With a majority of today’s songwriters having powerful recording tools at their disposal, just a laptop’s click away, and the line between home and studio recordings blurring daily, writers/artists are now finding themselves, more and more, in the role of de facto producer when looking to capture their latest creations.

The "chorus first" construct begins a song not with a typical intro or verse, but with what would be considered a tune’s chorus or refrain. Conventional composition dictates that we view the chorus as a sacred section best introduced later; a section that should be grown into, with the writer organically ratcheting up a song’s intensity and the listener’s interest through the gradual addition of “lesser” structural elements.

If your lyrical snippets and song title ideas are worth getting down, shouldn’t your random musical ideas, riffs and chord patterns be worthy of the same treatment? Why not keep a sonic sketchbook? As discussed in a previous Songcraft post, today’s technology can make capturing song ideas easier than ever.

As songwriters (and human beings) we all want to be heard, but we also need to remember that our output is only as good as our input. Our creative engines need the fuel of inspiration, and that inspiration can only be absorbed when we’re listening and open to receiving it.