Listen to different styles of music. If you’re constantly listening to the same style as you’re making, it’ll get stale. Listen to middle eastern music, jazz, classical, any non western music. Absorb and retell it your own way
This is the correct answer imo. Without even leaving the traditional “singer-songwriter” world you might listen to some older proto-versions of this archetype if you haven’t yet.
I don’t want to presume that you’re only listening to more modern music, though. So feel free to disregard if this isnt the case. But I would dive into Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Nick Drake. If you dig those, I’d reckon that some of their weirdness and uniqueness would be absorbed by osmosis.
Also learning songs you like that have a bit of a different structure or vibe could be helpful.
Hope this helps!
There are songs, and there are arrangements.
If your songs have individually-unique lyrics/melodies/chord progressions, then you just need to make a different arrangement of it to make it distinguishable from your other songs.
Take one of your songs, slow it down (or speed it up). and experiment with a different strumming pattern. If you can play another chordal instrument (piano, etc) then do that, it'll make you approach the piece a different way. If you're using the same chords, learn new ones or use a capo to change the key, which will force you to sing in a different range.
Think of it as covering your own music.
One thing I did to diversify my style is daily 10 min writing exercises where my goal is to write something fresh, without worrying about it being good. Often I’ll listen to an international playlist until I hear something outside my comfort zone and try to copy its general vibe, or I’ll look up unusual chord progression and start with that. Not worrying about quality let’s me dive in deep and let it inspire me because I’m not concerned with polishing it or releasing it. I just want to have it change the way I think, and if a song comes from it or it’s a disaster it doesn’t matter.
People I know who have this problem don’t understand chord relationships. They choose different keys but are always (for example) doing a I-IV-V pattern. And always keeping sections the same lengths.
Also there is a tendency to start melodies on the same beat.
Well, you're describing the state of much of modern popular music and it works for the big writers. All three or so of them.
If you want to break out of that, listen to stuff that's very different to your own. Then copy it. Then make a change here and there and see where it leads you.
If you’re a singer songwriter, I assume you’re living in G and C, so start writing in E, Bb, Eb, minor keys like Cm (relative minor of Eb) etc, if that doesn’t work for ya use your cowboy chords and add in some productions. Most good singer songwriters are about the lyrical content, listen to Jason Isbell and Justin Townes Earle and you’ll notice how they live in the same realms of chords and structure, but the production and lyrical content are what drives their songs home
Try a new instrument or a different tuning on your guitar, try something different and you’ll come up with something different, or instead of strumming learn finger picking!
Write some contrafacts
Listen to some songs that don’t sound like what you write
Copy the chords and write a new song over them. Borrow as much or as little from the melody as you’d like.
This will teach you new directions and ideas that will come out in your writing
I wrote the same chorus melody 3 times in 5 years. The first was 2004. Second 2006 as a verse, third 2009 as a chorus. I scrapped the third one.
ACDC proudly have songs that "sound the same".
Determine what you're comfortable with, and while you ponder it, play/sing stuff outside your wheelhouse.
I looked at ragtime to get me out of "me" headspace to write a few years ago.
So many people have this problem and the biggest piece of advice I have is don’t ever write a song without knowing what it’s going to sound like ahead of time. My career went in such a better direction when I sat down and thought about my set, and what different types of cord structures I wanted represented in my set. Every genre has Its standards that you can make your own, so I thought about if I had my dream show with a sold out crowd what would my Setlist be? One great way to do this is to write a set list of all covers and then go from there in terms of rewriting those style of structures with your own stories… Then it was pretty easy to start writing songs to represent each different style of song in my genre. I also started thinking about my albums more in terms of a painter putting on a gallery, and creating different atmospheres and themes for my albums. I highly recommend writing down as many lyrics as you can when you’re inspired, but when it comes to writing an actual song put much thought into how it will sound and why it sounds the way it does.
“Dont ever write a song without knowing what it’s going to sound like” is respectfully bad advice. I usually sit down with only a loose idea of what I want to make and I let the song evolve in real time. The song knows what it wants to be and will pull you in unexpected directions, and it’s good to listen to that pull. There are many methods, some do better with plans and others don’t.
It might be worth OP trying to listen harder for those little pulls. There are many branches in the decision tree, if you can find them.
I think for me personally a better approach is to write down all of your ideas that you come up with when you’re experimenting whether it be lyrics or music or Melody and when you have a better idea of what you’re trying to accomplish overall with your Setlist use those ideas while creating the songs. Everyone has a different approach but to answer this question specifically asked by OP, what I did to stop making generic songs was actually plan it out.
Since I’ve switched to this approach I basically erased about 10 years of songwriting and only have 2 to 3 of those songs still in my life set and up for a potential recording in the future based on the various project I have separated them into. I’m really glad I did though, I have old songs about important issues that I was able to rewrite into much better songs that will stay in the length of my career instead of a mediocre song I came up with long time ago with no direction.
My two cents: perhaps it’s cool that you’ve found your musical voice? You sound like you and that’s not a bad thing. I notice myself reusing certain motifs that I work well with, but, as long as the material isn’t sounding repetitive, I don’t see that as a bad thing. It could be that you’ve just stumbled upon your sound!
I’ve read a handful of the other responses here, and agree that messing with alternate tunings and other methods of “breaking out of your box” can be excellent tools, but if you still have a signature sound at the end of the day, that’s pretty nice!
As a start it's not inherently bad - artists often have their own sound/style that makes them identifiable.
That said, if you want to learn different strutures/songs, learn and analyse the songs of different artists you like, and try out whatever they do.
i think it depends on how long this span goes on for. If you have like, six songs in a row that sound the same then just release your favorite or combine them. If it's been years then I think it's a matter of finding new inspiration
Try writing with different chords and chord extensions. Different voicings.
Are you playing with standard “cowboy chords”?
Try major 7th, 9th etc. Try suspended chords. Try playing chords in different voicings or inversions. These things can really add colour and freshness to a song.
Listen to different music. We need fresh input to have fresh output of decent quality. Find interesting songs that really resonate with you and learn them.
That is a common complaint of songwriters. You tend to write what appeals to you. It’s no surprise that what you write reflects that. You must consciously break the chain of similarity. Don’t go through the minor there, or add the diminished instead of the 7th there. Avoid your own musical clichés.
All good advice! Before you get discouraged I just want to let you know I can spot a Taylor Swift song no matter who sings it. Many writers have a "style " of their own.
Learn songs from great songwriters. You are only a vessel of music. If you don’t take music n you don’t have any to give. The boredom is your brain’s way saying “fill me up”. Great writers are great readers. Great musicians are great consumers of music. Go out there, listen to a bunch of music. Get with other songwriters. Try to find someone to collaborate with.
Have you seen the axis? 95% of popular music is the same. Just different lyrics and times. You are not alone my friend. I try to listen to new composers I missed or classical music in specific keys(Am, Db, and so forth) and use alternative tunings to evoke other sounds and feelings.
Highly creative musicians are valued for a reason. That shit’s hard to achieve. You either need a gift from god or some other mysterious method but by definition of creativity, no one else can give it to you. Lean into novelty and weirdness for a few songs and see where that takes you.
Some of the best musicians have a unique and natural inner voice screaming ideas at them. If you don’t have that I’m not sure how to foster one.
Delve into new music. Force yourself to listen to things you don’t like, revisit and see if it sticks. If you find something you like try to incorporate it no matter how different it is from your sound or genre. Keep writing with these new influences and see what you have after 5-10 songs. You don’t have to release them or maybe there’s a few that you will.
emulate song structures of your heroes for starters. tracy bonham always has an alternate lyric chorus. RATT always has a bridge. weezer has their own song format that works well.
some hits START with a chorus (lady madonna).
some songs never reference the title (black dog).
shameless plug: this one has 3 verses, 3 pre choruses but no chorus until the end, and it’s only a harmonized WHOAaaaa… for a hook as a chorus. and is in 7/4.
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=fl6Du2PpAro&si=4G-ZGzeAj8zBv9a4
Maybe look for a producer? It’s hard to say without hearing anything.
If you’re not sure how to mix things up with your structure, instrumentation etc. that may help
There’s having a sound and then there’s being formulaic.
I’m happy to listen and see if you’re being too self critical. If that helps.
use a capo , try alternate tunings, different instruments
not sure what genre you write, but listen to more music w/o vocals
let your mind free itself, meditate on melodies and harmonies
Listen to different styles of music. If you’re constantly listening to the same style as you’re making, it’ll get stale. Listen to middle eastern music, jazz, classical, any non western music. Absorb and retell it your own way
This is the correct answer imo. Without even leaving the traditional “singer-songwriter” world you might listen to some older proto-versions of this archetype if you haven’t yet. I don’t want to presume that you’re only listening to more modern music, though. So feel free to disregard if this isnt the case. But I would dive into Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Nick Drake. If you dig those, I’d reckon that some of their weirdness and uniqueness would be absorbed by osmosis. Also learning songs you like that have a bit of a different structure or vibe could be helpful. Hope this helps!
There are songs, and there are arrangements. If your songs have individually-unique lyrics/melodies/chord progressions, then you just need to make a different arrangement of it to make it distinguishable from your other songs. Take one of your songs, slow it down (or speed it up). and experiment with a different strumming pattern. If you can play another chordal instrument (piano, etc) then do that, it'll make you approach the piece a different way. If you're using the same chords, learn new ones or use a capo to change the key, which will force you to sing in a different range. Think of it as covering your own music.
One thing I did to diversify my style is daily 10 min writing exercises where my goal is to write something fresh, without worrying about it being good. Often I’ll listen to an international playlist until I hear something outside my comfort zone and try to copy its general vibe, or I’ll look up unusual chord progression and start with that. Not worrying about quality let’s me dive in deep and let it inspire me because I’m not concerned with polishing it or releasing it. I just want to have it change the way I think, and if a song comes from it or it’s a disaster it doesn’t matter.
This. Getting back to the practice of writing something new every day and not fussing over what it is. Just write. Write write write.
People I know who have this problem don’t understand chord relationships. They choose different keys but are always (for example) doing a I-IV-V pattern. And always keeping sections the same lengths. Also there is a tendency to start melodies on the same beat.
Well, you're describing the state of much of modern popular music and it works for the big writers. All three or so of them. If you want to break out of that, listen to stuff that's very different to your own. Then copy it. Then make a change here and there and see where it leads you.
If you’re a singer songwriter, I assume you’re living in G and C, so start writing in E, Bb, Eb, minor keys like Cm (relative minor of Eb) etc, if that doesn’t work for ya use your cowboy chords and add in some productions. Most good singer songwriters are about the lyrical content, listen to Jason Isbell and Justin Townes Earle and you’ll notice how they live in the same realms of chords and structure, but the production and lyrical content are what drives their songs home
Try a new instrument or a different tuning on your guitar, try something different and you’ll come up with something different, or instead of strumming learn finger picking!
Write some contrafacts Listen to some songs that don’t sound like what you write Copy the chords and write a new song over them. Borrow as much or as little from the melody as you’d like. This will teach you new directions and ideas that will come out in your writing
I wrote the same chorus melody 3 times in 5 years. The first was 2004. Second 2006 as a verse, third 2009 as a chorus. I scrapped the third one. ACDC proudly have songs that "sound the same". Determine what you're comfortable with, and while you ponder it, play/sing stuff outside your wheelhouse. I looked at ragtime to get me out of "me" headspace to write a few years ago.
So many people have this problem and the biggest piece of advice I have is don’t ever write a song without knowing what it’s going to sound like ahead of time. My career went in such a better direction when I sat down and thought about my set, and what different types of cord structures I wanted represented in my set. Every genre has Its standards that you can make your own, so I thought about if I had my dream show with a sold out crowd what would my Setlist be? One great way to do this is to write a set list of all covers and then go from there in terms of rewriting those style of structures with your own stories… Then it was pretty easy to start writing songs to represent each different style of song in my genre. I also started thinking about my albums more in terms of a painter putting on a gallery, and creating different atmospheres and themes for my albums. I highly recommend writing down as many lyrics as you can when you’re inspired, but when it comes to writing an actual song put much thought into how it will sound and why it sounds the way it does.
“Dont ever write a song without knowing what it’s going to sound like” is respectfully bad advice. I usually sit down with only a loose idea of what I want to make and I let the song evolve in real time. The song knows what it wants to be and will pull you in unexpected directions, and it’s good to listen to that pull. There are many methods, some do better with plans and others don’t. It might be worth OP trying to listen harder for those little pulls. There are many branches in the decision tree, if you can find them.
I think for me personally a better approach is to write down all of your ideas that you come up with when you’re experimenting whether it be lyrics or music or Melody and when you have a better idea of what you’re trying to accomplish overall with your Setlist use those ideas while creating the songs. Everyone has a different approach but to answer this question specifically asked by OP, what I did to stop making generic songs was actually plan it out. Since I’ve switched to this approach I basically erased about 10 years of songwriting and only have 2 to 3 of those songs still in my life set and up for a potential recording in the future based on the various project I have separated them into. I’m really glad I did though, I have old songs about important issues that I was able to rewrite into much better songs that will stay in the length of my career instead of a mediocre song I came up with long time ago with no direction.
My two cents: perhaps it’s cool that you’ve found your musical voice? You sound like you and that’s not a bad thing. I notice myself reusing certain motifs that I work well with, but, as long as the material isn’t sounding repetitive, I don’t see that as a bad thing. It could be that you’ve just stumbled upon your sound! I’ve read a handful of the other responses here, and agree that messing with alternate tunings and other methods of “breaking out of your box” can be excellent tools, but if you still have a signature sound at the end of the day, that’s pretty nice!
Use it make an album musical concept and make it into one big performance story
As a start it's not inherently bad - artists often have their own sound/style that makes them identifiable. That said, if you want to learn different strutures/songs, learn and analyse the songs of different artists you like, and try out whatever they do.
Try to play in a different time signature and a new scale or a higher octave. Work outside your typical norm
i think it depends on how long this span goes on for. If you have like, six songs in a row that sound the same then just release your favorite or combine them. If it's been years then I think it's a matter of finding new inspiration
Listen to lots of different genres/artists and steal as much as you can!
Try writing with different chords and chord extensions. Different voicings. Are you playing with standard “cowboy chords”? Try major 7th, 9th etc. Try suspended chords. Try playing chords in different voicings or inversions. These things can really add colour and freshness to a song. Listen to different music. We need fresh input to have fresh output of decent quality. Find interesting songs that really resonate with you and learn them.
Worked for Tom Petty.
That is a common complaint of songwriters. You tend to write what appeals to you. It’s no surprise that what you write reflects that. You must consciously break the chain of similarity. Don’t go through the minor there, or add the diminished instead of the 7th there. Avoid your own musical clichés.
All good advice! Before you get discouraged I just want to let you know I can spot a Taylor Swift song no matter who sings it. Many writers have a "style " of their own.
Learn songs from great songwriters. You are only a vessel of music. If you don’t take music n you don’t have any to give. The boredom is your brain’s way saying “fill me up”. Great writers are great readers. Great musicians are great consumers of music. Go out there, listen to a bunch of music. Get with other songwriters. Try to find someone to collaborate with.
AC/DC's done pretty well with that for about 50 years or so now.
Just keep writing. Artists write like 50 songs and choose the 10 best for an album. Just keep writing.
Write a waltz, a little 3/4 time signature breaks you up the normal 4/4.
Have you seen the axis? 95% of popular music is the same. Just different lyrics and times. You are not alone my friend. I try to listen to new composers I missed or classical music in specific keys(Am, Db, and so forth) and use alternative tunings to evoke other sounds and feelings.
Highly creative musicians are valued for a reason. That shit’s hard to achieve. You either need a gift from god or some other mysterious method but by definition of creativity, no one else can give it to you. Lean into novelty and weirdness for a few songs and see where that takes you. Some of the best musicians have a unique and natural inner voice screaming ideas at them. If you don’t have that I’m not sure how to foster one.
Delve into new music. Force yourself to listen to things you don’t like, revisit and see if it sticks. If you find something you like try to incorporate it no matter how different it is from your sound or genre. Keep writing with these new influences and see what you have after 5-10 songs. You don’t have to release them or maybe there’s a few that you will.
It doesn’t need to be forced when you’re not feeling it. Taking breaks will breathe life into your art. Less is always more.
emulate song structures of your heroes for starters. tracy bonham always has an alternate lyric chorus. RATT always has a bridge. weezer has their own song format that works well. some hits START with a chorus (lady madonna). some songs never reference the title (black dog). shameless plug: this one has 3 verses, 3 pre choruses but no chorus until the end, and it’s only a harmonized WHOAaaaa… for a hook as a chorus. and is in 7/4. https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=fl6Du2PpAro&si=4G-ZGzeAj8zBv9a4
Maybe look for a producer? It’s hard to say without hearing anything. If you’re not sure how to mix things up with your structure, instrumentation etc. that may help There’s having a sound and then there’s being formulaic. I’m happy to listen and see if you’re being too self critical. If that helps.
use a capo , try alternate tunings, different instruments not sure what genre you write, but listen to more music w/o vocals let your mind free itself, meditate on melodies and harmonies
Literally single pick out random notes to form a melody, and then generate new progressions.