Songwriting Ideas - The Final 12
The final 12 ideas for songwriters and music producers to explore as creative starting points…
37) Upside-Down
Photo by Christopher Machicoane-Hurtaud
This idea is inspired by a scratch DJ turn the whole turn-table upside down in their routine, and also a DMC world championship video where DJ David placed his turntables on cans and angled on top of each other.
For the prompt, turn your equipment backwards. For example, turn your midi keyboard or synthesiser so the back is facing you. Then make music. When I tried this it was quite trippy using the keyboard the wrong way up and the synthesiser was even more difficult. However, the good elements were that it got me out of my usual habits for sure.
Pro’s
Lots of room for happy accidents to happen
Got me out of my tried and tested habits
Con’s
Takes some time, set up and you need a little bit of room to be able to do it.
You need some sort of outboard or hardware to be able to do this
38) Future On-Screen Soundtracks
Photo by Nathan DeFiesta
This one is similar to my third prompt, but this time use the hype of a new film that you are excited for and that is coming out soon.
For this prompt, write the theme music for a film that is coming out soon. The goal is to get your ideas finished before the film comes out, giving you an external deadline to contend with. You can write a theme for a hero and the villain, a motif for the love interest, or a atmospheric piece that anticipates the mood of the film.
Pro’s
The trailer of the film can give you inspiration
An external deadline of the films release gives you a hard deadline to finish your piece
Con’s
Similar to prompt number 3
The theme tune or motifs of the film might already be famous in some cases and it will be hard to move away from that
39) Under Pressure
Photo by Christina Radevich
Take some inspiration from Bowie and Queen when they wrote the lyrics for Under Pressure.
Find a collaborator and discuss an idea for a song. This discussion could include an agreement on the tempo, key, style and core ideas. Then you both go off and write a 16bar loop, but make sure that you both do it independently, without hearing what the other has done.
When you meet back up, the song will now have two main sections an ‘A section’ from your collaborator and a ‘B section’ from you. Now you can move forward by working out how to combine these sections together to start fleshing out the full song.
Pro’s
It can be really inspiring to work with a collaborator to develop ideas
Exciting to see what the other person did with the same initial brief
Con’s
Might be difficult to piece the ideas together if they are super distant from each other
Need to have a collaborator that is also up for the ideas and that might be tough to find sometimes
40) Beating Beat Block By Beat Box
Photo by Dave Weatherall
Take inspiration from MJ and Timbaland who are well known for starting lots of their songs by using just their voice.
This prompt is simple, write the sketch of the song by beatboxing/humming/singing all of the parts first, then building upon these sounds with layers and manipulations of the voice to create your song. Some of these will get removed over time, but other sounds may make it into the final production.
Pro’s
Gives a human feel to the music
You can create a huge range of sounds with just a microphone and the voice
If you are uncomfortable with your voice you can use lots of effects
Con’s
Some people might not feel comfortable speaking on the mic
Most of the sounds will need quite a lot of production to be useable (in my experience)
41) Pots and Pans
Photo by Loren Gu
Years ago I remember a YouTube video where someone made music with hollowed out fruits and vegetables.
For your prompt you could simply pick 5 household items and do a sampling session with them to see all of the sounds that you can producer. When doing this myself I found it really important to consider not just the object but also the thing that ‘excites’ the object.
For example a cymbal can sound completely different when using a drum stick, brush, soft mallets or a bow. How can this same idea be applied to your 5 household items?
Pro’s
Part of you and your world comes into your music, making it more individual
You can make it more difficult by only using these sounds for the production
Con’s
This idea is a bit similar to some of the other prompts
When I tried this I got a lot of short percussive sounds, but finding longer tones and textures seemed to be tricky
42) Beginner’s Luck
Photo by Harshveen Kalsi
Pick up an instrument you have not used before and use it to make your song, the new instrument needs to be a major part in the new production.
Pro’s
Gets you thinking differently about the way the instrument works
You have not expectations of yourself to do something ‘good’ - what ever that means…
Con’s
You need access to an instrument you have never played before
Similar to another prompt but the difference here is you have no prior knowledge
Can be frustrating if you can’t make your hands do what would come easily on another instrument
43) Tape Machine Inspiration
Photo by Maxim Kostenko
The Beatles were well know for their experiments with tape machines in the studio.
Write just the melodic, harmonic and vocals elements for your song at a faster tempo than you usually would have. Then in the DAW (using a time-stretch algorithm that impacts pitch and mimics tape) change the tempo down to create an otherworldly effect.
You can experiment with other combinations of some elements of the music going through the ‘pitching process’ and others that do not.
Pro’s
This can help to create an other worldly sound
You can explore tunings that are outside of the usual concert pitch
Con’s
You need a DAW that has the appropriate kind of settings for the whole song
Sometimes tuning of the song can be an issue
44) Many Radios
Photo by Mert Toker
I saw an exhibition in a gallery where an artist had pilled many old school radios on top of each other and had them all playing different things. I also remember some videos on YouTube that used to say open this other song and press play at 5 minutes and listen to both tabs.
For this prompt you can turn on two or three sound making devices at the same time (or tabs on your browser) and listen to the jumble of sounds, then record/sample this to capture a vibe of what you hear. Then listening back to the recording try and recreate any rhythms, melodies and interesting juxtapositions that were created by this process in your new idea.
Pro’s
Experimental and exciting to be able to let random chance intervene in the creative process
Easy to set up on any browser if you don’t have many devices around at the time
Con’s
Can just end up being a big mess of sound, so picking the correct sources is essential
Need to be careful about copyright if sampling the cacophony
45) From Memory
Photo by Soragrit Wongsa
This one is tricky, but try and think of a song from many years ago, that is only just in your memory. Something right on the edge of your minds ear. Don’t listen the song.
Instead, try and remake the old song from memory and see where it takes you. This could even be a song that you kind of knew but never found out the name. I remember humming many tunes to the person behind the counter in record shops back in the day, asking them if they knew the tune.
Pro’s
It is so much fun to be nostalgic once in a while
Bring back some of the fun and wonder to making music, when you wondered about how it was all done in the studio
Con’s
The new idea might never be as good as your memory though rose tinted glasses
If you get too close to the old song, you might have issues with copyright
46) Be more Odd
Photo by Sabin Popa
This is more for electronic musicians but I am sure anyone can give it a go.
The idea for this prompt is to try and use odd length loops to create interesting patterns. For instance make your bass loop to be 6 bars long and your percussion loop 4.5 bars long. While everything else is a traditional 4, 8, or 16 bar loop.
Pro’s
Really easy to try
This can lead to some really interesting rhythmic ideas
Con’s
Need to keep the parts quite simple or it can get too messy musically
Might not be suitable for some styles where the DJ needs to mix records in a specific way
47) One Synth Patch
Photo by Adi Goldstein
With a digital or recallable hardware synth pick one preset that is a fully fledged sound. Consider this your new ‘default’.
The idea here is that this is your starting point for every sound in the song. It has to come from manipulating that starting patch. The aim here is to test your synthesis skills and making a stock sound go in a completely different direction each time.
Pro’s
It was super easy to set up in my current workflow
Helped me learn my synths to a higher level
Made me thing about how I can get far away from the last timbre of sound I previously created
Con’s
It was a lot of work to put into practice
Time consuming
You could just start with a default empty synth, but then where is the challenge?
48) Pre-Automate
Photo by Possessed Photography
For this prompt, before you write a song you are going to map out all of the automation for various plugins on the sounds.
You will need to do a bit of preparation. Maybe begin by naming a few empty MIDI channels such a synths, bass, fx etc. Then begin to add a bunch of plugins to these channels, such a reverb, delays and effects.
Now you open the automation lanes for each channel and the plugins. Automate stuff first to map out the arrangement of the song in advance.
Finally write your song but you need to make it work without adjusting the automation you created at the start.
Pro’s
You get to plan out the structure in advance
It makes you think about the arrangement and development of the idea from the start
Con’s
Takes a bit of set up at the start
Could be annoying if the automation you did starts getting in the way of a cool idea that develops
That was the final list of 12 prompts for music production starting points. If you do make anything using these ideas, I would love to hear about it. Feel free to send me a link. I won’t be able to respond to all messages, but I am interested in finding out which ones work for you.
I would be interested if anyone ever took up the challenge of using all 48 of these prompts to write music, if you would like to see me attempt this challenge, get in touch and let me know. If you try it, I would love to hear the results.
If you would like to develop your music production, or you are interested in 1-to-1 tutorials, check out the services listed below for online lessons to level up your skills:
Matt Chapman11th October 2025