Inspiration isn’t always there, and sometimes I just get stuck and leave a track for a while/indefinitely while I work on something else. Any good tips on breaking through that and actually finishing?
Try Eno’s Flexible Strategies, for starters?
I’d never even heard of this, this is good stuff. Thanks!
I don’t think it’s a bad thing to let a half-finished track sit for a while. But my approach, if I do that, is to not listen to it, do something else, forget it exists, and so when I come back to it I’ve got fresh ears and a little distance from which I can be more critical of what I’m hearing. And if I got nothing, I’ll leave it again. I remember sitting on an unfinished song for almost a year and a half because I couldn’t come up with good lyrics for the prechorus. I’m really glad I waited for the right idea to hit.
Now if I’m trying to push something forward, well, there’s something to be said for the old saying, “90% of inspiration is keeping your ass in the chair.” It never fails for me that sitting and noodling for an hour or so will net some new material which I can either use right away or stash for later use.
It never fails for me that sitting and noodling for an hour or so will net some new material which I can either use right away or stash for later use.
Funny, I often record &use stuff I find myself humming. Or I start humming an actual song and then over the 100s of subconscious repetitions my brain crafts it into something completely different
I rarely finish projects, so I can’t offer advice of my own, but I found this article today: https://www.musicradar.com/tutorials/music-theory-songwriting/want-to-finally-finish-that-track-heres-how-to-escape-the-4-bar-loop-trap-and-actually-make-some-music
I’ve seen a lot of articles and videos on the topic and this one is better structured and has more actionable suggestions than most, and quite a few ideas that I haven’t seen elsewhere yet. Though it’s centered on electronic music, if you’re in an entirely different genre it might not help as much.
