THREE CHORD TRAPS

THREE CHORD TRAPS

Most songwriters I know, including myself, occasionally experience being in a writing pattern where everything sounds very similar, or is written in a style that seems stale.  It is a very annoying and frustrating place to be.  What to do about it?

One of the main culprits which causes this is often the instrument the writer uses to write with.  I call it the “Three Chord Trap”.  It is especially common with new writers and those who are new to playing an instrument.   Writers with years of experience sometimes fall into it, too.  An old maxim in country music is that all you need is “three chords and the truth” to write a good song.  While there is a lot to support this idea, sometimes those three chords lead us down a path that results in very stale feeling or sounding songs.

There are many successful writers who write only lyrics and rely on someone else to add melody and arrangement.  But there are far more who write with a guitar, keyboard or other instruments.  Most of these folks write melodies to go with their lyrics and are the most susceptible to the Three Chord Trap.

A very successful songwriter friend of mine started his career without any ability to play an instrument.  His technique is to write a lyric and then sing and record every possible melody for it he could think of.  He would then pick the best, and work with a musician/arranger to fine tune it.  He wrote a number of songs this way that became huge worldwide pop hits for a female artist.  I sometimes use this technique to help pull myself out of a rut (still waiting on that worldwide hit, though…).

A big culprit in writer’s rut is the instrument we write with.  It is very easy to fall into a comfortable pattern of chords on guitar or piano, and fit lyrics into that pattern.  This often causes each song to have a similar sound.  Another way to get out of this, in addition to occasionally not using an instrument, is to try writing with a different instrument if you can.  My main instrument is standard six string guitar, but I sometimes write with a bass guitar, a resonator slide guitar, a mandolin, banjo, or a ukulele.  I’ve even written with a steel guitar, and a cigar box guitar.  Invariably, the change of instrument will lead me to a different musical idea for a song.

One last tool to get past a rut is to write in a different genre than you are used to.  If you write country songs, try writing blues.  If you write pop songs, try writing country.  You get the idea.

All these ideas are ways to force yourself out of your comfort zone and allow you to jump start your creativity.  There are many others, indeed there are whole books which address techniques for improving creativity.  A last piece of advice, if you want to improve as a writer, is to write.  Write a lot.  Analyze and learn from your work, and don’t be afraid to step over those ruts.