The Song in September Challenge

August was all about announcements here on Chasing Sound. Not only did we try the 15 minute guitar experiment, but I also listened to your feedback and started the Back to Basics series, which has been getting great reviews. August was all about learning or trying something new.

For September we’re going to try something different, but I wanted to prepare at the end of August to be ready for it. For the next four weeks I want to challenge you to write, record and mix one song. I’m going to be doing the same, and dedicating at least 1 post per week to the challenge.

I got inspired from the NaNoWriMo challenge, which has writers attempt to write a really good first draft of their novel in the month of November. You can think of the Song in September Challenge as the same thing for musicians. We'll have to think of a cool shortname for it.

The song doesn’t have to be perfect. It should kickstart your songwriting mindset. The biggest push for so many things in life is the initial getting started, and that’s what September is all about. Similar to August’s learn one thing well, September is all about just focusing on one song, and not overwhelming yourself with a full album or even an EP.

Here’s what you should do before week one. You should research a bunch of different songs you like, and then choose the key and quality of your song. Get an idea of what you like and build on it. Personally, I’m going with a mostly Major feeling song. I’m thinking of songs like Andy Timmons’ “Theme From A Perfect World”, Dave Weiner’s “The Mojo Rhyme”, Mr. Fastfinger’s “Blissrush”, and Plini’s “Atlas”.

Something to keep in mind is that I’m nowhere near any of those player’s leagues, but I’m using those songs as inspiration for my own song. The other thing is that this is what I intend to do, but what I’ve noticed is that similar to life, music takes many changes, so who knows what we’ll end up with at the end of September.

One thing I can say for sure is that I’m very excited to be doing this challenge with you guys. Please feel free to reach out to me on Twitter, Facebook or by email at Brian@ChasingSound.com.

Stay tuned for the weekly installments of my own journey, and lets help each other create new music.