My free inquiry project is all about song writing! As you may have read in my “About Me” page, I have been connected to music from a young age. I learned how to play piano at age 5, and since then have picked up guitar, percussion, and singing.
Although I have been actively involved in music (see below for a photo of a band I used to be in!), I have struggled for most of my life to connect the “musical” parts of songs and song writing to the written word components. English was always my worst subject in school – although I did not always get “bad” grades, I certainly did not enjoy writing very often, nor ever felt like I could accurately convey what I wanted to in an effective concise way. Many of my assignment (and now that I think about it, these blog posts…) often turn into run on sentences that repeat themselves, with very little cohesion. I cannot seem to find the point! I am the kind of person that thrives with a systematic, logical approach to doing things, which I think is why math appealed to me and I caught on quickly but creative writing eludes me. There really is no “one size fits all” approach to it.

In this inquiry, I aim to find some “tools” to be able to write songs (and compose music to go with the words!) that resemble a concrete process. I think that if I can find general methods and strategies, a rubric to create a skeleton of a song, the writing process will be easier and much more fulfilling. I will feel less like a prisoner to my pen, and more able to convey the thoughts and ideas that have been living in my head for years! To do this I will explore multimodalities by using YouTube, other blogs, speaking to people knowledgeable in this field, and more others that will come with time!
Thank you for joining me in this process, and I hope that you will learn a thing or two along with me! Here’s to growing everyday.
Image Credit:
Photo by Dayne Topkin on Unsplash
September 26, 2023 at 3:26 pm
I am also the kind of person who thrives with a systematic, logical approach to doing things, and because of that, I have sort of ignored my creative side. I am excited to follow your journey!
September 26, 2023 at 3:45 pm
Selena, I think this is a great inquiry project it sounds like you are going to learn a lot. I remember in middle school, I knew how to read music but now I have completely forgotten. I hope to learn a little bit more as you progress through this project. Nice work!
September 26, 2023 at 3:46 pm
Hi Selena, songwriting is hard! I play guitar and I am lost in trying to create something that is my own. It’s so much easier to stay in my comfort level and play something that I know from someone else. Maybe it’s different with piano. I’m looking forward to see what you come up with. Good luck!