Songwriting
“A melody is like seeing someone for the first time. The physical attraction. But then, as you get to know the person, that’s the lyrics. Their story. Who they are underneath. It’s the combination of the two that makes it magical.” — Sophie Fisher, “Music and Lyrics”
I think we can all agree that music is universal. Everyone listens to it, everyone loves it. Music connects people all around the world. For my passion project, I’ve decided to compose a song with a friend. The reason I chose this task is that I wanted to challenge myself to reflect on some of my thoughts, while also opening up and sharing them in an artistic way. Additionally, music is an important part of my life, and learning more about the process behind creating music would be very cool. I believe this project will make me even more appreciative of music, and I hope that people will be able to relate to our song in some way. Our plan is to learn about the different parts of a song in Week 2 in order to get some ideas on ways we can structure our song, choose a theme and finish composing the song in Week 3, and ask our friends for feedback and record the audio in Week 4. After finishing our song, we will reflect on our final product and the process. This plan ensures that we get to learn more about composing music while also getting the chance to write a song ourselves.
Have you ever experienced writer’s block? This week, I had trouble figuring out what I was going to write about. I actually had a few ideas, but I could not find a way to express those ideas in my song. I learned that songwriting is a trial-and-error process, and it takes a lot of rearranging (and sometimes even deleting everything) to get the foundation of a song.
Initially, I thought I had the basis of my lyrics and what emotions I wanted to convey in my song, but I was not satisfied with what I had. I struggled a lot because I wanted to get something done. In turn, I got even more frustrated with my work. I tried to make the words and tune go together, but I ended up starting over. It was difficult to delete all I had done, but I was not inspired by what I wrote. Although a lot of time was spent in writing the first verse, I learned from the experience that it is okay to mess up and continue revising as long as I’m getting somewhere.
Accepting the fact that I will get stuck is very difficult for me. Because I can get impatient and irritated by myself easily, I dislike when I waste time and not get anything done. Writing these lyrics has shown me that it is normal and is important in coming up with a good end product.
An observation I’ve had about myself is that I find it very difficult to open up and allow myself to write down how I feel. Music is about expressing emotions and hoping that others will be able to resonate, but I have been struggling with this for a while.
Over the past few weeks, I have been trying to look deeper within in order to come up with something original and true to myself. One reason why it has been so hard to write is because of the fact that some people I know will see this. I’ve been paranoid about being judged and maybe even invalidated. Because of these thoughts, I have been blocked and afraid to write mote.
Week 6, I have finally finished writing my song. This process was different in the way that it was more difficult than I expected.
Before I started this project, I thought I would be writing some simple lines, but I actually got more personal in my song. This decision really affected the writing process and made it more difficult because of the previously mentioned fears I had.
Not only was I preventing myself from finishing the song, but having to share my lyrics with just my teacher and two friends was really nerve wracking. Letting others see a more vulnerable side to myself caused some anxiety and discomfort to arise.
This songwriting experience has taught be a lot about myself, and of course the trial-and-error process of writing lyrics. I faced more hardships than I had hoped, but the lessons I learned made the time and effort spent worth it.
I hope to continue writing more songs, and wish that you will try to find a way to express yourself, through songwriting or some other form. Thank you for reading about my first musical adventure :)
