Reading a newspaper, I saw a picture of birds on the electric wires. I cut out the photo and decided to make a song, using the exact location of the birds as notes (no Photoshop edit). I knew it wasn't the most original idea in the universe. I was … [Read more...]
Weekend Links For Your Pleasure
I've been extremely light on the blogging front lately, but I have big plans to breathe new life into this site. I'll be shifting gears as I reexamine my time, attention, and creative work. In the mean time, here's a few links I've been meaning to … [Read more...]
How To Rescue Your Time And Get Your Life Back
A couple weeks ago I wrote about the time required to become an expert songwriter. That advice could have been just as well for any craft, not just songwriting. And the number of hours that I referenced, 5,000, was arbitrary. There is no magic … [Read more...]
Rewriting Song Titles For Practice And Inspiration
Here's an exercise I love to do when I need inspiration for song titles. If nothing's coming naturally, this trick can really get the creative juices flowing. Even if I end up using nothing that I come up with, I find that within a day or two, one of … [Read more...]
Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies For Your iPhone
In an attempt to hack their creativity and artistic output, Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt created a deck of cards they called the Oblique Strategies. Whenever they came up against a creative dilemma--and especially while under a moment of pressure or … [Read more...]
Songwriting Challenges – Where Do I Begin?
One of the most common challenges I hear about songwriting is not knowing where to begin. With the lyrics? With the music? Or something completely different? It's a rather simple challenge to find a solution to, really. Start with a single note or … [Read more...]
Unleash Your Creative Thinking And Bring Excitement To Your Life
Some people have the misconception that only a select few are able to unleash a steady flow of creative thinking. That is not true at all. The fact is, intuitive creativity is very much like a muscle that needs to be exercised in order to … [Read more...]
Seed Your Creative Process With…
A Random Article from Wikipedia Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies A Random Word A Random Sentence A Random Paragraph A Random Web Site You have to put something into your mind to get something out. … [Read more...]
Discover the Power of Mental Rehearsal Part 2: Image Streaming
Image streaming is the exact technique used by geniuses such as Einstein, Edison and Tesla. Not only will image streaming enhance your creativity, it will actually increase your IQ! Image streaming is your doorway to the subconscious mind. This … [Read more...]
Why I Write For The Garbage Can
Do you know of an author that has written a book in one sitting? Or how about a composer who created a masterpiece in an afternoon? You haven't? Me neither. And that's why I write for the garbage can. Johnny Mercer, the songwriter, said he used … [Read more...]