Sometimes you’ll get the beginnings of… something… that start bouncing around your head. It might be a tune or a harmony, a riff or a few notes; whatever it is, you know that it could be the start of a new composition.
But it’s not always easy to move up from that little seed of an idea into a full-blown song. So we asked our Flat teammates for tips on how they’ve overcome this kind of obstacle - hopefully some of them can help you to break through to find your next masterpiece!
- Write whatever’s already in your head down. Preferably, do this in Flat! 😉When you’ve got a bit of music dancing through your head, it can be easy to get caught in that loop. By writing it down, you give your brain a way to “hear” it differently. And by writing it down in Flat, you can start playing with the transposition tool, you can test it out in different staffs, you can add different instruments… It all helps you to escape that mental loop and see new possibilities for where the music should go next.
- Think in terms of beginning, middle and end. What section of the song do you already have? Why? Every potential tune isn’t going to simply be the beginning of a song; maybe what you already have in your head is the payoff after a slow buildup, or maybe it feels more like a bridge melody. Try to identify how your riff feels, and then think about what you’d be hearing either before or after that section.
- Embrace playfulness; try everything. You don’t need to hit on the right answer immediately. Be open to anything and see where your composition goes. This is another reason why Flat can be very useful for overcoming “musician’s block”, as it gives you a huge range of tempos, instruments, and tones to play with.
It all comes back to remembering that music is here as an inspiration in our lives, not an obligation. Have fun with it! And as always, if you’ve got some good tips for your fellow Flat musicians on this topic, let us know in the comments 🤗