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Summary

Lesson 6 from: Robert Lang Studios Songwriting Class

Rocky Votolato, Kris Orlowski

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Lesson Info

6. Summary

Lesson Info

Summary

So yeah just in summary you know I thought I'd be good to just kind of go back to the main points you can take away from this the main points that I took away when I was preparing all this I mean back to what I said in the beginning like I've been doing this for twenty years almost but I still don't feel like an expert I still feel like a beginner you know no matter what it's like you always have so much more to learn and and this was this was really a good kind of eye opening exercise and it was so great to hear your stories yeah and but I guess you know going back through just the first thing we talked about like absorbing your influences so you can't create on empty so just and this came up in the stephen king book in the in the julia cameron book everybody who I look up to has said this over and over just you know absorb your influences listen a lot right a lot like if if there's one mantra from this whole thing that I'm taking with me is like you know just keep up that part of it ...

stay open and keep keep digging you know inspiration will show up when you do the work like it's basically you know it's not an instant thing everybody has to work for even the people we label as genius you know they have a genius that lives in the wall of their studio who comes out every once in a while fair desk yeah with the with the fairy dust but but basically you know we're all we're all working for you know it's just it's just getting up every day and knowing that and not because you feel like you have to out of some catholic guilt you know flogging yourself disciplinary feeling because you love it because it's music it's supposed to be fun I mean anything you can do anything you do can be that way like it doesn't have to just if you don't end up decide you want to be a song ready for your life you can apply this to that as well like do we make it sound fun enough? It is fine is fun yeah and that's you know and then all the techniques basically the morning pages which you've used to but the pain of what you're saying about absorbing I think you had a really was your name again will he had a really great comment that we quite captured in the questioning about how don't just rip off one man rip them all off because you know that was like your voice will come out yeah I want to make sure we captured I'm glad you remember that yeah that's not a very good point morning pages that was getting past the critic you don't take yourself too seriously. We both echoed that thought a few times and and then you know with writing that in that section used concrete images show instead of telling and you're writing write what you know keep it real right which you know on dh no tears for the writer no tears for the reader like that's you know basically just that's a clue to authenticity if it's moving you it's going to probably of others so and then the next point I had for summary would be I guess this is just something I wanted to say like in addition to everything is avoiding distractions you know and I think we talked about this when we first got together but it's so easy especially when you do this as a working artist I mean like you said you've just been in the studio and like either being in the studio or being on tour or working with your record label writing your bio like there's so many things that you could do social media now management meetings booking agent meetings like there's so much that goes into you having a career in music that you can get away from this point and the this mantra of like write and write all the time and listen to music and enjoy the process and that's that's kind of what has happened to me I think I've fallen into that is a pitfall as I've had a career in music for a while and it's so easy to do but the antidote is so simple just get back to writing and get back to being excited about music and that's you know that's the way out of that trap yeah totally do you feel that same way too about all the distractions oh man for sure for sure I am right now my biggest struggle was like trying to figure out what to consume and how much to consume it versus letting myself kind of create create on my own right so getting a routine is I think the hardest part for me just cause everything is always changing so much yeah and it constantly will be like that's I guess that's the thing to remember is like two hundred yeah yeah and then just reset or you want some what like I just got off of a seven and a half week tour forty four shows around the whole country and I wrote one song already good actually and I know I was I was actually not being too hard on myself as I used to want to write like every week at least a year and while I was on tour even but it's funny when you're on the road like you see and experienced so much you realize how diverse this country is like there's there's a lot of these little things you take away and having like, just documenting your phone or doing that thirty second app thing you can really kind of then you come back and you have time to collect yourself and that's when you can really draw on those all those inspirations, all those recipes to create, you know, the masterpiece that you want you ultimately will create. Yeah, and I'm just at the beginning of a new season of my life, like, I'm back back from the tour, and I'm goingto start writing again, you know, just getting back into a routine for and what pages, yeah, that's. What I'm goingto try that out. I'm gonna gear accountable, buddy, or whatever, when I text you every morning sounds good, and what do you, what do you want? What do you want to shoot you? So, yeah, so that's it, it's, basically just doing the work, you know, just keep keep making time for writing show, don't tell, think it's, another good one that, yeah, home. Yeah, that's, it and that's, basically all I had, you know, I highly recommend checking out that ted talk for elizabeth gilbert. I'll post it on my facebook page today, so if you guys, if you go, check that out, you khun see that article or it's a it's. A speech is like twenty minutes, but it's really great, and she says, all those points, I was trying to make a lot better than I did and, uh, and then on writing by stephen king and the julie cameron, but it's a good luck to you guys. Yeah, slow, clap, cool, thanks for coming around. With that.

Ratings and Reviews

Ashton Thebault
 

I'm mixed with this class... there are some good insights and useful tidbits of information to be had but nothing to really blow open your world. Really, that's the point - you need to do the work so inspiration finds you and there is no silver bullet to successful songwriting. Both hosts are great songwriters and that helps them punctuate the points they make. It's not an amazing class but it is useful and simple which is enough to be inspiring for some.

David Nelson
 

Alright, here's the thing. This course is the perfect course for young songwriters who are wondering where to start and how to write songs when they've done very little or haven't been writing for a long time. It gives a great overview of how to find inspiration, how to write with others, and how to overcome the urge to write cliche, typical lyrics. It provides the basic building blocks for beginning songwriters to find direction. If you're an intermediate songwriter, or have been in the business for awhile, you won't learn much from this course. There isn't a lot on specifics, on structure, on stuff like that. However, it provides a wonderful starting point for those of us seeking direction in how to start writing songs and communicating the ideas we have most effectively.

Oxford User
 

This was a fun course, that was easy to understand as a complete beginner, and as someone who isn't musically gifted but is more interested in the lyrical side of things, I did feel like I definitely learned what I wanted to from the lessons. Also the duo have a great dynamic, highly reccommend!

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