All About Songwriting

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Anyone who knows me knows that I am a great believer in using anything that can create, inspire, stimulate and expand on my songwriting ideas and turn them into a finished song.

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in our day to day lives has just exploded over the last few years and the world of songwriting has not been immune to this phenomenon. 

It seems that “AI” is the newest buzzword around and there’s a huge demand for AI to be involved with any and every part of the creative process. 

It’s easy to come to the conclusion that any human involvement in the creative process will become obsolete. I don’t think this will be the case at all.

Now I myself have used AI songwriting/musical tools to expand, embellish and enhance my own songwriting ideas and to get myself out of writer’s block. 

I do this because I’m truly fascinated by the promise of AI and what it can do for songwriters and musicians alike. The promise being a never-ending flow of randomly generated songwriting ideas.

Of course these ideas are not going to be perfect but that is the beauty of working with AI songwriting tools. These AI generated songwriting ideas will still need (and will probably always need) the discernment filter of a human brain that’s been trained by years of experience to steer those song ideas to completion.

Are songwriting ideas generated by an AI tool less relevant than if they were 100% generated by a human? 

As far as I’m concerned, no way because at the end of the day an AI songwriting tool is just that… A TOOL. 

It’s a means to an end and when you think about it, any tool that can generate a songwriting idea is a good tool in my book.

Recently, I updated my most popular blog post The BIG List Of Songwriting Prompts And Lyric Generators to now include a list of AI powered songwriting and lyric writing tools because whether we like it or not, THIS is going to be a big part of the future of songwriting.

Whether they’re created by a computer program or, through machine learning, these songwriting ideas and prompts are just there to help stimulate creativity within the human mind.

They exist to merely take your creativity to places you’d never go. For me, it’s like a mate giving you a tip on a great fishing spot but there are some advocates against AI in songwriting who talk about how using these tools is tantamount to cheating. 

Yes, I suppose you can technically “cheat” if you really want to, but having AI write a song for you and then claiming it as your own work is a hollow victory (if you can just watch the film Yesterday and you’ll know exactly what I mean). 

Just letting AI do all the heavy lifting would simply take all the fun out of creating and besides, is a guitarist who uses a capo a cheat? No, not at all.

I personally want to be on the forefront of these developments rather than be lagging behind to play catch up. I’ll continue to use AI songwriting/lyric writing tools in my songwriting process and if there’s anything that I can share with you all in the future I will.

So, in conclusion… As long as we control the technology within the process rather than the other way around, I think songwriting as a craft is not going to diminish in its humanity.

What do YOU think about the role of AI in the songwriting process?

The role of AI in songwriting has already launched some robust discussion and will continue to be an interesting conversation topic now and into the future so let me know what you think because I’m always up for a good chat.

Peace,

Corey 🙂

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I think it goes without saying that I love to write songs.

Sometimes a song can come from thin air and basically write itself and sometimes a songwriting session can be more painful than passing kidney stones. It all depends on whether you’re attuned to the muse or not.

To really get my creative juices flowing I like to participate in online songwriting challenges like FAWM, 5090 or RPM because there’s nothing like a deadline to make things a bit interesting.

I really love putting my songwriting process to the test, turning everything that I see, hear and experience into a songwriting ideas and then crafting those ideas into a completed song but there have been times when I needed a little bit more help getting my songwriting process underway.

When this happens, I am comforted by the fact that there are free online songwriting tools to the rescue.

As a songwriter who comes up with musical ideas much more easily than lyrical ones, I use these online random word generators and songwriting prompts whenever I find myself in a situation where I’m fresh out of songwriting ideas.

I know from personal experience that from time to time a prompt such as a good song title or a few well chosen lines overheard in a conversation can be all that’s needed to open the floodgates of inspiration.

I mean, there are even songwriting tools out there that are using Artificial Intelligence to power their results. It’s this area of songwriting and music creation that I have been most fascinated with of late.

So, with that in mind, I thought I’d do some online research into these types of songwriting tools for you all.

Some are fairly serious and some are more humorous but if you have a look at them and give the ones you feel will work for you a go, you’ll find some real value in these sites so here is the BIG List Of Songwriting Prompts And Lyric Generators for you to enjoy and be inspired by…

Song Lyric Generators

Song Title/Band Name Generators

(Song) Writing Prompts

AI Powered Songwriting/Music Creation

You’ll notice that some of these tools are a bit tongue in cheek but there are also some songwriting tools that are seriously good.

Either way, by using these songwriting tools it’s my hope that you’ll take your creativity to places you’ve never imagined as much as I have by using them.

I’d be interested to hear how you go with any of these. If you come across any other songwriting tools that you feel will help anyone with their songwriting process, feel free to let me know about it and I’ll add it to this list.

Peace,

Corey 🙂

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Today marks the 10th anniversary of the release of my debut CD “Seeing Stars” and after giving it a bit of a listen before I started writing this post… I’m still quite proud of it.

A lot of things have happened since then which can be summed up by quoting John Lennon’s famous lyric: 

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”

Yes, I wished I had continued on with the initial momentum the CD created but in true Corey fashion, I got scared and through my inaction, that momentum gradually slowed until one day it stopped.

It really does amaze me that 10 years have flown by so fast as I remember the Seeing Stars CD launch as if it was yesterday. 

The Promethean was a wonderful venue for the show and I think I managed to get almost 100 people there. The band was cooking and the overall atmosphere was electric to say the least. 

I do remember feeling like I had come home after wandering around for a few years in the musical wilderness. Standing up on stage at the end of the night after playing a set of my own material, feeling the love of the crowd… 

It was the closest thing to Heaven on Earth but why did I get scared and let it all die out? 

Well, I suppose that even with all of the initial success of the recording and release of the CD, I still didn’t have the belief back then that I could do something with the momentum I created. 

It just goes to show that having an unwavering belief in yourself and your music is just as important as the music itself. It was a hard lesson to learn but I think it was worth it.

As I said before, a lot of things have happened since then. Some things have been really good and some things have been really bad. 

There have also been a few curve balls thrown my way which I’ve managed to dodge most of them but at the end of the day, I am a better person for it and therefore a better songwriter, musician, producer and blogger as well.

With that in mind, I know that I have so much more to offer through my music and I look back on what I created 10 years ago and now think to myself… This is only the beginning.

My first CD might have been two years in the making and 25 years in its development but I promise you that my next official release will not take as long to appear. I am now in a much better place now and the belief that wasn’t there 10 years ago is right now sitting beside me, whispering in my ear… “Mate, you’ve got this.”

Watch this space…

Peace,

Corey 🙂

Heaven on Earth

A big thank you to Leonard Choice (MyBestOf Photography) for the CD Launch photos 🙂

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Personally, I love learning covers in my own unique way almost as much as writing, recording and playing my own music.

The main reason for this is that by me learning and deconstructing/reconstructing songs that I really connect with or, have proven to be popular with the public and have charted in some way, I learn how to write my own songs better through the experience.

Here are some ways I reckon that learning covers has helped my own songwriting process:

  • I learn different song formats, song structures and chord patterns.
  • I expose myself to singing different melodies, and lyrical ideas.
  • I spice up my guitar practice regimen.
  • I maintain my musical theory knowledge by learning a song by ear.
  • I get to know my favourite songwriters more by learning their songs.

For every song I learn, many other unique songwriting ideas will naturally bubble up to the surface for my own material later on.

I reckon the trick with playing covers is that you never do them like the original as much as you possibly can.

I know that if I’m in the audience and I hear someone do a cover in their own style, I get hooked into their version every single time (and I also get hooked into them too).

Now, some performing songwriters I know feel that playing covers is just selling out but, I respectfully don’t agree. I mean who is going to say that Jeff Buckley’s version of ‘Hallelujah’ by Leonard Cohen was a sell out on his part?

It’s one of the most beautiful performances of any song I have ever heard. It makes me cry every time I hear it.

Of course, your goal as a performing songwriter is to play your own songs as much as you can because there’s nothing more satisfying than people actually being touched, moved and inspired by what you are playing and singing that has come from inside you however, an amazing thing happens when you add the occasional cover song into your repertoire.

The audience becomes much closer to you.

I can’t tell you how many times a quiet gig became a much greater gig after I play a well chosen cover (in my own style of course). Every other song I play afterwards becomes music to their ears.

For me, the term “selling out” is generally used by people who wish they were in the same position as the other musicians they were commenting on. Jealousy rears up its ugly head in the music industry all the time.

If you keep focused on writing your own music and at the same time learn a few covers (at the very least for research purposes) to break up your songwriting process from time to time, you will have better gigs, become a more well rounded instrumentalist and (most importantly) you will be a real hit around the odd campfire or two 😉

At the end of the day, I believe playing covers affects your ability to write your own songs only if you allow it to.

Peace,

Corey 🙂

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Anyone that knows me knows that I love funk music. As a bass player I almost think it’s somehow my duty to devote some of my playing, practising and songwriting time to the dark arts of FUNK.

As I mentioned in a previous post “How Music Has Shaped My Life (So Far…)” I was part of some funk bands in the early 2000’s and from there wrote and collaborated on, many songs in the funk, groove and dance genres to which I am very proud of.

This fascination with writing funk tunes has continued to this very day and it’s been my involvements with songwriting challenges such as FAWM and 5090 for a number of years that have been the catalyst for these funk songs to be created into existance.

Now, you might be asking right now… “Corey, where does Funkus Maximus fit into all this?”

Well, one of my consistent collaborators in these songwriting challenges has been Irish songwriter and lyricist Amanda West.

She very early on in the piece realised that I could put together a pretty good funk tune so being a person who could sense a good opportunity, she started writing lyrics for me to encase funky arrangements to and before too long, we had a decent list of recorded funk tunes with nowhere to go.

Amanda makes her living from sync licensing through her business Sheeaun Music, by collaborating with other musicians to create songs from her lyrics so she can then pitch to sync licensing companies, music libraries and music supervisors.

This is also what she wants to do with these funk songs so with that in mind, we both thought it would be a good idea to create a project name for these songs so as to not muddy the waters for my own non-funk songwriting output and Funkus Maximus was born.

By creating Funkus Maximus as a new vehicle for my funk tunes it seemed like a natural progression to form a band around these songs so they can be performed live.

It also seemed a no brainer to mine the rich vein of funk in my past and reimagine, reboot and reinterpret the old FunkStar and Orangutang tunes as well while I’m at it.

Hell, if movies can be reimagined, rebooted and reinterpreted to a new generation why can’t music be approached in the same way?

Anyways, yesterday (Friday, August 6th) the first song for Funkus Maximus, Funk Into The Heat was released out into the world and with that my musical journey continues moving forward.

To say to you that I am “Big Kev” excited would be an understatement.

To find out more information on Funkus Maximus go and check out the website.

You can hear the new song Funk Into The Heat at at all good streaming platforms such as…

Spotify
Apple Music
Deezer
Amazon

There will be more music on the way so watch this space but in the meantime, check out Funk Into The Heat and let me know what you think.

Peace,

Corey 🙂

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You would’ve guessed by now through reading my posts that I’m a real fan of the songwriting process and the many ways that a song can be created.

I’m also a great believer in not throwing any songwriting ideas away, no matter how small, bland, banal, silly or trivial you might think they are.

Now I know of songwriters who, like me, are pretty good at organising their ideas for future reference and that’s a great thing.

However, I know of others who have indiscriminately thrown away reams of paper and piles of notebooks filled with potential song fragments, possible song titles and bits and pieces of hurriedly scribbled phrases and sentences.

This really breaks my heart.

If you’re one of those songwriters who would rather clear the slate than organise your song snippets for later use, listen up… Have I got a deal for you.

Next time you’re feeling the need to sort out and purge or, if the temptation to chuck away all of your stuff you’ve held on for so long has become far too much to bear…

Just give your songwriting ideas to me.

That’s right, give them to me. I’ll gladly take your songwriting ideas off your hands and out of your life.

Think of me as a retirement home for all your old song snippets that you feel have stifled your creativity and have gotten you nowhere. I’ll give your stuff a new home and in the process, I might just develop some of them into songs of my own.

But here’s the thing…

Even though I’ll be in possession of your old ideas, I’m still very mindful of where these ideas have come from and will definitely give you credit where the credit is due.

So, the deal is…

If I create a song from anything that you’ve sent me, I’ll give you between 10% and 50% songwriting credit depending on how much of your idea I’ve used.

I think that’s a pretty good deal considering you were going to throw them away in the first place.

This is proof of how much value I personally put on songwriting ideas, no matter how large or small they are or, where they came from.

So before you throw your old stuff away and before you succumb to the urge to bin all of your old song fragments, think about my offer. Contact me and we’ll work out how I can offload these ideas from you.

I’m serious. What have you got to lose?

Peace,

Corey 🙂

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I remember chatting to a songwriter friend of mine a while ago about the pain he was experiencing when writing songs.

He said to me that he was great at starting songs but really lousy at finishing them (well, aren’t we all).

He also told me his main philosophy for his songwriting process and to me, this was the main reason he wasn’t finishing his songs.

He said to me words to the effect of…

… if the song is not perfect then the song isn’t worth finishing.

WTF!!! No wonder he was experiencing the pain of songwriters block.

I think that the concept of having to write the perfect song is something that’s more common among us songwriters than we care to admit so, allow me to be a little blunt here.

This struggle for songwriting perfection KILLS PEOPLE.

It kills their creativity and kills their inspiration and sometimes (in extreme circumstances) the drive to perfection generally can kill a person physically.

There is a HUGE difference between being driven to write great songs and being driven to write perfect songs.

My reply to his philosophy was this…

… why don’t you try seeing your songwriting not as a means to an end (the hit song) but as a way of just letting yourself go?

As songwriters, how much pressure do we put ourselves under? A lot!

Is it worth it? NO!

You see, the notion of perfection in anything is but a mere illusion. It’s created by the ego and massaged into existence by insecurity, jealousy, doubt, low self esteem and shame.

Songwriting should be a celebration of life, of letting yourself go, setting yourself free and playing around with your creativity. It’s not about reminding yourself how inadequate you are through comparing yourself needlessly to other songwriters.

Always remember that there’s not another one of you on this planet so therefore your experiences, your thoughts, your insights, your feelings, your dreams, your desires, your observations and the way that you question life, universe and everything around it are uniquely yours, and yours alone.

What does that mean? A lot actually.

It means that…

  1. There is no point in comparing yourself and your songwriting to others as there is no one else but you to compare yourself to in the first place
  2. Being the one-of-a-kind and unique creature that you are, whatever you say is always very, very important.

The concept of perfection would only exist if there was something perfect to aspire to in the first place.

Now granted, there have been some amazing songs written in the past and there will be amazing songs that will be written in the future, but none of those songs are “perfect” and they never, ever will be.

We, like our songwriting, are all works in progress so embrace those imperfections and just concentrate on writing songs without getting in your own way.

Peace,

Corey 🙂

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With today being the 4th of July I’ll again be participating in this years 50/90 Songwriting Challenge as I have done for the last 11 years.

Sometimes I do think that I’m batshit CRAZY.

For those of you that have no idea what I’m talking about, the 50/90 Songwriting Challenge (also known as 50/90) requires the participant to write 50 songs in 90 days starting from July 4th until October 31st.

50/90 has been likened to a marathon for songwriters and if my maths is correct, I would need to write one song every 1.8 days to complete the challenge in full.

I can do that, I mean I have done it before in 2017, 2018 and 2019 (not in 2020 thanks to COVID-19) but I am going to approach 50/90 a little differently compared to the FAWM Songwriting Challenge (14 songs in 28 days) that I completed in February.

This time around, instead of doing complete band arrangements of my songs I’ll be stripping them back to a more acoustic vibe to ensure that the songs don’t get bogged down in over-instrumentation.

The more limits I place on myself the more I’ll be able to write and besides, if time permits I can always go back to the songs and embellish them later on. It’s important that I make the song idea-recording-uploading process as efficient as possible.

I’ll also put more of an emphasis on collaboration with other 50/90 participants. It’s one of the really cool things about being involved.

Don’t get me wrong, 50 songs in 90 days is a daunting task and I am going to have my work cut out for me but there’s nothing like a goal or a deadline to get my creative juices flowing.

Just like I’m doing with the songs I wrote for FAWM, I’ll  be releasing them on a playlist through my SoundCloud account.

I might even need your help to choose the best ones.

As with previous years, 50/90 will be the ninja warrior of songwriting endurances for me. YES! It’s a challenge but it will also be a lot of fun too, as the 50/90 website clearly states…

“During these 90 days, participants will encourage each other, collaborate, give and gain feedback on their new creations and push themselves to practice and refine their skills in songwriting. Whether long time vets of songwriting or picking up the pen for the first time, participants will grow their skills in making music… and just might have some fun along the way.”

That’s what I intend to do… I will again be walking the walk and talking the talk by putting all of my songwriting knowledge to good use and allowing my songwriting process to do its thing.

Who knows, there might even be some cracker songs written along the way.

Wish me luck guys,

Corey 🙂

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While going through my song archives some time ago I noticed that I have a lot of songs written in the very early days of my musical journey that would never see the light of day. However, I still remember how these songs go in my head as if I’d written them yesterday.

I thought to myself… Now that I’ve got my home recording studio setup and I’m feeling comfortable with the process of recording music, why not record these old songs (angst ridden teen lyrics and all) with my fresh set of ears plus accumulated musical experience and knowledge.

This would be a great exercise to see how good these old songs really are plus, find out if they can stand up against the new songs that I’m currently writing.

Or, am I just being blinded by nostalgia.

Another thing for me to consider is that this exercise would give me lots and lots of Logic Pro X music production practise and it would be a good thing to do if I’m feeling a bit blocked creatively.

I thought I’d start things off with a recording of one of the first songs I ever wrote called Snow.

The song is pretty much about two people getting it on while it’s snowing outside but lyrically and dynamically I think it’s much more dreamy than that and personally, I’m quite chuffed with how it’s turned out so here it is for you to check out.

Snow
© C. Stewart 1989

Tonight, tonight, tonight we kiss
The rain is cold and so is the air that I breathe

Snow, it settles from the sky
Into the trees, when it’s cold outside
Snow, lovely snow

Tonight, tonight, tonight we embrace
Hostility has gone without a trace

Snow, it settles from the sky
Into the trees, when it’s cold outside
Snow, lovely snow

Guitar solo

Tonight, tonight, tonight we complete
We both are one from our head down to our feet

Snow, it settles from the sky
Into the trees, when it’s cold outside
Snow, lovely snow

Feel free to contact me and let me know what you think, all feedback is welcome.

Peace,

Corey 🙂

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When accepting his BMI Icon award in 2010, songwriter David Foster gave a speech which was more like a ten commandments for all songwriters to live by.

Here are those ten songwriting tips in a nutshell:

  • Save your money
  • Don’t get married
  • Learn an instrument
  • Don’t be too precious about your songs
  • Be genuinely happy for someone else’s success
  • Phone people back
  • Give your career everything that you have
  • Be on time
  • Make every creative decision as if you have a million dollars in the bank
  • Save your money

Enjoy…

I especially liked numbers 3, 4 and 9 on the list. Which one(s) resonated with you? Let me know, I’d love to hear from you.

Peace,

Corey 🙂