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zen and the art of songwriting

8/22/2017

9 Comments

 
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The last few days have been a blur of answering emails, screening and pitching music to various projects, editing podcasts, making youtube videos and getting ready for the two upcoming retreats I’m co-hosting next month in California.  This morning I was starting to feel a little burned out from all the work I’m doing so I decided to take a break and have a little impromptu songwriting session. 

I write music on a regular basis, but from time to time I just stop whatever I’m doing and have a mid-morning or mid-day songwriting session.  I have the luxury of doing that since I work for myself and without fail it leaves me feeling rejuvenated and recharged, ready to face the rest of the day with more clarity and purpose. 

I like to think of songwriting as going to a place, that I can go to almost anytime I want, that’s removed from the world of capitalism, paying bills, work and all the stress that goes along with day to day life in 2017.  For me, it feels a bit like accessing a meditative space where, when things are going well, I get totally absorbed in what I’m doing to the point that I completely forget about any “problems” or issues I’m dealing with, for a while at least.  Sometimes it only lasts a few minutes.  Other times it lasts a few hours.  But the deeper I go, the better songs I’m able to extract, harness and channel.

One of the more refreshing take-aways I’ve gotten this year from hosting my podcast is the idea that at a certain point, you need to forget about all the rules and ideas you have for what you think makes a marketable song, and just write music from the heart.  This has been the consensus of the vast majority of songwriters, publishers and supervisors I’ve interviewed.  This isn’t to say that you can’t try to write something you think might be more marketable and have some success with it.  If you throw enough crap against the wall, I’m sure a certain percentage of it will stick. 

One of the things that concerns me about the current state of the music business, is that since it’s become harder to monetize music, musicians more than ever, seemed to be more concerned with figuring out how to make money from their music.  I get it.  We all have bills to pay and need to figure out how to get compensated for the work we do.  My goal with my website, podcast and so on, is to help you figure out how to do that. 

But…  I think it’s important that, as artists, we strive to keep focused on the deeper reason we make art and music in the first place.  There are easier ways to survive than making music.  If the only way we can make money from music is to reduce it to a sort of commodity and product that we have to force into a narrowly defined, pre-conceived set of parameters that’s been defined by some executive at a corporation or a “suit” at a TV network, I fail to see how that’s much different than any other job in “corporate” America. 

However, I don’t think it has to be this way.  The light at the end of the tunnel, is that I think great songs still have a place and there’s a still a demand for inspiring and moving music.  Even if it’s in the context of an ad campaign or a corporate backed TV show.  I truly believe there’s a point where great music and corporate interests intersect.  Your job as a songwriter and composer, is to write great music that you actually believe in, and then look for places where your music is needed.

If you reverse this, and simply try to write music you think will make money, then I fail to see how this is different than any other “job”.  In fact, I think in many ways it’s actually worse, in the sense that you’re taking something that you’re presumably passionate about and forcing it into something you think the market will have a demand for, a much more difficult task than simply getting a "day job".

Something I heard the other day, and I’m drawing a blank on where I heard it, is that great art doesn’t follow culture, great art creates culture. Do you think Dylan or The Beatles would have worried about whether their songs worked in the context of a car commercial or a soap commercial?  Do you think Hendrix gave a shit about whether his guitar solos were “in fashion”?  Well, I can’t speak for these artists, but I’m pretty confident that in all cases there was something more “pure” happening than simply trying to make a few bucks from their little “ditties”.

Now, I get it.  We live in different times.  For better and worse.  The music business has changed dramatically since the days of The Beatles, Hendrix, etc. Despite the tone of this article, I’m actually quite optimistic about the future of the music business.  I think things are getting better and I think they will continue to improve.  However, in the meantime, the challenge we face as artists is to stay true to our muse and not lose sight of what making music is really all about.  Which, in my opinion, is about a lot more than simply trying to help advertisers sell cars or help tv shows sell advertising space. 

When I’m deep in one of my songwriting sessions, the last thing I’m thinking about is trying to make money or figure out what tv show my music might fit into.  I’m just writing music that I feel inspired to write and I’m writing about things I’m inspired to write about.  Then, after I’ve written a song, then and only then, do I worry or think about where to try and sell it or license it. 
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To be honest, I’ve licensed music of mine that I think sucks and I’ve licensed music that I love and I’m super passionate about.  I’m a lot more proud of the latter.
9 Comments
Robert Jones
8/22/2017 03:38:56 pm

I loved this one! Thanks for the reminder :)

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Matt
8/22/2017 03:56:56 pm

Great article.

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Marvin Floyd
8/22/2017 04:11:30 pm

Great article!... I was just wondering, Did i just sign up with you for something?

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Bob link
8/22/2017 04:43:19 pm

Thanks for the great article. It gives positive inspiration and perspective from your experience to us.

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Dee Lanee
8/22/2017 05:00:22 pm

Great read. By compounding all I am researching about making music these days, there's a lot to learn from the tight-rope walkers and Zen masters: it's all about balance. Some people write songs to "heal" themselves and others only view it as a marketable skill. There's no doubt that music can do both in pretty powerful ways, and even both at the same time. As India Arie sang: "come back to the middle". It is important to remind ourselves why we do this because our sincerity comes through to the listeners. Thanks for sharing Aaron. I appreciate your honest input.

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robert west link
8/22/2017 05:39:13 pm

Good for understanding processes of writing songs by AARON.

Neil Young did not concern himself much with success especially when he performed in his early days.

Frank Zappa toyed with Zen a bit, but referred to his albums as "product" because he wore so many hats. His early albums parodied commercial music like, Were Only In it For the Money. Did not affect his music. I studied orchestration with Luce de Jesus at UCLA who did the strings for Serra Vaughn and would turn around and write the music for a Toyota commercial. J.S. Bach was not known as a composer during his lifetime but he was considered the best organist of his day. Succeeding musicians new of his work. Beethoven referred to Bach's music as an Ocean. But, the public did not know of his music until Felix Mendelssohn and a friend staged a performance of the St. Matthew Passion. The critics did not like it but the public did. J.S Bach became a household name. Dylan received the Nobel Peace Prize for Literature, the first songwriter to have done this. Robert Zimmerman, a Messianic Jew from Hibbing, sometimes, Duluth, Minnesota. We should be proud of that guy. Zappa was not a commercial composer by in large, but he presented himself as a songwriter at times and used simple music from the Philly Camp. Every songwriter has to find their own way of working keeping their mind open for suggestions, but usually finding that their methods are subject to change. He or She may write with a collaborator who would write most of the lyrics. Sometimes writing on his or her own. Clapton was primarily a guitarist (blues), in his early years but wanted to learn how to write songs later on. His songs were good although they followed a usual commercial style or form. Mark Knopfler has some of the most interesting metaphors or similes in his music. In Golden Heart he writes this in the second verse, "Well we swirled around each other and the thread was one, to some Arcadian Band, I'd stop it justa playing like a Pendulum, to hold time in my hands." Thank You for the chance to comment.

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Joe Pickering Jr. link
8/23/2017 10:23:19 am

ALONG WITH THE ZEN I RATE THIS A 10 !!! i SAY SO BECAUSE OF THIS STATEMENT BY YOU. When I’m deep in one of my songwriting sessions, the last thing I’m thinking about is trying to make money or figure out what tv show my music might fit into. I’m just writing music that I feel inspired to write and I’m writing about things I’m inspired to write about. Then, after I’ve written a song, then and only then, do I worry or think about where to try and sell it or license it.
​

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Allen Cook
8/31/2017 08:21:36 am

"Great art creates culture." Lots of jewels in this article...as usual, Aaron. Thanks for all you do.

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Daniel W Hill link
9/3/2017 05:25:10 am

Aaron, thanks a lot for addressing what I believe every artist struggles with as they start to monetize.

There are many different types of ways to make money as a musician, and to profit from your music is certainly not criminal. Being true to yourself, while sometimes not appearing to yield an immediate return, is healthy long-term thinking for any aspiring career musician.

Thanks for continuing to share your personal thoughts along your journey!

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