When I began to "Allow Mediocrity" and let ideas flow without judgement, my writing process became much more enjoyable and efficient. Free-writing has become the best way for me to get my creative juices flowing and push through writers block. Sometimes the mediocre ideas lead to the best ones, you just have to give yourself permission to write whatever comes to your mind first. Thanks for this great video!

@michaelselorm1992

5 жыл бұрын

that's true Gal!

@jeronimo2656

5 жыл бұрын

That's my biggest Fear. I never can finish my songs. Thank you Timotha 💙

@PeterPanTheRealDeal

4 жыл бұрын

Awesome observation!

@tomokoofficial

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Timotha, I agree! May I hear some of your original music? I didn't find it on your channel...

@sophiafake-virus2456

2 жыл бұрын

Tim, how often do you write, complete songs?

I couldn't stand my creative writing professor but he said one thing I'll never forget, "The essence of writing is re-writing."

@lomarsweed6604

7 жыл бұрын

Is that supposed to mean something?

@CaptainVelveeta

7 жыл бұрын

It means, don't ever be afraid of rewriting. A lot of times when we finish a song, we think its fine just like it is and needs no changes. It's finished! When a respectable 'outside ear' listens to it and suggests a change that would help improve it, we tend to take it personal as if they're saying we're a bad songwriter and it becomes VERY difficult to rewrite any part of the song. It's a very common scenario sometimes hard to overcome. If you keep this phrase in mind then, after finishing the song, start another, then about mid-way through, go back and listen to the first one. With a fresh set of ears and an open mind, you might just see an opportunity to improve ths song on your own and think, "Wow, why didn't I see that before"

@Consolous

7 жыл бұрын

On the other hand you gotta learn to let go and move on. As musicians we are the most critical people for our own music, and we will always find something that could've been better.

@CaptainVelveeta

7 жыл бұрын

Very true.

@Yadeehoo

6 жыл бұрын

Even rocket science isn't rocket science

The first point stuck with me the most. Stop overthinking it and telling yourself it has to be better. It doesn’t! The key isn’t to aim to write the best verse every time. The key is to write and write and write until the best verse appears. Create contrast is another good one. Glad I stopped to watch

This 30-minute video gave me more than 10 hours of songwriting course that I've bought. Thank you very much, Andrea Stolpe.

@Berklee_Online

2 жыл бұрын

Wonderful!

I think its worth mentioning sometimes that missing thing giving you writers block is the confidence to make it your own. Often we find ourselves toying with a familiar sound... dont patronize the listener, be generous in your outpouring of expression! Dont be a copy, dig deep and you'll find *your* sound. As john mayer once said "pretend for a second that the song already exists", for anyone that writes by ear this cannot be emphasized enough, but its true for anyone who wants to write genuinely. A song starts in the heart. Try to hang on to that first place of inspiration without clinging to just one motif and its chords. The place of inspiration will bring you to contrast naturally.

These are my notes of 20 songwriting tools mentioned in this video: 1. Do not doubt what you've thought initially - if it is good, it is good. Stick with it. 2. Write faster. In order to write faster, accept mediocrity. 3. Have a musical motif - that hook that makes a song memorable. More would lead your song into becoming freestyle poetry. 4. You can either lower or higher pitch at the end of a section to prepare for the next. 5. Follow the roots or avoid them. 6. Change the shape of the melody. 7. Counter the bass movement. 8. Passing chord tones 9. Is it intervallic or clustered? 10. Is it syncopated or straight? 11. Make notes longer or shorter? Longer notes for giving the big message 12. Phasing position: "before", "on", or "after" Main idea: Knowing what you do in order to contrast; what makes you unique.

i wish youtube existed when i was 15 this video would have helped me use the last 25 years of my life

"Is this landing with y'all?" "I love you."

you don't _need_ theory but you'll probably get super dispirited without it. writing "by ear" is usually a matter of either a) shifting positions on each string individually until you find a chord change that sounds right, or b) trying out chords/chord shapes you're already familiar with. both can potentially work great but they're also very limiting on their own. paradoxically, learning theory aka "rules" actually allows you to be much more experimental, and your music to be much more interesting.

@emoquent9447

5 жыл бұрын

You're right but all the theory creates a box and some people will stay inside the box

@privcraft_

5 жыл бұрын

@@emoquent9447 thats a great way of putting it

@MakeupbyDaphne16

4 жыл бұрын

@@emoquent9447 thats exactly my problem. when i don't use theory i get stuck and when i used theory i also get stuck aka help me

@Larindarr

4 жыл бұрын

@@emoquent9447 if you let it be so. I used to be lyrical and hit a limit naturally. I then learned theory in its basics, to write basic songs and the work flow was so much more fluid. Now that I want to write more complex arrangements and compositions, I will delve deeper into theory. Theory is a tool. Its best to learn it knowing what you will use it for. It is when you don't known exactly how you wish to use it, that you will become overwhelmed, and taken over by it and indeed, be trapped in a box or rules.

@ChadKirk

3 жыл бұрын

@@emoquent9447 theory is not a box unless you let it be. You can either spend months coming up with a chord progression without knowing theory, and it’ll end up being a simple I IV V. Or you can study a little theory and be able to come up with it in a second. Then instead of spending months trying to come up with a melody that sounds how you want it to sound, you can learn which intervals sound which way and it’ll take you way less time

My best tips for getting creative are 1) listen to jazz music for a few years and forever after to get your brain out of structures and predictable melodies. Jazz will break open your mind. 2) Do mantra meditation using OM and become obsessed with it. Get really really deep in meditation with no purpose but letting go all thinking and coming back to the meditation object. This will remove discursive thinking from the mind and open it up to the infinite pool of creativity. The subconscious mind will then be connected with a deep well of creativity and song ideas and melodies will begin to creep into your conscious mind. 3) Just play your instrument with no purpose than sheer exploration. 4) Learn a new instrument to expand your mental/musical abilities. Go to a music store and play a new guitar. Sometimes a new sound will spark the creative juices.

massive crush on this lovely lady

@TeenAlchemy

5 жыл бұрын

Lool lowkey

@getgle

4 жыл бұрын

I like how a braindead shitpost about wanting to fuck the teacher ended up being the top comment.

@importantmancommenting9336

4 жыл бұрын

Getindor don’t project ur shit onto other people

@voges44

3 жыл бұрын

Get in line

@SubstanceP888

3 жыл бұрын

@@getgle I love how people like you think you’re enforcing the principles of the left when you’re actually obliviously, unwittingly destroying the true, foundational core of what it’s really about because you don’t have a clue, even though you think you’re totally enlightened (or should I say “woke”?...because you’d probably say “woke”, wouldn’t you?). Fuck-tard.

theres one easy way, change your state: physical state, mental state. physical could be taking a cold shower and mental can be changing your beliefs - for example a belief that you can do anything

This was SO...much more helpful, than my favorite songwriter telling me, " There is no method, there are no rules...I don't know how to write songs....just do it".

Something no one talks about that with writers block is the possibility is that either nothing goes there at all, or that it is not you that is supposed to fill that space. When all the tools have failed you or you just don't love the result, look for a collaborater.

One of the most important writing tips is that you have to write from the perspective of an ensemble or everybody-all-at-once point of view by including the audience. I.e. write with feeling, so that the audience member(s) either feel that they are the thing that is being described in the song or that somehow they have got something to do with the feelings that they're feeling when they "sing" your song. !DA

@edwardjones4572

2 жыл бұрын

Or the marketing technique of writing with a particular person in mind - how old are they? what is their background? etc.

Absolutely brilliant, and that comment "I'm playing the guitar like a songwriter, so forgive me for that" made me laugh out loud I scared my puppy. True.

This might just be the greatest video I've ever seen.

The most helpful I've heard from any writer's group, workshop or instructional video. Very good points. I've have a good number of songs published with no major successes. I've been writing thirty years. I sincerely thank you.

Andrea is brilliant! Her advice is so thoughtful and encouraging. So grateful for all of the ideas she shares here and in other videos!

Her voice is so soothing 😂

time to grab a pen...

Blown away by how practical her advice is. Strumming my pain, killing me softly.

My writers block is annoying. I feel like I cant even write songs anymore.

@r.devonbell2288

4 жыл бұрын

WriTe a SonG abOUt tHAt! ! ! !

@jordanramey4441

4 жыл бұрын

@@r.devonbell2288 lol

@icarus8432

4 жыл бұрын

At least you’ve written a full song you’re happy with.

@defaultHandle1110

4 жыл бұрын

Your emotions need a rocking. Your boats boring. Take it somewhere.

@kevinlogan927

4 жыл бұрын

I tried writing a song about that

LOVE THIS!!

22:27 bless you

very helpful, thank you!

Thank You!

This is FANTASTIC! Thank you!!

I LOVE you Andrea Stolpe for taking the time to have this available online! There’s some great musicians out here who were hidden for decades for these times an we were forced to teach ourselves in solitude what we know so I’m LOVING the GEMS you share thank you 🙏🏾

So helpful! Subscribed

This is great!!

So good!

amazing speech and masterclasd..thanks

Really, really good. Very helpful. Thanks.

very informative, and very smart!! Great job!!

Gold discovered!

Best thing on the internet! Wow.

wow Andrea really analysis things so that it all makes

So many thanks for all advices 😀

Very useful stuff!

This is a GREAT lesson !

Thank you So much 🖤

I found this to be very helpful

Thank you so much for this great video! Really helpful 👍

This is so great, thank you for posting these wonderful videos!

This was great. Thank you! 💚🤍🧡

Great educator. Very pleasant to learn from.

Amazing

When i thought i was gonna be able to download the cool little charts she was talking about. I got sucked in rather quickly to being offered courses, thought to my self, yeah there is a place for that, but eould have been very nice of her or them to provide a link to the hand out she had. Just saying this in a nice way

So much knowledge shared in just 30 mins!

Mesmerizing lecture!

I love listening to Andrea Stolpe

wonderful video

Excellent!

This is very practical advice. Top stuff.

What a wonderful voice

Really helpful techniques right now as I am new to songwriting. ❤️ thank you for this.

i love her

Thanks for the video, I got couple of nice tools for my songwriting.

She's so wonderful and smart

Very useful things to consider, beautifully articulated.

Great video, opened my eyes up to a few things. I took notes too.

This is such an amazing presentation. Stople is the bomb.

Thank you!

this is why im applying to berklee

brilliant

Beautiful lesson, beautiful lady

This really helped me think about writing differently and to just let ideas flow!

20:01-20:45 had me writing a song in my head already

This was very useful

Very useful 30 minutes! Got the handout, thanks.

After this I got really inspired...very instructive, informative, thanks! Also you made me want to watch Inside Llewyn Davis once again!

thanks for this video, really nice picture quality and camera work!😃

great input

Brilliant, this talk is dense with actionable tips.

This was SUCH great information - I'm shocked that it's free. Thank you!!

Thanks so much for posting ;)

That was so well delivered, thankyou :) I've never been huge on theory, but a lot of these are skills i already have used but never thought about them in such ways. Ideal pointers for moving on to my next round of songwriting :)

This is sO useful. I always end up writing songs which sound similar and it's so frustrating hahah, this helped a lot

I feel like I need to go back and listen to some of the songs she mentioned with these tools in mind. This was so very informative and helpful.

Thank you! The availability of amazing first-hand stuff like this really is a blessing of our day... Still, that cool stuff just wouldn't be there without people sharing it. So thanks again!!

She's a wonderful woman.

Excellent teacher. I love how she follows up her examples with a brief demonstration.

I play the guitar "like a songwriter" too! Loved hearing how much you can do with just a few chords and looking for ways to add contrast one tool at a time. Also the tip about trusting your instincts and allowing yourself to write faster without so much editing or judgement. I appreciate knowing there are hit songwriters out there that don't know a lot of music theory or even really read music at all. So much packed in this video. Thank you!

Amazing teacher, I can visualize so clearly what I need to do to improve my songwriting

Wow this is super helpful & you have an amazing way to simplify & teach - that's a gift!! Thank you also for making it free & available - I've had unfinished songs for 3-4 years & finally getting back into them...means a lot to have found this

25:15 I was having such a bad day because I feel like I can’t write anything of value, and when she mentioned “Free Fallin” I immediately felt better. Now I’m so happy. Tom is always there to cheer me up, just by someone mentioning him. Oh my God I love this video even more now, I’m so happy, 😄😄

Wow! I can not express how gracious I am for you sharing your insight and wisdom. I feel inspired and musically revitalized. Much love & respect.

Awesome video

First time I see (and hear) this woman but she sounds so sweet and caring

This helped me in the first 2 minutes 👏👏👏 she was great 😊

Things like this makes me grateful for the internet :) As someone that is new to song writing, all the things you mentioned here make sense and are so helpful! Thanks thanks!

Great information and tips for writing lyrics. Thank you very much for sharing.👌🏼👍🏻👌🏼👍🏻👍🏻👌🏼👌🏼👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👌🏼👌🏼👍🏻👍🏻👍🏾👍🏽👍🏽👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾🌸🌺🌺🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🌸🌺🌺🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌺🌺🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Love this channel... Berklee has some of the best classes...! It's amazing how simple songwriting is if you can just remember all the things you learned at the moment of writing the song. So much to consider! Ximre's session player talks about general beginner writing ideas and ways to write songs. Ximre has their first video out March 1, 2018.

Hi Andrea, you nailed it again! Every time I listen to your videos there is a new song in my mind. The way you capture the tools of songwriting in a nutshell is simply compelling. I always and reliably get inspiration instantly. This time, inspiration fired at 10:20 when you changed from descending to ascending. Boom, tried it with my own voice and instantly had a strong motif that can carry the whole song. Thank you so much!

Great video

Great speaker! Thanks from Ukraine!🤘

Mediator between the head and hand must be the heart... Metropolis. Very good lessons I bought the book.

Differentiating sections is so vital and maybe one of the biggest things new writers miss. I love the discussion of varying the melodic contour between sections. Vital.

great vid