SongwriterHelper is an open-ended environment for playing with words and music. It consists of a variety of improv games, random prompts, and timed writing exercises.
Improv Games
Improvisation is the art of making it up as you go. Improv games push you to jump right in and start writing / singing / playing without thinking too much. The goal is to cut through perfectionism, fear of failure, and writer’s block.
For example, the Make Up 10 Song Titles as Fast as You Can game encourages you to bypass your inner critic.
Random Prompts
Live theatre improv often incorporates prompts from the audience – a place, an occupation, etc. SongwriterHelper provides a variety of songwriting-related prompts, such as randomly selected
- Song Titles & Song Ideas
- Character Suggestions
- Chord Progressions
- Oracle Sayings (inspired by Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies)
- Musical Tropes
- Lines from Shakespearean sonnets
- and many, many others
These prompts can be generated during the writing process (using the Randomizer and MetaRandomizer games) or on-the-fly at random times while you’re practicing or performing (using the Improv Prompter game).
If you want to spice up your writing by modulating from verses in G major to a bridge in Eb major, the Modulation Calculator can suggest various ways to get from here to there – and back! The ultimate decision is always yours.
Timed Writing Exercises
Automatic writing (stream of consciousness) is the practice of writing as fast as you can, without stopping to think.
If you pause for too long while writing, these games display your current Words-Per-Minute score to encourage you to keep writing.
Open-ended Environment for Play
SongwriterHelper encourages you to look at songwriting through the lens of play, not work.
The games and prompts can be combined and used in any order. Invent ways to make them work for you!