An excellent songwriting challenge is to take a song you already know and love and rewrite it! Put the lyrics in front of you and completely rewrite them, but keep the same rhyme scheme and phrasing/syllable count. Once you are done with the lyrics, change the tempo and melody to suit your new song!
This is a great exercise for new songwriters to learn to write using common formulas. And this is a great exercise for experienced songwriters who are learning to write within a new genre or good for experienced writers who just have a day of writers block! This exercise forces you to write within a very strict guideline and you still end up with a completely new song!
Bob Dylan:
The answer my friend
Is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind
Example Rewrite:
I'll string my guitar
With strings from my heart
I'll string it with strings from my heart
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