Sorry this is a day late, I forgot to hit publish!
If you’ve never considered what’s surrounding you when you write lyrics, now is the time! The things around you can help or hurt your creativity, build a musical creative space. It doesn’t have to be really fancy and it may even be cluttered, if that’s your style. My musical creative space is just a corner of my basement. Here are some of the things I’ve done to my space.
Make It a Place of Beauty
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, make your space beautiful to you. If the sight of clutter makes you cringe, clean it up. If you love clutter, keep it. Add at least one item that reminds you that beauty does exist. I have a small lamp that shines through a stained glass cover, when it shines it makes the whole area colorful.
Keep It Separated
I know it’s not always possible, but if your musical space can be separated and used primarily for music it will help you get in the right mindset when you’re in that space. As I said, my space is in my basement. Since it’s not its own room, just a corner of the basement, I put up an old comforter as a temporary wall that makes it feel a little more separated from the rest of the basement.
Reminders
Add reminders of how much you love writing lyrics and music. I have one of my first picks from when I started playing guitar. It became closer to a circle rather than pick shaped because I used it so much. I got so used to a rounded pick that I have always cut off the most pointed part of the pick since then.
Inspiring Art
Whether it’s a photo, drawing, painting, or sculpture, find a piece of art that inspires you and add it to your area. I have the following picture that was painted and given to me by my sister. I also have a large number of drawings and notes from each of my kids taped to the walls.
Band Merchandise
I have the record from the band my dad was in (The Watchmen) as well as a poster from one of my favorite bands (Five Iron Frenzy).
Lyrics
I haven’t actually added this to my area yet but it’s something I will definitely be doing. There are many lyrics from Sleeping At Last that I love. I will be printing them out and adding them to my wall.
Places You Love
I’ve been to Australia three times and I love it there. I also love the rocky mountains and Colorado. I have a boomerang that I bought during one of my trips to Australia.
Make your musical space a place where you want to go. Hopefully this gives you some ideas on how you can improve that space so you are more creative.
