But, as I've recently put more energy into my writing and recording, I've found myself putting less and less time into Songspace, to the detriment of the project. And perhaps that's as it should be. It's time to move on, and get back to making music of my own.

So, I'm letting Songspace go, at least for now. I have no plans one way or the other regarding whether to revive the site at some point in the future... I'll let that "decision" make itself - if I want to do it again, I will.

To all the folks who shared information, who used the site's many resources, who came out to the concerts, who offered feedback and support -- THANK YOU! It's been a fun ride.

My other home.

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Update 7-26-11: So I got it all put together beautifully last week... circuit soldered tightly (first soldering I've done in years), cabinet painted a lovely gloss black, and I plug it all in and... nada. Oy. So, after a weekend of purposefully *not* spending all my free time trying to fix it, I called Moog, and the guy very helpfully walked me through some diagnostics with my multimeter.. Turns out there's a bad coil (they're fragile, and it's not uncommon). They're sending a replacement, which I'll install on the board, and hopefully that will fix it. Stay tuned. The cold is much better.

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Update 8-5-11: Got the part yesterday and popped it in today, and it worked like a charm. Me and my kid played with it for quite a while.. he got the hang of it right away. Very fun. Playing it feels like dancing to me. Next up is getting it adjusted so it works with the cover on, and learning how to be a bit more specific with the pitch when I want to.

The point was to prick my imagination with unexpected word juxtapositions, to use them as seeds for writing, and for generating creative associations and amplifications of my own. On that level, it has worked beautifully. But, it's also proved interesting in another, unexpected way. It's given me a new appreciation for the degree to which our minds are "meaning machines."

We create meaning at every opportunity. We see logic and significance in random circumstance, the Virgin Mary in a stained plaster wall, gods and goddesses in the stars. Playing with tools/toys like Generator teases this part of my mind into action.

Of course, as you might expect, many of the phrases the program produces are complete nonsense:

- infant variety "scored"
- duck no entirely...
- ball, daze, cover.
- floating owner? interrupting

(NOTE: All examples in this post are the output of the Generator program, three words at a time, chosen randomly from the same text file. Punctuation and capitalization are retained from the original context, providing an added dimension.)

And many — in fact, surprisingly many — phrases can be parsed in a sensible way:

- flower IS grow
- sick, worn.. world
- Dusty little.. home..
- butt ate countryside
- insensitive bystander sharing

Some of the sensible phrases operate less as grammatically correct sentences and more as a form of shorthand or summary of a possible situation:

- bike.. oops.. smack
- afterlife, everything Yes,
- self-conscious heads, socially
- warm, fingers.. hello.
- mess.. hostile couple.
- being? boundaries returning
- disrepair?.. society struggling

Phrases like these, in particular, are high-octane fuel for my meaning machine.. My mind immediately kicks into gear, jamming and riffing, filling in an entire scene or setting for each phrase.

Then there are the phrases that fall somewhere between sense and nonsense, which act on my mind in an entirely different fashion:

- thrill, obviously cultish
- pleased "hollow" painful,
- flowers sounds... shut
- escape dead-end awake.

These fascinate me. They aren't, strictly speaking, meaningful.. but they feel as though they could mean something. It’s a semantic grey zone, where associations and metaphors and images are open-ended. As seeds for further writing, these borderline phrases are more challenging, because they make me do more of the heavy lifting — not always productive from a songwriting perspective, but always good exercise.

Really, though, it's often enough to just let the random phrases flow past, and see how my mind reacts. Regardless of where a given phrase might fall on the sense-nonsense spectrum, I love being able to directly observe a process that is usually unconscious: my mind doing its best to make sense of the world.

I could wax philosophical about all of this, but not today. For now, I'll leave you with a few more random phrases... See what your meaning machine makes of these:

- sleep? half here?
- wedding? kiss disabled
- directions.. shark buffet
- bath misunderstanding enjoyed,
- exhausted, selfish, lately...
- deficient old layer
- chair, beckons dust

The book has become a valuable touchstone for me in times of creative doldrums (like now). It clears my mind, helps me remember what’s important, and gives me insights and practical suggestions I can use to get me moving again.

Tharp’s writing is a lot like her choreography - brisk, vivid, entertaining, intelligent, sophisticated but not stuffy, down to earth and spiritually attuned at the same time. I only just discovered this book last year, and it’s quickly made its way onto my “A list” of books on the creative process.

So, yeah, I’m digging it all over again, and trying to put Tharp’s positive, no-nonsense approach to work in my songwriting and recording work.. which, frankly, could use a boost.

I’ll let you know how it’s going...

You find new shapes and new sounds that open up exciting new songwriting possibilities. And with a capo, you can move those new sounds into other keys, as well.

Some popular tunings (listed from bass to treble) are:

- DADGAD
- DADF#AD (open D)*
- DGDGBD (open G)*
- DGDGAD (open G variation)
- CGCGCE (open C)
- EAEAC#E (open A)*
(* Also good for slide)

One great way to ease into alternate tunings is with "Drop D": DADGBE (drop the low E string to D). It's easy on your strings, and it's easy to use. For one thing, a "power" chord is now just a barre across strings 4, 5, and 6.

(If you have two guitars, use one for playing alternate tunings and one for standard tuning — you'll break fewer strings from retuning all the time.)

Of course it's convenient, and we all do it. But if you reuse your tracks from one verse or chorus to another, you could be robbing your demo of some serious dynamic energy.

Think about it: When a band plays a song, the arrangement evolves from beginning to end. No two sections are exactly alike, even if they look the same on paper. Maybe the drummer hits a little harder in Verse 2, or the bass player pushes a little more, or whatever. But if all the verses (or choruses) are the same, you lose all that. Sure, you can add more parts, but if the rhythm section is stuck in a rut, then the song is, too.

Instead, try to make the core parts evolve, so that each section plays its own, unique role in the song. Imagine how someone would really play each part in a real band setting, and shape your tracks accordingly. Yes, it's more work, but the result is much more convincing, and well worth the trouble.

Luckily, the solution is simple: Instead of singing and playing at the same time, record yourself playing the chords, and then sing over the recording.

When you don't have to sing and play at the same time, you can "be the singer," which frees you up to focus on the vocal line without being distracted by the demands of playing your instrument at the same time. You can sing lines that have a different rhythm from the chords, that move in the opposite direction... In short, you're free to explore all the possibilities, not just those that are easy to sing while you play.

For many songwriters, this approach is very liberating, and leads to much more interesting melodies.

For example, if the melody tone is C, that one tone could be the:

- root of any kind of C chord
- major 7th in D-flat Maj7 or C-sharp min/Maj7
- minor 7th in D min7, D min7b5, or D7
- major 6th in E-flat 6 or E-flat min6; 13th in E-flat7
- aug 5th in E+, E+7
- 5th in F, Fmin, F7, etc.
- dim 5th in F#min7b5, F#majb5, F#7b5
- aug 4th in G-flat7(#11)
- 4th in Gsus4, Gmin(sus4), G7(sus4); 11th in Gmin
- major 3rd in A-flat, A-flat7
- minor 3rd in A min
- major 2nd in Bflat(sus2); 9th in B-flat(add9), B-flat min(add9), B-flat Maj9, B-flat min9, B-flat 9
- min 9th in B7(flat9)

The effect can be subtle or dramatic, depending on how far the chord you choose deviates from the key - or whatever harmonic context - you're in, and/or how dissonant or consonant the chord is relative to the harmonic flow in which it occurs.

Such chords can also act as pivots for modulations, especially between two sections (e.g. chorus to bridge, etc.)

"Think of chord shapes as yoga poses for your hand.. Let your hand embody and experience each chord as your body experiences each yoga posture. Have that same focus, that same economy and fluidity of motion, that same aliveness to the physical and energetic sensation, that same attention.

Think of a progression of several chords as a yoga routine for your hand. Go from position to position (that is, chord to chord) smoothly, unhurriedly, arriving at each chord with full commitment and awareness, letting each express itself fully, then moving on to the next.

See whether this approach changes how you experience the act of practicing guitar, and how deeply you integrate what you are learning."

Sure, it might feel strange to write a silly children's song if your usual thing is heavy metal. But write it anyway. Even if you know you'll never record it yourself, maybe somebody else will. You never know — maybe this weird little idea will become the song that makes you famous and puts your kids through college.

More important, you don't want to judge or limit yourself as a writer. You want your creative channels to be wide open, to receive whatever inspiration and ideas might come. And when they do come, you don't want to judge them too soon, or shut the door on some part of your creative self. You want to be open and flexible, so your imagination can be free, and so your songwriting range and skill continue to grow.

Besides, any song that comes is a gift, and it's good to practice some humility and gratitude where those gifts are concerned. Otherwise, the next one might take a lot longer in coming.

Sometimes creativity is more about reacting to something than it is making something happen. That is, letting go of the role of instigator and allowing yourself to respond to some outside stimulus, then seeing where that response takes you.

I like it when the stimulus is out of my control, something random and unconnected with my usual trains of thought. There are lots of ways to get started: open a book to a random page and poke your finger at a random word and then riff on that; do the same thing with pictures instead of words; flip on the radio or the TV and use the first word, or image, or whatever that comes; take an image from a remembered dream; etc.

Sometimes a single element isn't enough to get the juices flowing. For example, when I'm writing, I prefer having two or three random words, because the unexpected synergy or friction between them often sparks something interesting. I even wrote a computer program that offers up random word combinations culled from any text file, providing me with an unlimited supply.

These random bits prime the pump of my unconscious, so to speak. They allow me to simply react and respond to what I'm given, without the responsibility of having to deliberately "create something."

In your creative work this week, try to be the "responder" instead of the "instigator." Find a way to generate random, external stimuli, and then get out of the way and see how your unconscious mind responds, what impulses and images come. It might point you in exciting new directions in your work.

Rhyme has been a default in songwriting for so long that people don't often consider what it's for. How is it useful, how can it help you? It turns out that rhyme is a powerful tool, for a variety of reasons.

First, a rhyme scheme gives form and shape to your lyrics, helping to knit the song together into a whole, rather than just a collection of lines. This draws listeners deeper into a song, because unconsciously they're following the form.

Used skillfully, rhyme can emphasize important words and images, if you locate them in key rhyming positions. The emphasis comes both from the rhyme itself, and from the listener's anticipation of the rhymed words. Also, words that rhyme are connected to each other, in sound and meaning.

Rhyme highlights the sounds of the words, which brings out the musicality of your lyrics.

And all of these factors can make a song easier to sing and remember — always a good thing. Keep these things in mind as you write, so you can use the power of rhyme to your advantage.

Don't let the rhymes control the song.

Rhyme can be a powerful tool for knitting a song together, but it can also become a distraction from your main goal: saying what you want to say as powerfully as you can. If you let rhyme overshadow your point, it can twist your song in the wrong direction.

- Don't use words whose only purpose is to rhyme, especially if they attract too much attention to themselves
- Don't resort to rhyme cliches ("love/above," "maybe/baby," etc.)
- Don't let rhymes pull the meaning and direction of a line, a section, or a song in the wrong direction
- Don't be afraid of near rhymes, if the result expresses the idea more powerfully than a true rhyme
- Don't forget that you don't have to rhyme — it's a tool, not a requirement

If a rhyming word is forcing you into a dead end, find another word, or another way to say what you mean. Never compromise the meaning and power of your song to force a rhyme.

You don't have to rhyme.

You don't have to use rhyme if you don't want to. In fact, letting go of it might free you up in some exciting ways, especially if you're working in styles and forms that aren't particularly tied to tradition.

It's liberating to no longer have the demands of a rhyme scheme limiting your word choices. You are truly free to use whatever words best express your idea. This can actually be a bit disorienting for some songwriters, because there are fewer formal boundaries to contain and direct their creative flow.

This disorientation can trickle down to the listener, too. Many listeners half expect to hear a rhyme scheme. It's like a cultural default, hard-wired into our psyches. By defying that unconscious expectation and avoiding rhymes, you can create tension, disorientation, and even anxiety for your audience. Depending on your style or intent, you can use this to your advantage.

If you're not using end rhyme, though, do keep your ear attuned to the sounds of the words, so you can use their "music" to your advantage. Be aware of inner rhymes, rhythms, alliteration and assonance, etc., and how they can highlight and strengthen your meaning.

Quick rhyme trick

Sometimes, despite our best efforts, we feel we have to use a rhyme that's a little forced. If you can't get a better rhyme by rewriting — and most of the time you can and should — then here's a quick rhyme trick that might help:

Put the more "questionable" word first, and the other word second. That way, when the rhyme hits on the second word, it feels less awkward and draws less attention to itself.

You can do the same trick when one of the words is just obvious rather than truly awkward. Just reverse the order in which we hear the words so that the least obvious word comes second and the rhyme seems fresher, or at least calls less attention to itself.