Hi ikeinblackriver, here is my answers to your questions.

1. I just wing it. Reason - I am not a word-smith, never have been and find it a chore.

2. My standard method is - pick up acoustic guitar and play various chords, in any order, just to hear what works. I also find that a song will inject into me a different melody. As an example listen to unchained melody and then just play the chords, how many songs have been spawned like that.

3. Song writing because I don't have to think too hard, it just happens.

4. My very first song called WHY . The reason - I was 54 years of age and going through a life changing period. I had never even picked up a guitar let alone played one before. Well to cut the story short, I was just learning chords - and as you do there is a lot of repetition and my mind would go into that auto-pilot mode and a melody came to me. I had never ever wrote a song before so this I think was my best one because it was my first.

5. I don't play my music a lot I just write songs when the inspiration chooses me. I play other peoples music about 80% of the time.

6. Creation would be about a 1 on your scale. It has enhanced my self esteem.

7. Only 7 years

8. No

9. I was only exposed to Country and Western music when I was a child - my father owned the radiogram - so we listed to what he wanted. In my teenage years I was listening to the usual 60's music. Beatles, Rolling Stones, Hollies, Beach boys etc.etc.
I then got married and everything changed, didn't have time for music too busy working.

10. Without Band in a Box I would never have produced such good sounding songs so yes technology has helped.

11. Band in a box is very very helpful when all you have is a chord progression and some La La La's as a melody.

12. I think for professional musicians perhaps they may think that the technologies themselves have created a sort of cookie-cutter generation of musicians but to me it has given unsurpassed fun and an understanding of something that would otherwise be foreign to me.

Best regards
Michee

Windows 11 64 bit, Biab 2024 1111, Realband 2024
i7 Desktop Computer 16Gb Memory