(Part 1 Here) It can be easy to forget that the fundamentals of a process are the most important. When you start learning how to do something, you get the foundation of it. As you grow into learning the more challenging parts, you might forget where you started, assuming it's are less important since you've done it all before. I remembered this recently with songwriting.
I started writing songs when I was 11. I was able to pull from what I knew about music because I was always listening to it. Even if I didn't start playing music, someone in my family had it on loud. My ears were constantly being trained all the time, and I didn't even notice. Lately, I haven't been doing that. I haven't been listening to music at all. And as a result, my songwriting has gotten harder, and I've had more writer's block than I'm used to. I've only been listening to my own beats and lyrics over and over. There's nothing outside of my work to inspire me.
I realized I forgot the fundamentals. One of the most crucial parts of songwriting and producing is listening to music. Once you learn more about it, listen to your favorite songs again to see what you notice. It can help so much when you don't know what to do. Over the last few days, I find that I can hear where different instruments are panned. I can tell the difference between a mono and stereo signal. I can notice and recognize the editing effects that the engineer used and guess why.
Another super important fundamental is practice! Last summer, I did a 30-day songwriting challenge and posted it on Twitter. It forced me to write a song every day, and I could see myself getting better. I might do that again because I haven't been writing much outside of the songs I plan to release soon. Even if for only 20 minutes a day. I'm going to try to push myself and write again. If you want to see my challenge, it's still on Twitter. If you follow me there or on Instagram, I'll post on both this time around!