I love songs that rhyme. A rhyme is just soooo satisfying.
I think the reason behind that is summed up well by the Mark Twain quote:
“The past does not repeat itself, but it rhymes.”
— Mark Twain
As I taught in my recent Song Workshop, we live life in songs. It’s just like how we perceive everything as a story…humans are natural storytellers and I believe we are all natural songwriters too.
The patterns of a song can parallel and reflect the patterns of life.
Here are my other tips + tools for heartful songwriting…
RHYMEZONE
All you need is ONE good line.
Once you’ve got one line as your starting point, you can go to rhymezone and see what suggestions it comes up with for how your next line should end.
Look through the options. Does anything in there resonate?
Play with it. Keep going.
Witness the places where your one powerful line can take you.
JOURNALING
Tune into yourself and get honest.
“It’s very helpful to start with something that’s true. If you start with something that’s false, you’re always covering your tracks. Something simple and true, that has a lot of possibilities, is a nice way to begin.”
–Paul Simon
For some people, their journal is the only place where they can be totally honest with themselves.
For many, it’s the only opportunity they afford themselves to reflect on what’s coming up for them in an objective way.
Getting your own thought on paper, releasing them onto the outside, and looking at them in all of their vulnerability is a powerful practice.
If you write down anything that sounds cool, that could be a song. If you find anything that just rings very true, that DEFINITELY could be a song.
LISTEN TO OTHER SONGS
Find inspiration and tune into the vibe.
You can take two approaches with this, depending on how desperate you are (or simply how much of a beginner you are with songwriting).
The first approach is to use music to create a feeling within you - what it does best. This is simply for the gorgeous intention of connecting with music and calling in your muse.
We don’t write songs alone. We write together with whatever spirits or energies are surrounding us (just think of it as your subconscious, if you’re not spiritually minded).
Another approach is to rewrite a song you already know and love. You can simply steal the chords and see how you would re-write that song. It can be intimidating to begin with a blank page. This way, you’re not starting from zero but your creative juices are flowing.
TAROT CARDS
Stimulate your intuition.
There are also two ways in which I use Tarot cards in my songwriting process.
One is for the lyrics or the meaning, and the other is for the melody or the rhythm. Tarot cards are a great tool to use as an access point for your intuition.
I’m a total novice Tarot reader, but it’s not about finding the “right” answer. That doesn’t exist.
It’s about finding AN answer. Any answer at all. And then see how you feel about it, and notice what you make it mean.
For example, when I was at an impasse with the chord choice of a Blooming Song the other week, I asked the cards what to do about the chords. They showed me Two of Pentacles…two chords it is!
I hope these tips bring more ease, experimentation and creativity into your songwriting practice. If you’d like to explore heartful songwriting, I invite you to listen to my new podcast episode this week where I’ll be opening up further on my favorite tools for heartful songwriting.
You’re also invited to join my next songwriting workshop to experience the songwriting process live. Click here to stay up to date with upcoming workshops.
