This is one of my favorite exercises!

We’ve reached our final song in our 10 Songs In 10 Weeks Challenge! This one is super fun and playful – we’re going to dream up an…

Alter Ego!

This exercise is great to:

• Express more openly from behind the safety of a mask
• Expand your universe
• Have fun

You can swing a therapist in the Global top 50 and knock down 10s of artists who have alter egos. At the time of writing, Nicki Minaj has 24 alter ego characters she’s recorded with.

Having an alter ego gives you freedom to express ideas you wouldn’t normally, which can result in music that is FUN. We are in the entertainment business, so why not have a go at being entertaining?

Start Here:

Traits

What kind of character would complement your existing artist identity? Think yin and yang, flower and gardener, salt and pepper, Lennon and McCartney etc.

• Define the characteristics of your alter ego. Think about their personality, strengths, weaknesses, and quirks. Think black and white.
  • Is your alter ego good or bad?
  • Confident or shy?
  • Are they the opposite of you, do they possess traits you aspire to have?
  • Are they your nemesis?

Backstory

• Develop a comprehensive backstory for your alter ego.
  • Where were they born?
  • What was their upbringing like?
  • What significant life events shaped their worldview?
  • Write down their backstory

Motivations

• Write down their motivations. Understand what drives them.

Their motivations will influence how they react in different situations.

Voice

• What does their voice sound like?
  • How will you differentiate it from your natural voice?
  • Will you alter it in your body or alter it with FXs in your DAW?
  • Do they sing with the same level of energy?
  • Different vibrato?
  • Write down their vocal qualities

Test Drive

• Put your alter ego to the test and write a full song as them.
• Don’t just imagine them, embody them, and act like them when you’re writing. What do they want to express to the world?

Reflect

• Give it a few days and listen back to your alter ego’s song
• Play it next to one of your true identity songs
  • Do they complement each other?
  • Is your universe big enough for both of you?
  • Could you collaborate on a song together?

Have fun! 🤗

The foundation for this challenge

The book I’m basing this challenge on is Ra Wilson’s book, Write 47 Songs. If you haven’t heard of it yet, I highly recommend you get it. As the name says, the book gives you 47 exercises that serve as a practical roadmap for your artist development through implementation and self-exploration. So it’s a highly practical guide for artists who are just starting out in their songwriting journey, and it’s packed with exercises that are designed to help you put in the practice and level up in all the ways I mentioned before – from your lyric writing to your musical understanding, to developing yourself as an artist in terms of your sound and your artistic voice. All of that through implementation. Because it’s what you DO that counts. When you learn to play an instrument for example, you go to lessons and you spend most of the time DOING. Songwriting should be no different.

Are you new to this challenge? Watch the intro video here!

Wanna join alongside a group of artists?

If you’ve ever made a purchase with us (like joined any of our bootcamps, or got Ra’s book) you also get access to our free WhatsApp community where our artists hang out and support each other. There you can share what you make within a safe space and listen to what others share as well. This will make it way more fun and really help you with accountability.

If you decide to get the book (or you’ve already joined a bootcamp with us), be sure to send me an email so I can give you access to the community! My email address is sonj@artistspringboard.com

That was it, my friends! 🤗❤️

This concludes our 10 Songs In 10 Weeks Challenge. I hope you’ve grown in your practice as a singer-songwriter!

I’ll be back with helpful videos around building your life as an artist after the holidays!

Sonj