Songwriting to Support Mental Health
One of my favorite parts of the All Roads Music Festival (held in Belfast, Maine by our friends at Launchpad) is the Songwriter’s Circle, a panel discussion by musicians about their process writing songs. As a percussionist, I never considered myself a songwriter until I started playing guitar and realized I could use chords and melodies to paint pictures of the poems I used to write. For a few years, I would sit outside with a guitar and come up with tunes. But because the guitar is not my main instrument, the songs didn’t always sound authentic to my voice.
Last year, I decided to write an album of music, and I spent a week in a cabin, away from work, coming up with words and chords that matched how I felt. With huge changes in my professional and personal life due to the pandemic, there was a lot to say. I ended up with 6 full songs that I thought I’d eventually record onto an EP and release.
Later, I listened back to my demos and realized while they were personal to me, they still didn’t sound like me musically. I went back to my roots, percussion, and ended up going into the studio to record an EP of completely improvised instrumental music using percussion instruments. Are they songs? Maybe not in the way we sing along to songs the radio. Was it writing? Not necessarily, because I was improvising music based on nonmusical concepts. But the music that came out now sounds to me exactly how I felt at that time.
Songwriting is such a powerful tool for self-expression, whether we’re using it in therapy or on our own. Some of my clients get stuck on the musical process itself- trying to come up with catchy hooks, common chord progressions, or the perfect lyrics. But as a tool for self-care, songwriting can be as simple as sitting down at a piano and playing how you feel. Or creating beats in an app like garage band. Or writing poems that you layer over sounds you’ve recorded from your favorite place in nature.
Songs create a safe container for us to express how we feel and then leave it in the song. When we listen back, we can begin to reframe the story or re-experience the story as needed. This can reduce anxiety, prevent burnout, and increase confidence. If songs end up being shared (either with friends or on more public platforms), they become a tool for connection.
During the pandemic, I didn’t have a creative outlet- our shows were canceled indefinitely. I was not meeting with other musicians to jam or practice or write songs. My own songwriting practice became a tool to explore what I was going through, and then distill it into music that I ultimately felt comfortable sharing. The process only took a few weeks, and I felt so much better afterwards- rather than carry around the difficult feelings, I recorded them and released them.
If you want to try an adaptive songwriting exercise for yourself, choose a favorite song and rewrite one of the verses. Then learn to play at least the bass line along with the song, or find the karaoke track online and sing along to it!