Jen de la Osa and Henry Beguiristain have been writing, singing, and playing guitar together since they were young. Today they are the core of Boston-based Aloud. The songs on their sophomore album Fan the Fury are an engaging collection of observations, each expressed with urgency and true emotion.

For artists the battle has always raged between the desire for complete artistic freedom and the need to work within a limiting set of rules. Some people insist that creativity and limits are mutually exclusive. I would argue the opposite: people are never more creative than when forced to work within limitations. Limits generate their own kind of creative freedom. Don’t believe me?

It’s shocking but true: at its genesis creativity is simply copying something you like. Artists usually express it with words like “inspiration” and “influence”, but it means the same thing. True artistry, however, is taking those germs of borrowed “inspiration” and turning them into something only you could have created. Inside you there are thoughts and ideas garnered from your life experiences that are completely unique and interesting. Learning to recall those things and express them in ways that are both understandable and widely relatable is what developing your creativity is all about.

Like anything, songwriting improves as one practices one’s craft. Practicing songwriting can often be a daunting task not only because it seems odd as a concept, but also because it requires admitting that your own songwriting needs improvement. Here are some tips on deconstructing songs to improve your own writing.

Now that we’ve covered a songwriter’s most important tool - the notebook - let’s talk about some others: the rhyming dictionary, thesaurus, dictionary, computer, and more. First up: the rhyming dictionary. Writing lyrics is hard work. Why waste time looking for rhymes when someone else has already done it for you? Remember, however, that rhyming dictionaries are not fool-proof.

The world is full of great guitarists. Spend just half an hour on Youtube and you will be convinced that every bedroom in the world now houses an unknown prodigy. Standing apart from this crowd has become no small feat, but Seattle based guitarist Ed DeGenaro has managed to do it by blending an unusual approach to the guitar with a bottomless musical imagination. The result is tasty jazz-fusion, seasoned with Latin, country, and rock, and topped with a dollop of humor. It is a musical flavor that is uniquely his own. Recently I got a chance to chat with Ed about his guitars, his music, and his new CD “Less is Seldom More”.

Just as with any artist or craftsman, songwriters use a certain set of tools in their trade. Standing head and shoulders above them all in importance is the notebook. Ideas are fleeting. Capturing them before they are gone is crucial, and nothing is faster than a notebook. Even in a world where computers and other electronic gadgets are as ubiquitous as sand at the beach, the notebook still rules - it never has to boot up, never has to wait for an app to load, and never needs to be recharged.

Which comes first in your songwriting process, the music or the lyrics? We all have our own unique style and approach to song craft. Some of us are natural lyricists. Others find their strength in writing and arranging the musical content of our songs. The question is, when you have that inspiration to write a song, do you first craft the chords and melodies, or do you pick up a pen and scribble down your words? Cast your vote in the very first poll here at Serve The Song.