I hear the music in my head and then I am lucky enough to be able to play a few chords on the piano and describe what I hear to my husband, who then translates it all into the arrangement and production.

This has worked fine for me because I am able to communicate in musical terms well enough. However, sometimes my husband (who is a very schooled musician) will get a bit disturbed with my instructions. He'll say things like "those notes don't fit into the chord" or "those chord changes don't make any sense."

Then I get huffy with him and tell him that it sounds perfectly wonderful inside my head and I'm sure it will sound just as wonderful when he plays it the way I hear it.

We are a good team because I'm usually doing things outside the box and he usually keeps me grounded. Just the other day we did an arrangement of a country song I wrote to present to a national product sponsor. We had a Nashville guy over to sing it and play guitar. My husband did his usual, "those chords don't usually go in that sequence" thing. The singer/guitarist from Nashville said the same thing. But, when the song was all down on tape and they were both digging it, the Nashville guy said laughing,"you and I are going to co-write a song when I steal those chords from you!"

My point is that sometimes a non-trained musician like myself can write some pretty great music in her head! Yes, I could take the time to learn to play an instrument better, but I've had six national song cuts and made my living writing music for jingles and commercials for most of my life without playing an instrument (besides plucking out chords to show my husband!)

We all have our own unique creative strengths and if we find a way to use them which then translates into great songs, well that's all that really matters.

If you can hear the music in your head, then all you need is an arranger to help you put it down on tape.

If you don't hear the music in your head, then learning to play an instrument may not be the answer. It will only serve to help you fish for a melody, which also works for many.

Best,
Heidi






"And, in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." Paul McCartney