If you’re feeling creatively blocked, this will work!

SONG 6 of the 10 Songs In 10 Weeks Challenge is gonna spark your creative brain in a very direct way.

Today’s exercise is called…

Limitations

This exercise is great to:

• Deal with writer’s block
• Deal with the paralysis of choice

Limitations are like fad diets. Whichever one you pick will work. Also like fad diets, they are a temporary fix. You’re really better off developing a healthy relationship with your tools and skills. Having said that, limitations can be good for those times when you feel blocked or uninspired. Writing something is always better than writing nothing.

Examples of songs written with limitations:

• Escapism – Raye (purposefully limited note movement to put attention on the lyrics)
• Get Up, Stand Up – Bob Marley (one chord)
• Just Dance – Lady GaGa (written in 10 minutes)
• Seven Nation Army (or any White Stripes song) – The White Stripes (guitar, drums, and vocals only)
• The One Note Samba – Antônio Carlos Jobim and Newton Mendonça (mostly one note A section melody)

Pick One:

Pick one of the following limitation prompts:

• Single Chord: Write a song using only one chord throughout.
• One-Note-Melody: Develop a song with a melody that uses only one note.
• No Repeating Words: Write a song without repeating any words (excluding articles like “the”, “a”, and “an”)
• Instrument Limitation: Write a song using only three instruments.
• Time-Pressed: Compose a complete song within 10 minutes.
• Voice Only: Craft a song using only your voice.
• Minimalist Melody & Lyrics: Create a song with only one 2-bar melody and only one line of lyric.
• No Rhymes: Write a song without any rhyming.
• Outside: Take one instrument, guitar or whatever outside. Write your whole song on that one instrument while outside. Let the energy and the lack of comfort seep into your song.
• Be watched: Ask a friend or loved one to sit in a room with you for 30 minutes while you write a song. Ask them to not interrupt you.

Finish your song!

That’s it! I hope you enjoy this exercise 🤗

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

I hope you enjoy writing your SONG 6! 🤗❤️

Happy songwriting,

Sonj