Creative Process and Songwriting Practice
Summary
Abstract
Creative process and songwriting practice is discussed in songwriting-talk with 165 categorized messages. The channel’s philosophy centers on daily practice over waiting for inspiration, with oaklandmatt’s pinned morning routine as the defining model. The community launched song-a-week (January 2023, 45 reactions) as a structured exercise program, and the recurring advice is to build habits that keep you “in motion” so that when creative moments arrive, you can translate them quickly.
Detail
oaklandmatt’s Morning Routine
The channel’s most detailed creative process document (pinned):
Source
Author: oaklandmatt — Date: 2023-02-16 — Channel: songwriting-talk — 16 reactions (pinned) “Some songwriting-related morning routine thoughts: I’ve been starting my day with doing piano scales and vocal warm ups to a metronome and then singing/learning a song and recording a voice note of it (recently it’s been Tom Petty Wildflowers at the piano). Then I look at my phone and start my day. Hard to know for sure if it’s causal, but my songwriting abilities have sped up. I’m quicker in sessions, both with topline and tracks.”
The routine compounds multiple benefits:
- Music before phone — outputting music before the brain starts reacting to inputs
- Scales with piano and voice — expands vocabulary on both instruments
- Metronome practice — improves timing on all instruments
- Learning great songs daily — reinforces good lyrical patterns and vocal delivery
- Recording voice notes — builds self-awareness about vocal production choices
The Practice-Inspiration Paradox
Source
Author: oaklandmatt — Date: 2023-02-19 — Channel: songwriting-talk — 15 reactions “The best songs are never calculated, they’re always just felt as they’re being created. They are magical/incalculable moments. As soon as people start analyzing — ‘is this too generic?’ ‘maybe we should have a part like insert artist’ — the song loses its magic. But the paradox is that you can’t just sit around and wait for them to happen. You have to be in motion. So often times building habits and processes (which are calculated) is a great way to keep oneself in the motion of creating things.”
The resolution: calculated habits create the conditions for uncalculated magic.
Song-a-Day / Song-a-Week Exercises
Source
Author: oaklandmatt — Date: 2022-06-25 — Channel: songwriting-talk — 14 reactions “Have her learn classic songs and write a song a day for the next month or two. Repetition in the process with a great musical diet. It is rarely more complicated than these two things.”
The community formalized this into the song-a-week forum:
Source
Author: Slow Hand — Date: 2023-01-01 — Channel: songwriting-talk — 45 reactions “We’ve instituted a new forum song-a-week for what will be the first of a weekly songwriting exercise. This is an opportunity to flex your songwriting muscles and share your work with your peers. Every Sunday evening we’ll pick a songwriting prompt for the coming week.”
Overcoming Writer’s Block
Source
Author: BatMeckley — Date: 2022-05-20 — Channel: songwriting-talk — 15 reactions “No joke, I find the oblique strategy deck of cards wildly helpful in times like that. Also, unfortunately (and I hate hate HATE this) sometimes the only way to get a track from 95% to 100% is to take it back down to like 40% and start there.”
BatMeckley’s two approaches:
- Oblique Strategies — Brian Eno’s lateral thinking cards to break creative patterns
- Demolish and rebuild — strip a nearly-finished song back to its core and rebuild
Separating Songwriting from Production
Source
Author: oaklandmatt — Date: 2026-02-14 — Channel: songwriting-talk “I would strongly advise people who want to learn how to be great songwriters to avoid any production at all when doing the practice we’re talking about. It’s so much easier (and time consuming) to play with snare drum sounds and production transitions than to stay focused on lyrics and melody. Almost everyone I know, and seemingly everyone that asks questions here, just needs to write lyrics and melody over and over and over.”
Perseverance Over Quick Wins
Source
Author: EliHeathMusic — Date: 2024-09-24 — Channel: songwriting-talk — 14 reactions “Watched this video last night of Billie and Finneas talking about writing ‘Birds of a Feather.’ They were writing and rewriting it for almost a year and it almost didn’t make the album. Billie mentioned that it took a bunch of days just to figure out the delivery of the first line… I think this is reminding me that sometimes the quality that makes these people great is their perseverance and willingness to face discomfort and frustration and keep going long enough to finish an idea.”
Volume and Growth
Source
Author: oaklandmatt — Date: 2023-09-18 — Channel: songwriting-talk — 12 reactions “When you make lots and lots more music, you’re doing the thing that will maximally help you get really good at it and give maximal shots at people hearing your music.”
Source
Author: oaklandmatt — Date: 2024-11-07 — Channel: songwriting-talk — 10 reactions “Try your best not to worry if something is good or meaningful or important WHILE you’re making it. Just make things because it feels interesting or fun, then decide at another time which ones you like the most.”
Living as Creative Fuel
Source
Author: LAPhill — Date: 2023-09-19 — Channel: songwriting-talk — 10 reactions “This extends well beyond just music. Art doesn’t exist in a vacuum! You need to get out, talk to people, look at paintings, touch grass, all the things. The music will come from all sources, not just listening.”
Practical Application
- Build a daily creative routine — music before phone, scales, learn a song, record a voice note
- Write a song a day (or a week) to build fluency and overcome preciousness
- Separate songwriting practice from production practice — lyrics and melody only
- Use Oblique Strategies or similar tools to break creative patterns when stuck
- Don’t judge quality during the creation phase — evaluate later
- Study great songs deeply: learn the lyrics, learn the story behind them, sing them
- Get outside, live life, have experiences — art doesn’t come only from consuming other art
Common Mistakes
- Waiting for inspiration instead of building daily habits
- Playing with production (sounds, plugins, arrangements) instead of writing lyrics and melody
- Judging songs during the creation process rather than after
- Comparing your process to stories of songs written quickly — many great songs took months or years
- Isolating yourself — both from collaborators and from life experiences
- Treating creative blocks as problems to solve rather than signals to change approach
See Also
- Lyric Writing — the lyrical craft that daily practice develops
- Co-Writing and Collaboration — how preparation enables better session work
- Songwriting and Arrangement — song structure and arrangement decisions
- Getting Started with Music Production — broader production learning paths
- Session Mindset and Engineering Philosophy — creative mindset in professional settings
Source Discussions
Discord Source
Channel: songwriting-talk — Date Range: 2021-04 to 2026-02 Key contributors: oaklandmatt, Slow Hand, BatMeckley, EliHeathMusic, LAPhill, Zack Hames, cy (sigh) Message volume: 165 categorized messages (Creative Process & Workflow)
Discord Source
Channel: general-talk — Date Range: 2021-02 to 2026-02 Creative philosophy context: NoahNeedleman (26 reactions) shared the Ira Glass quote on taste and the creative gap: “All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap… your taste is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you.” Message volume: 925 creative philosophy messages, 669 songwriting messages (combined from verified experts) See also: general-talk Channel Summary