies, orchestras, operas and more. You may find this hard to believe, but if you were to ask any songwriters about topics like flow states, the law of effect, the stages of creativity, the inner processes of musical geniuses, and many of the other concepts
described in this book, I guarantee you'd be met with a blank stare!
So now you must begin using the information you've learned, and apply in to your songwriting process. Only then will you feel the true benefit of knowing this information.
Now, you have just absorbed a great amount of information, so I want to give you a few words of advice so you don't get overwhelmed, and use your new knowledge to good effect.
Firstly, I've prepared a 30 day action plan for you that will have you reaping large gains, without overwhelm. All you have to do is follow the very precise directions I've laid out, and you will be implementing many of the important concepts in this book.
There's More On The Way!
Another thing I'd like to mention is: there is much more on the way. Right now, I'm working on an advanced version that will take you even deeper into these concepts, making great music even more enjoyable and effortless. And I tell you this…
Some of my findings have been extremely exciting!
As long as you stay on my email newsletter, you will receive notice as to when this information will become available. You'll also receive many free samples of my findings in newsletters as I test and tweak them for maximum effect.
So keep your eyes out for my announcements.
Write Me And Tell Me How You're Going
Finally, I'd like to invite you to send me comments, questions, and successes you've had with my material.
I absolutely LOVE it when people contact me to let me know that they've had a breakthrough in their songwriting thanks to my information. Nothing gives me more pleasure!
So if you write something that you're really proud of, please email me and tell me all about it! If you've got time, let me know what techniques are working for you, and how the breakthrough came about.
Write your comments to [email protected] Wishing you tremendous success with your songwriting. Geoffrey Williams