SongwriterHelper is an open-ended environment for word- and music-play, so you can use it however you want!
To help you bust through writer’s block, the Challenge Engine dares you to make up a verse / chorus / song in a fixed amount of time, or even in real-time.
SongwriterHelper is organized into:
- Categories
(Lyric Games, Music Games, Randomizer, etc.), - Games
(Timed Stream of Consciousness, Modulation Calculator, etc.), and - Lists
(Emotions, Character Flaws, Keys, Style, etc.).
Each Category has one or more Games, and many of the Games can randomly select items from various Lists.
SONG ELEMENTS
Choose the Song Element you want to work on first, or whatever you’re stuck on – no need to use them all. The goal is to loosen you up, encourage experimentation, and cut through writer’s block.
The Randomizer acts as an audience member who makes suggestions during an improv performance. Choose one or more lists to randomize, then write a verse or chorus, as fast as you can, based on the results.
It’s usually best to just randomize one or two lists, to avoid imposing too many constraints. For example:
- Adjective + Noun
(write a verse about blue love or a chorus about funny dancing, as fast as you can) - Emotion + Key & Scale
(write a chorus about guilt in D minor, or a verse about envy in E major) - Plot + Who
(write a verse about a co-worker with frustrated love, or a chorus about a spouse self-sacrificing for an ideal) - Oracle + Title
(write a chorus called “Something to Do with Kindness (Something to Do with Love),” and translate feelings into images, or a verse called “Wouldn’t Wish That on Anyone (The Dating Song)”, and search your past for something real)
There are thousands of possibilities! Avoid mindlessly clicking through the list items – commit to writing about one of the first two or three results.
- Stream of Consciousness
Explore your topic (theme, plot, etc.) by writing about it in prose, or even sentence fragments, as fast as you can, without stopping to think. (The words-per-minute will flash if you pause too long, to remind you to keep writing.) Then mine the results for useful ideas and turns of phrase. - Make up 10 Titles Fast
Make up 10 song titles before the timer runs out. By Sturgeon’s law: “Ninety-percent of everything is crap,” so one of these might be good! - Five Questions for Your Character
Get to know your character by asking questions.
- Chord Progressions
Select a key and try various changes - Modulation Calculator
What are some ways of getting from any key to any other? And back! - Three Melodies for a Chord Progression
Given a chord progression, come up with three different melodies - Three Ways to Sing a Phrase
Given a random phrase (or one of your own), make up three different melodies (using different phrasing, time signatures, and/or chord progressions as needed) - Random Melody
Given a specified key, come up with three melodies in five minutes
- Improv Prompter
Pick one or more lists to randomize. Then start improvising.
At random times, one of the lists will re-randomize. Incorporate the new prompts into your performance (for example, modulate to the new key / emotion / musical genre).
The Improv Prompter can be used while practicing, or even during a live improv performance! - Practice Focus
Practice your song, loosely focusing on a given focus object (for example, Enunciation, Dynamics, Emotion, etc.)
- Checklist
Once you’ve completed your first draft, identify its strengths and weaknesses. Your self-rating will be displayed as a (somewhat arbitrary and subjective) percentage.
After you’ve edited the song to improve problem areas, go back and update your ratings. The site will display your improvement percentage.
Each Game page has three tabs: [This Game], My Notes, and My Lyrics.
- My Notes
The results of each Game (for example, song title, idea, stream of consciousness) get saved to your “My Notes” page, which can be exported as a text file. - My Lyrics
This is the page for writing your lyrics. You can insert chord notations if desired. This page can also be exported as a text file. (Always a good idea to have a local backup of anything important to you.)
Each Game page also has click track controls at the bottom, for you to improvise along with. If you’re using a smartphone, you may be able to capture your lyrics, etc. using the phone’s speech recognition button.
Ultimately, how much you get out of these games is up to you.
Have fun!