Song Prompts
A song prompt is a starter. It’s a way to get to a song by assigning yourself a specific focus.
The benefit of a prompt is that you’ve got a way to keep writing songs even when you may not feel particularly inspired.
That way, when inspiration does hit, you’ve practiced so many times you’ve got the tools to make your inspired idea shine!
Tips To Take Advantage of the Song Prompts
- Don’t get bogged down in delivering exactly what the prompt outlines. This is about jogging your brain and getting the creativity going, so have fun!
- If you end up going off the marked path – that’s OK. Your song idea is probably telling you something you shouldn’t ignore!
- Don’t just pick prompts that you’ve already got ideas for in your hook book. You’ll be amazed at what can happen with prompts you initially think . . . well that’s just dumb!
Choose A Song Prompt
11 “Things” Song Prompts
This list of “things” are a great way to start getting your brain working not only for songs, but poems as well. By using items most of us can relate to quickly and easily, you will spend less time trying to manufacture a scene, characters or circumstances. As a twist on the song prompt, you […]
Create A New Song Idea: Twist On A Cliche
A cliche phrase can be a great song prompt. The trick is to give it a twist by changing a word, using it in a way in a line, or taking a new perspective on the cliche by framing it in a unique way. We’ll give you a list of cliches so you can write […]
Create A Song Prompt: Noun + Verb
Nouns and verbs are powerful elements of a song. Create your own song prompt with a NOUN + VERB combination that surprises you! If you really want to push your creative thinking, then start putting together words that don’t logically go together. This one is a Noun+Verb Mashup. As an ongoing exercise, keep an excel […]
Online Song Prompts
Need more song prompts, or looking for ways to create song prompts on the fly? There are a number of online song prompts available including sites and random generators. We’ve aggregated several into a handy post so you’ve got them at the ready! SongChops Online Song Prompts With more than 20 prompts, you’ll […]
Prompt: Common Object
Take fifteen minutes to “free style” on one of the common objects listed below. Don’t worry about creating a story line or a narrative. Just go ahead and write down whatever pops into your head. Once you’ve completed the “free style” write on one of the common objects below, move on to the next step. […]
Prompt: Confrontation
How To Use The Prompt To Start A Song: Take fifteen minutes to “free style” on the song prompt topic. We’ve also provided a chord progression to get you started. If you haven’t done this before, we’ve provided a step-by-step to help you use the prompts in the creation of a song. Song […]
Prompt: Finding Like Objects
We all collect stuff. Objects are powerful elements in our lives. We save them because they have significance for us. This finding like objects song prompt is a way to not only focus on a single object, but find the connections between objects – to you. It’s a way to create a strong emotional element […]
Prompt: Halloween
Trying to write a Halloween song? This prompt is a basically a seasonal version of the the Noun+Verb Mashup. You can do the same for any holiday, like Christmas, just change up your nouns and verbs! And remember, as an ongoing exercise, you can keep an excel worksheet with columns for nouns, verbs and adjectives. […]
Prompt: How Was Your Weekend?
How Was Your Weekend? We hear it all the time on Monday at work – “How was your weekend?” So why not make it a prompt? Take 2 – 5 minutes and quickly jot down what happened to you during your weekend, or last weekend, or the past several days. Make the […]
Prompt: Mystery Package
What better way than a mystery package that arrives at your home to get the creative buzz going? Remember – this is about getting the muse to show up and having fun! Song Prompt Next Steps: Take fifteen minutes to “free style” on the song prompt topic. Use one of the chord progressions to get […]
Prompt: Song Plot Roulette
Get Started With Song Plot Roulette I thought we’d use some lists I’ve compiled from several places and categorized to give you a quick selection grid for key song elements. Go step-by-step using the grids below, and you should have a pretty good plot outline for your lyric by the time you’ve hit the […]
Prompt: Thinking Out Loud
How To Use The Prompt To Start A Song: Take fifteen minutes to “free style” on the song prompt topic. We’ve also provided a chord progression to get you started. If you haven’t done this before, we’ve provided a step-by-step to help you use the prompts in the creation of a song. Song […]
Prompt: Write A Book
How To Use The Prompt To Start A Song: Take fifteen minutes to “free style” on the song prompt topic. We’ve also provided a chord progression to get you started. If you haven’t done this before, we’ve provided a step-by-step to help you use the prompts and work through the creation of a song. […]
Zane Williams: Word Challenge Exercise
Think songwriting prompts and exercises can’t turn into something good? Zane Williams shows you how he took some fan suggestions as a song prompt and turned it into a challenge for himself as part of his Music Mondays video series. This song was written over eight months before it became a #1 radio hit on […]
Search The Site
FREE Tips & How To Guides!
Beginning Songwriter
Intermediate Songwriter
Advanced Songwriter
Songwriting Worksheets
Songwriting Exercises
Like The Article? Share It!
