5 Fun Songwriting Exercises

Here’s some songwriting exercises to help develop your composition skills, and spark new ideas when you’re feeling stuck. Playing some writing games like these is a great way to move through writers block.

Object/Sense Writing

• Set a timer for 10 minutes, and write about a random object visible in your current field of view.

  • Write about that object from the perspective of each of your senses: visual, sound, touch, taste, smell.

  • Take a break. Then, transform those sensory descriptions into musical lyrics.

  Random Chord Progressions

  • Pick four chords at random, and force yourself to write a melody that works with them.

  • Switch it up: pick a different set of only three chords, and write a new melody that works with them. No sharing of chords between each of your two attempts.

  Title Inspiration

  • Generate 5 song titles at random, then pick one as your favorite.

  • Write a short chord progression and melody that fits your chosen song title.

  Swap The Genre

  • Take a song you've already written, and rewrite it in a completely unrelated musical style.

  • Country to metal, pop to jazz, rock to ambient, etc.

  Nonsense Lyrics

  • Improvise nonsense tones: make a voice memo singing gibberish and random notes into your phone.

  • Listen back to your voice memo, and replace the nonsense syllabus with real words that match the emotional tone and vocal flow of the gibberish.