I often get questions on how I capture ideas for songs. This is a fair question, as I am sure every songwriter has lost ideas - ideas we swore we would remember the next morning.

Like fisherman, we are always afraid the ‘one that got away’ was probably going to be our biggest (hit). Sound familiar? Read on.

Today, we have ridiculous amounts of technology. We have multiple ways to capture, track, and archive ideas. With all these choices come challenges.

Which person are you?

Technophobe:
Strange as it seems, many songwriters simply choose to ignore technology. To the technophobe, technology gets in the way of creativity.

Techno-junkie:
ON the other end of the spectrum is the techno-junkie. You know who I’m talking about (raising my hand here … guilty!). The guy (or girl) that has to have the latest gadget. It is possible this person even uses technology as a crutch. They feel these new tools will allow them to ’sound’ better, or be more ‘creative’.

The ideal place for the majority of productive people falls somewhere in the middle of the two extremes listed above. This does not mean that if you are indeed a Technophobe or Techno-junkie you are doomed to unproductive and uncreative hell. In fact, I know many great songwriters that fit each respectively description above perfectly.

However, since we attract songwriters from such a wide spectrum, we want to take all capturing methods into consideration.

In this series we will address the large array of methods to track ideas. Do you have a laptop? We have some great tips for you. An iPod? Great, we can help you there too. We’ll even look at a perennial favorite - the pocket ideabook (and pen!).

Capturing Song Ideas: The Complete Series

1. Capture song ideas: Capture at all costs
2. Capture song ideas: Notebook Style
3. Capture song ideas: Voicemail Style
4. Capture song ideas: iPod Style
5. Capture song ideas: Computer Style
6. BONUS: Capture song ideas: With washable Crayola Window Markers