Havn't been able to compose anything for ages. Can't seem to come up with anything fresh at all. Was like this for about 2 years before, then last year I went on a roll. Anyone have any tips on overcoming this ?

Graham, I just saw your post! I know that this is where we post music and this should probably be in another area of the site but you have been such a big contributor here it deserves to be addressed. One thing I have found to be invaluable for me is a simple voice recording app for my phone. Sometimes I’ll be out on the road and a short melody may pop in my mind and I’ll immediately turn on the app and record by humming or singing so I will have it later. Most of the melodies I use in songs come to me this way. Another thing I’ll do is try to “force” a new melody by trying randomly humming some notes without thinking of any song in particular and it seems a lot of times a new melodic pattern will emerge. Another way is to have radio music playing very low, maybe in another room, where you can barely hear the sound but not quite recognize what it is. Our brain will try to make sense of it by putting it some sort of pattern together that we can understand and thereby creating a new melody. These ideas may not work for you but they have for me. I wish you the best for this and look forward to new creativity from you. Torrey

Thanks Torrey, I guess poor health hasn't helped matters, as I had a chest infection for a few weeks, and then my asthma has been worse. Things are improving so hopefully this'll help

Whenever I'm feel particularly uninspired, I just let it be. For me personally, creativity comes in waves. I find that if I force it when I'm just not into it, I'm never overly happy with the results. You'll get it again, I'm sure

Thanks Deryk, just did some work on one today, so fingers crossed

I agree with Deryk. Writing music is the one thing I can't force myself to do.

I can force myself to sit down and write a book and just bite the bullet but songs don't work that way.

If they don't come I have to forget about it, and when I do, I will be out in the car, and sure as Torrey said, there it comes, right out of the blue and I have to have that recorder on my phone ready.

I can't count the times I have run phone recordings through the chord detection program in BIAB to see what I was doing.

Hello, Graham

I also have difficulties with writing new songs all the time.
I am not using a recording application, but I am using notes of music sheet.
I write down the floated melody (usually about 2 bars) immediately in the memo.
Afterwards, I start composing on the piano with motifs I especially like from the memo.
Various music theories I have learned in the past are useful at this time.
Also, I go to the site where lyricists gather, and I will add melodies one by one at random to the lyrics they wrote. Of course, there are almost bad melodies, but it doesn't matter.
They are not recorded at the time. Because the main purpose is to practice melody making.
I do such things on a daily basis.
I am glad if it becomes your help.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

All good advice. One of the things I've enjoyed about BIAB since it was recommended to me is that it, in and of itself, is a creative lubricant. It doesn't always behave in exactly the way I would like, but if I don't resist it delivers some really tasty hooks that can lead me bar-by-bar into what I'd refer to as "melodic harmonization". If the riff leads in a direction, follow it, even if it means making a C9 where you're inclination was a C major. This back-and-forth helps me "melodize".

Many of the collaborations I've done had me writing a vocal melody and lyric to an already established piece of music. It's as much the riffs as the chords that influence what I do.

In that way it's very much like working with a band. You're not the sole task-master, but a greater-than-equal member. You may have the veto power, but it has input too.

I do get in the doldrums with lyrics at times. Sometimes I think I've said everything I want to say already. I'm kinda there now, but I can feel it burbling under the surface.

If you're not feeling it by then, February should be another round of the RPM challenge to write and record 10 songs in the month. There's nothing wrong with putting a little pressure on yourself in good company. If only one of them is "good", that's about the album average for a lot of acts. :-)

Here's my take, since I feel like I'm also currently in a 'dry spot'.
If I'm not happy with any of the creative ideas that I have (or if I simply have none), I'll do one of 3 things:
1) Forget songwriting for a while and go do something else..like has been said above, lots of times just setting it aside 're-starts' the creative engine.
2) Go back to some older stuff that maybe I've only half-finished, or gave up on at the time...somethings a new perspective brings old stuff to life again
3) Just go into the BIAB style library, pick something that seems different or interesting, pop in a few chords and let it rip...often, from that, you get some new idea that you can work on

I try to keep in mind that songwriting is rarely inspiration...it comes from working on and refining skills, and giving yourself some new dimensions to operate in..and, while you're doing that, often THAT is when 'inspiration' hits, and something that you really like comes out!

My 2 cents!!