Songwriting as a work in PROCESS.
Hello Dear Songwriters:
Hope you are all doing great! The merry month of May has been a blissful time with lots of great music being created, new songs being born and a new array of coaching clients too.
This week I wanted to talk about
the importance of the creative process.
Some of the most satisfying accomplishments in my life have been those I set out to do with a step by step plan behind it. A process to get from here to there. I'm not normally a step by step kinda gal, but having graduated from the school of hard knocks teaches you a few things about the need to plan ahead.
Consider a real degree, for example. Let's say you decided to take the leap and register at a university. You are then given a clear plan to get you from here to graduation. A template to follow that includes tuition costs and class guidelines. The template is conveniently laid out before you and now all you have to do is to get busy working the plan.
But what about having a career in music?
Where's the template for that one?
In pondering this question, I started listening to philosopher and author Ken Wilbur and ran across this cool diagram (below) that shows the creative process as it moves from us to the outer world.
Listen to the artist Alex Grey, who superimposed his art over this diagram. Go to YouTube marker 16:50 for his explanation.
Let's imagine writing a song
using this process outlined in the diagram.
UPPER LEFT QUADRANT:
A musical spark of inspiration arrives in the psych of the songwriter. This arrival is the beginning of the Individual/Experiential and Inner World phase. The musician becomes aware of a new sound, a new beat, a lyric or sketch of an idea that brings interest and curiosity. She is prompted to examine her inner world, in all of its aspects, and to evaluate this new idea from every perspective.
UPPER RIGHT QUADRANT:
Once deciding on a direction, the songwriter then moves this new idea tenderly from an experiential thought into the Individual/Behavioral and Outer World phase, by beginning to assemble it into form. She picks up a guitar, sings or plays this new piece to gain understanding of its movement and value. This step requires some coordination of an outward action.
LOWER RIGHT QUADRANT:
When the song is finished, it enters the Social/Collective and Outer World stage of sharing and systems. Somewhere between quadrant 1 and quadrant 2, collaboration may happen as others participate in this experiment, by shaping the new idea expressed into form and by introducing it outward into the public arena. The social realm might include performing the song in public, uploading it onto digital platforms or hiring a marketing company to release your music. Perhaps there is a pause before it is given out as the artist encounters new fears and apprehensions about this new phase.
LOWER LEFT QUADRANT:
When your song enters the Collective/Cultural and Inner World phase, it begins to touch others in a collective way. This is the global mutual understanding phase. For example, a song might impact many people, like The National Anthem or the Happy Birthday song, or the impact can also be felt in a "smaller" way when someone is moved by the experience of hearing your music. A cultural impact can also be as specific as impacting family members or may be defined as someone who becomes a local music legend in a community or a certain region.
It might be helpful
to know where you are on the diagram
I do believe that the gap between each quadrant is highly significant.
When moving from one quadrant to another, it generally means we are in a state of transition. And as we all know, transition can be messy and just plain tough. You might find that fears arise, people come and go and things can become unsettled as you switch over from one phase to another.
If we understand how these phases interact with our personal expression, we can better prepare ourselves for the natural process of songwriting
Let's strive to make great music and move through the quadrants with ease and confidence!