Songwriting Class Resources

Class Purpose: To open ourselves up to endless possibilities and creativity. To collaborate and learn from each other. To spread joy, important messages, and share empathy through music & songwriting. Being mindful of others cultures and backgrounds. Lastly, building upon our technical musical knowledge.

WEEK 6

“Optimism early, pessimism in the middle, optimism late.

Your starting position has to be somewhat optimistic or you’ll talk yourself out of getting started. Believing in what you are about to do does not guarantee success, but a lack of belief can prevent it.

Once you’ve committed, pessimism becomes useful. Question things. Find holes in your plan. Hold yourself to a high standard and try to identify your mistaken beliefs before they become your misplaced actions.

After you’ve spent some time troubleshooting, it’s back to optimism again. Nothing will ever be perfect, but you have to act anyway. Progress requires the courage to forge ahead despite the inevitable obstacles.”

-James Clear

 

WEEK 5

Quote: 

From the book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron p.61

 

Anger is fuel. We feel it and we want to do something. Hit someone, break something, throw a fit, smash a fist into a wall, tell those bastards. But we are nice people, and what we do with our anger is stuff it, deny it, bury it, block it, hide it, lie about it, medicate it, muffle it, ignore it. We do everything but listen to it.

 

Anger is meant to be listened to. Anger is a voice, a shout, a plea, a demand. It is meant to be respected. Why – because anger is a map. Anger shows us what our boundaries are. Anger shows us where we want to go. It lets us see where we’ve been and lets us know when we haven’t liked it. Anger points the way, not just the finger. In the recovery of a blocked artist, anger is a sign of health. Anger is meant to be acted upon. It is not meant to be acted out. Anger points direction. We are meant to use anger as a fuel to take the action we need to move where our anger points us. With a little thought, we can usually translate the message that our anger is sending us.

WEEK 4

WEEK 3