Another thing, one which really gave me problems, was that I didn’t know how to transition between parts of a song. I would write a really phatty loop and then be like “now what?”
If you feel like this might be part of your problem, go listen to some music you like. DO NOT listen to the whole song. Go into a wav editor, and just listen to parts of it – namely, the parts where a chorus (or the like) transitions back to a verse, or the part where the intro stops and the real meat begins.
Which instruments changed their pattern at the transition? Did new instruments come in? Did some instruments change the range of notes they were playing? Did some instruments just completely drop out of the mix? Did a sound play only that ONE time the entire song?
Another-another thing, try “I’m going to write a song that makes me feel like I’m doing xyz.”
You’re flying away from the Earth while looking at it? You’re playing Pac Man? etc…
Another-another-another thing, songs are like stories. From wikipedia: “stories tend to contain certain core elements of dramatic structure: exposition (the introduction of setting, situation and main characters); complication (the event of the story that introduces the conflict); rising action, crisis (the decisive moment for the protagonist and their commitment to a course of action); climax (the point of highest interest in terms of the conflict and the point of the story with the most action); resolution (the point of the story when the conflict is resolved); and moral.”
If it’s meant to happen, it will happen. I vehemently disagree with people here saying you should force it. Open your song, play around with it. If you’ve got it coming that moment, it will come. If not, don’t punish yourself over it.
The craftsmanship is a means to an end, being your art. Inspiration is not a skill, it’s a sporadic gift.
Best suggestion i can give you is to not beat yourself up, but keep probing occationaly. I have a huge collection of unfinished work, and you know what? Everybody does. If they don’t they make shit music.
That something is art doesn’t mean it’s not also work! Here is what Wikipedia says about Monet: “On the first of April 1851, Monet entered the Le Havre secondary school of the arts. He first became known locally for his charcoal caricatures, which he would sell for ten to twenty francs. Monet also undertook his first drawing lessons from Jacques-François Ochard, a former student of Jacques-Louis David. On the beaches of Normandy in about 1856/1857 he met fellow artist Eugène Boudin who became his mentor and taught him to use oil paints. Boudin taught Monet “en plein air” (outdoor) techniques for painting.”
You get the idea, he actively learned it. He knew what he was doing. Yes, you also need inspiration, but without tools you can handle or other ways to express yourself that inspiration would just be a burden.
That something is art also doesn’t mean it’s totally beyond your (or outside) influence! How you live and how you treat yourself affects what you will be able to create.
I was not questioning Monet, I was giving the example that it would be ridiculous that someone else asked Monet how he did what he did, in an effort to immitate it and not to use their own artistic merit…
