Writing Music Through Isolated Tracking

Every musician gets stuck in creative ruts every now and then. Our licks get stale, our riffs feel boring and we feel like we’ll never get out of this funk.

This problem can be discouraging, but fear not. I've found a solution.

In order to get our creative mojo flowing, we need to be creative in the way we tackle the situation. This means taking a different approach to your normal routine. My first instinct was to always start with a riff and then build a song on top of it.

To break that habit, I tried something new, something I’d never done before. I set up a drum track, recorded a guitar part and then muted that guitar part. I then recorded another guitar part in the same key over the same drum track; only I completely changed the rhythm and feel of that second guitar part.

I repeated the process a few more times, and what I ended up with sounded great and felt fresh. Most importantly, I’d created something I didn’t initially hear in my head, and the method I used kept the guitar parts from dictating how the music would come together.

If you’re looking for a boost to climb over the wall of writer’s block, this type of isolated songwriting may be just what you need.

Tyler Larson is the founder of the guitar-centric brand Music is Win. His insightful, uncomplicated guitar lessons and gear demonstrations along with entertaining, satirical content about life as a musician receive tens of millions of video views per month across social media. Tyler is also the creator of the extremely popular online guitar learning platform, Guitar Super System. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, Tyler has been teaching guitar for over a decade and operates a production studio in Nashville, TN.