Getting Out of a Rut
A common struggle faced by most songwriters is developing a recognizable style without becoming redundant. There's not much difference between a groove and a rut. Every songwriter has probably felt that his or her last few songs sound too much alike. What should you do when this happens? If your last few songs were big hits, keep writing until someone complains. If not, there are several ways to expand your horizons and cover some new musical territory.
Identify What You DoTake some time to analyze your own melodic structures. Figure out what scales, modes, keys, intervals, time signatures, and chord movements are in your songs. If all your songs are waltzes in the key of “C” that use major scales for their melodic basis and I, IV, V chord patterns, you might have found the problem.
Do all your songs sound like something from Willie Nelson's third album? If so, it might be time to listen to his first, second, and fourth album or try listening to some Waylon Jennings for a change.
Trying Something DifferentJust being aware that you want to write a different kind of melody may be enough to get you headed in the right direction. If not, here are some options for expanding your melodic possibilities:
Learn an unfamiliar mode or scale and write a melody with it.
Learn some new chords or new voicing for the old ones.
Arrange chords in a different order than you usually do.
Write a melody in a musical style you've never tried before.
If you normally write with an instrument, try writing without one, or vice versa.
Experiment with a computer program that lets you write melodies in standard musical notation and then plays them back for you.
