Natasha Duchene, Expressive Arts Therapist

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  • 3 Things I Learned From Writing Songs in 1 Hour

    January 25, 2017 by Natasha 3 Comments

    I have a sticky note on the wall of my office that says: “WRITE MORE SONGS. WRITE BAD SONGS. WRITE GOOD SONGS. JUST WRITE SONGS.” My hope was that would inspire me to bust out my instrument a little more often and get something ready to publish. But nope, that didn’t happen. So a little while ago I decided that it was time to confront one of my biggest demons as a songwriter: my perfectionist streak which was contributing to writer’s block.

    I gave myself a challenge. Each week, I had to write a song in one hour. I asked my facebook friends for title suggestions, and then I would pick one that resonated and go for it. The songs weren’t perfect, but that wasn’t the point. They got done, and I learned a lot in the process. Here are some of my favourite take-aways:

      1. That line you’re stuck on? You know the one, with that obvious rhyme that just feels cliche so you’re waiting for a better idea to come along. Or maybe it just doesn’t quite make sense. Oh well, just write it down anyway. It can always be changed later. Often those lines are bottlenecks and the rest of the song is waiting to follow.
      2. Let yourself be surprised. Once in awhile I’d be improvising and there’d be a line that I’d immediately dismiss because I just couldn’t imagine it going anywhere, or because I thought it was too obvious, or whatever. Giving myself permission to explore those possibilities has expanded my range as a songwriter significantly. For example, I was surprised to discover that the line, “I’m calling the president” over a bluesy lick turned into my first protest song ever. I felt huge resistance to singing those words, because it felt preachy and because I just couldn’t imagine it going anywhere interesting. In the end I was super happy with it.
      3. Treat it like a school assignment that you’re not getting graded on and maybe not even terribly invested in. I know it sounds awful, because many of us tend to hold art as this sacred thing. Instead, make the creative space as the sacred thing, and just get some words on the page. As Julia Cameron writes, it’s like this: “Great Creator, I will take care of the quantity. You take care of the quality.”

    These three things have changed my songwriting forever, and allowed me to write more songs last year than I ever have before. If you want to write more songs, maybe consider joining me in my 6 Week 1h Songwriting Challenge! It’s a pretty awesome way to step outside your creative comfort zone, and it’s totally free (for now)!

    Filed Under: Featured, Songwriting & Coaching

    1h Songwriting Club Launch

    January 23, 2017 by Natasha 1 Comment

    Introducing the 1h Songwriting Club & 6-Week Challenge! You can listen to the songs from my own 1h Songwriting Challenge here, and I’ve also written about it here. Keep reading to learn more and to sign up!

    Here’s what you need to know:

    • The goal of the project is to write one song per week for six weeks, giving yourself just one hour to write it. Fortunately, these songs don’t need to be perfect. They just need to be done.
    • Each week you’ll get an email from me with this week’s songwriting challenge, and a question to get things rolling. You also get added to a supportive community of songwriters to discuss the craft, challenges and to share our work.
    • As a perk for signing up, you also get access to online coaching from me, free (!) for the six weeks of the challenge.

    Here is what it is not:

    • This isn’t a songwriting course. If you’ve never written a song before, this might not be for you. That said, the best way to learn is just to try it out! And of course if you would like songwriting lessons or in-person / phone coaching sessions, I am available for that too.

    The Philosophy:

    If your songs turn out awesome, that is great. But that isn’t the point! So many of us don’t finish things because we don’t think it’s good enough. The point here to just get something down on paper, because the more we finish, the better we get at it. Sign up below and don’t forget to click on the confirmation link in your email! Please note you’ll need to have a google+ account to join the community. Thank you!



    Filed Under: Featured, Songwriting & Coaching Tagged With: featured

    Memories, Leonard Cohen’s Passing

    November 15, 2016 by Natasha Leave a Comment

    Charlie and I singing together for the first time

    Leonard Cohen was a staple in our house growing up. I would sing along with the backup singers on Marianne, and learned the French words phonetically in The Partisan. I loved it when there was a woman’s voice I could sing along with. His words were so evocative and his voice spoke directly to my imagination – I could sense the woman spinning a spider web around a man’s ankle, and felt the loneliness of Jesus in his tower, surrounded by a dark ocean. I wondered why he was saying goodbye to Marianne when he felt such tenderness for her. His words fed my young imagination and my love of music, and years later those same songs still strike me with their depth and move me to tears.

    When I went on my first ever road trip with Lung Liu to the Salton Sea, we stayed in a city of squatters called Slab City. There, I met Charlie, an artist and composer who had created something of a live-in art installation there. We camped in the wash near his sculpture garden, and every morning my friend and I would look over at the morning sun shining on the glittering bits of metal and wonder if we were welcome to go stroll through it.

    One night, Builder Bill managed to solder a power supply to an old synthesizer he had kicking around and got me set up to play on his stage. It was a magical night, full moon rising, and even though there were only a few friends in the audience, I felt so connected up there. I left for a little walk, and as I walked away I noticed a man slowly and very methodically unpacking his guitars. When I returned, he was singing in a slow, meditative voice and I felt called to join in. I climbed on stage and slipped my voice in with his. At the end of the song, I asked him who wrote it, and he answered, “Leonard Cohen”. I lit up. When I asked what other songs he knew by him, he replied, “oh, everything”. And so we played into the evening, under the moon, and there was magic in our voices and those songs that I have yet to experience again.

    Charlie and I were fast friends, and each night we would stay up late around the campfire passing his guitar back and forth and sharing the songs that were most dear to us. As the sun neared the horizon I would say goodnight and walk back to camp to join my friends. “Famous Blue Raincoat” was the first complete song we ever sang together.

    Charlie and I weren’t friends when he died, though I always thought that we would be again someday. Whenever I sing this song, I still imagine him in the desert, unreachable, playing his own song under the night sky. I still miss him.

    Meeting Charlie shook me to my core and changed me forever, and now that he is gone I am even more grateful for the songs that we shared, and which I still hold dear to my heart. I always meant to write a letter to Leonard Cohen thanking him for the songs that brought us together and fed my love for music. Now that it’s too late for that, I’ll just leave this here. Thank you, Leonard Cohen.

    Filed Under: Featured

    Spontaneous Song, Intuitive Voices

    August 17, 2016 by Natasha Leave a Comment

    August 21, 2016. 3pm – 5pm
    Ptarmigan Rehearsal Space, Yellowknife, NT

    This is my last workshop before I head off to school for a year. By donation, and it’s all going to tuition, baby!

    In this vocal improvisation workshop for intermediate to advanced singers, we will create spontaneous songs and explore this art form together. We will use some of Rhiannon’s improvisation forms, move our bodies, and create works in both large and small ensemble.

    Singers should be comfortable singing with others (choir experience is awesome!) and an ability to hear and sing harmony would be great. If you’ve ever sung harmony with the radio, then this will be a great workshop for you! People who are interested in or already write songs will also get a lot out of this practice. Music theory and formal training is not necessary. Just bring your ears, your voice and your heart and let the music guide you.

    Suggested donation: $20.
    Questions and registration email Natasha at nduchene@gmail.com or call (867) 446-2651.

    Filed Under: Featured, The Voice, Breath and Vocal Improv, Workshops

    Softly Music Video

    June 2, 2016 by Natasha Leave a Comment

    Directed, edited and filmed by Mikal Jakubal of Earthscapes Media. Buy Softly on the new album Kindred here.

    Softly from Mikal Jakubal on Vimeo.

    Filed Under: Featured, Music

    Kindred Album Released

    May 29, 2016 by Natasha Leave a Comment

    cd-flowersWoah, what a couple of weeks! First of all, a gorgeous concert at NACC with my friends Andrea Bettger and Anne-Marie Guedon. It is always such a treat to share the stage with these two and I’m so grateful for them to have been such profound contributors to this project. Secondly, this concert was also the release of my second album, “Kindred”! I sent Max to a trusted friend for a few days and basically lived at the office while Robert Andrews and I collaborated remotely on the mix and mastering of the album. This guy deserves some serious credit on this album and I can’t emphasize enough how much heart and care he put into the post-production. The album is all done now and you can buy it online on my bandcamp page. Give it a listen and let me know what you think!

    Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: gratitude, kindred, recordings

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