It’s totally understandable. More often than not, you only want to listen to songs similar to those that you write, grew up with, or basically love. If, like me, you are not into metal, then the chances of finding you cozying up to the “100 Greatest Heavy Metal Songs” album are incredibly slim.

That said, I hope that today’s guide will change that. Simply because you write songs in one music genre does not imply that you should automatically ignore all other music styles. As a matter of fact, songwriters who venture beyond their instinctive area of interest have been proven to have greater chances of writing music that shows originality and imagination.

You do not want to miss out on this opportunity to grow and improve.

How Does Listening to Other Music Genres Help Improve Your Songwriting Skills?

With all that in mind, I know you’re probably wondering what it is about other music genres that can help boost your songwriting prowess. After all, performance styles account for more than 90 percent of what is different between the different genres, which (presumably) decreases your chances of learning all that much from styles that aren’t your own. You aren’t going to borrow heavy metal performance styles and incorporate them into your next bluegrass song.

That said, even though performance styles do account for the bulk of the differences between genres, there are also musical distinctions that can end up stimulating your imagination, which will, in turn, affect how you write. These differences mainly center on song form, instrumentation, melodic shape, and chord choice.

Take chill, slow songs, for example. There is a reason these kinds of songs are a mainstay at casinos across the nation. A casino’s main goal is to ensure that you stay and spend your money. One way they do that is by using chill, slow songs to create an enchanting atmosphere through music.

All their guests must feel happy, relaxed, and comfortable while playing their favorite gambling games, and such songs help them achieve just that. Now, can you imagine what creating a similar atmosphere while on your creative process can do to your songwriting process?

Better yet, note that you do not need to worry so much about specific things you should learn from the different genres. I suggest that you just start listening. All music genres have their list of hits that made a mark on the world, and a simple google search should help you find them.

Now onto the most exciting section of the post.

3 More Reasons You Should Listen to a Different Genre

1.      Listening to new genres sharpens your creative instincts

As an artist, nothing is more valuable than your intuition and perspective. That said, when these two assets are subjected to the same old creative process, they become dull. One of the best ways to keep them sharp is embracing newness in the way you evaluate music.

Speaking from experience, a massive benefit of exploring new music genres is that it blows a musician’s creative process in an extremely exciting way. That explains why keeping your mind engaged with a new genre will keep your precious assets sharpened.

2.      Listening to different genres keeps you dynamic

I’d like you to think about the new music that most fans have been engaging with the most recently. Is it predictable and straightforward music or new, innovative, and fresh music? If you’ve been in the industry for a while, you know that the answer is always the latter.

There is a long-standing tradition of musicians successfully exploring different genres and incorporating different styles into their upcoming songs.

Take Lil Nas X, for instance. By blending country and hip hop, he was able to write one of the greatest hits in the pop music scene. How about the fact that Amelia Meath’s electro-pop band Sylvan Esso got her nominated for a Grammy even though she had just come from playing folk music in the trio called Mountain Man?

The bottom line here is that there is always a massive benefit in trying new things in the music industry.

3.      New genres will help you break out of your old habits

Why do some people stop making music? A portion of them leave due to personal career and life choices, but another huge portion leaves because music doesn’t bring them the same excitement it did in the past.

To become an impactful songwriter, the creative process needs to be a rewarding experience for you, and one of the easiest ways to achieve that is to go as far as trying writing in a new genre. This will not only maintain “newness” in your process and boost your creativity, but it will also help you maintain the joy of making new music.