Creative Exercises

Songs For The Flu

Posted on by IJ

I’ve always had a bit of trouble with topical songs when they’re on the serious side, mostly because I find them cheesy and trite.  But that’s just me.  A lot of songwriters whom I’ve met over the years are inspired by world events (think 9/11, for instance) and immediately pull out the guitar and the writing pad and do their thing.

Now the recent Swine Flu outbreak is certainly a serious event, but I was amused to hear about the number of (mostly funny) songs that have popped up on YouTube as a result of it.  The above is just one example and I’m guessing as this outbreak continues, there will be more arriving.

Here’s another one that’s very cleverly written called “My Baby Gave Me The Pig Flu”:

I like that he used “pig” in his title…it’s just as funny, but it also sets his song apart. He’s a good writer and knows how to tickle the keys too 🙂

And last, but not least, “I don’t know how, I’ll find the sow, that gave me that swine flu”:

Of course, there are all kinds of liberties taken with the subject. Swine flu does not come from pigs and a lot of people don’t really have the facts right, but the idea of something called “Swine Flu” is just too tempting to avoid. We didn’t get the same response (if any, actually) in terms of songs written for the Avian Flu…the word Avian just doesn’t conjure up anything funny!

I’ve written a few funny songs and I appreciate people who can take a subject and find all kinds of great lyrical twists or word plays.

So, as an exercise, how about writing your own Swine Flu song? Sure, it’s already been done, but can you do better than the ones in these videos? Can you come up with something they haven’t? If you do, why not join the forum and post it there?

Go ahead, be a ham 🙂
IJ

Songwriting Exercise

Posted on by IJ

There has been an interesting challenge on Facebook in the last while, one that I participated in myself and found kind of fun.  And as I did it, I thought that with a couple of moderations, it would make a good songwriting exercise to stir up your creative juices.

The challenge involved going to websites like Wikipedia and the Quotations Page and then Flickr to pick random names and quotes and photos to create an album cover.

So I’m going to put in a twist.  Here’s what you do:

1. Go to Wikipedia and hit random, here The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your song

2. Go to Random quotations page, click here. The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is a phrase that has to appear in your song

Now here’s my addition:

3. Go to the HotFrets Chord Progression Generator. Pick a key, a progression and a style and generate a chord progression to try out on your guitar or piano

And that’s it!  See what you come up with. 
IJ

The Power of Observation

Posted on by IJ

You’ll get the same advice everywhere (and you’ve gotten it from me too) about finding inspiration in reading or people watching…or by just planting yourself in a new place you’ve never been before.

This time, however, I want to take you one step further.

When police officers are trained, they learn a lot about developing their observational skills, remembering little details about events or people so that they can apply them later.  We take a lot for granted when we are out and about…we look past everything because we’re distracted by our own thoughts or inner conversations.  It isn’t until something significant catches our eye or our ear that we are jolted back into the present.

Buddhists practise something called “mindfulness” which can be an excellent tool for working on your powers of observation.  You don’t even have to be Buddhist to use it :-).  Simply put, it is about focusing in on the present…focusing your ears and eyes, all of your senses so that everything that happens, as minute as it may appear, is consciously observed.  But it is not easy to do!  Set an alarm for five or ten minutes and for that amount of time, try to stay completely in the present, giving your complete attention to whatever you are hearing or seeing, but ignoring any distracting thoughts at the same time.  It takes some work to do!

Once you have tried the 5 minute experiment, take it a step further.

Go for a walk with the intention of remembering as much as you can about everything you see and hear on your 15 or 20-minute walk.  The test will be when you get home…because you are then going to make a list of everything you can remember from your excursion, every observation you made.

Why am I giving you this exercise?  Simply put, you will realize how much you miss, many little bits and pieces of daily life that you may actually be able to use in your lyrics.  Exercise isn’t just for working your muscles, it is also for working your mind and your mind is a pretty powerful writing tool.  Once you have tried the walk, take it a step even further and put yourself in a place with a lot of people activity, like a mall or a park.  This time, do the same thing as your walk…try not to allow yourself to be distracted by your own thoughts and simply observe as much as you can.  Later, when you get home, pull out a piece of paper (or your laptop) and make a list of everything you remember.

This practise will help you to develop your powers of observation, just like the cop who’s in training.  A songwriter is always “in training” because we are always on the look-out for a new idea or something to stimulate our creative consciousness.

If this exercise works for you…let me know right here!

And keep your eyes and ears open…

IJ