This column today is, virtually word for word, something I wrote recently when a Tradewinds fan overseas, himself venturing into songwriting, wrote me, asking that I elaborate on the process to help him in his efforts. It’s a question that comes up from time to time, and one I have answered only in snippets, mainly because, as with any creative undertaking, there is no one way, or one technique, for the work. If one were to ask a dozen songwriters anywhere to explain how he/she goes about writing a song no two replies would be the same; there is no one formula that fits all. Indeed, to press them would be to find out that the process is somewhat mysterious to most writers, so what I’m about to delineate here applies only to me; another writer would tell you something completely different.
For example, my initial response is to say that you have to be fairly competent with a musical instrument – keyboard, guitar, violin, saxophone, etc. – through which you can express some melodic idea that may come to you. But even that is not set in stone. While it may be harder to create without actually playing an instrument, musical forms can be established purely in the mind, from imagination, and later noted or recorded to be elaborated on, or, as is often the case, simply discarded. So while the instrument can be important it is not absolutely essential. With only a basic knowledge of music notation, one can put on paper musical phrases to be used as a starting point leading to a finished piece of music, but it is a significant advantage for many, me included, to be familiar with a musical instrument – in my case, guitar.