If you are a songwriter, you may have discovered at some point that there is a fine line between writing truly original music and borrowing music ideas from other songwriters. As artists and creative thinkers, we aim to mirror what inspires us. Likened to a romantic relationship, where one person copies his or her partner out of adoration, imitating what we see on a canvas, or what we hear in our headphones is another way we show our appreciation.
Growing up I learned to play the piano, and for some reason, I always gravitated towards playing Billy Joel’s music. What started as an appreciation for his music soon became a foundation for my own; when I first started writing songs, I found myself imitating his “Billy Joel Chords”.
At the time, I imitated his work because I wanted to understand his mindset while writing.  I was borrowing his musical ideas, to pave the way for my own.  I wanted to know why he chose to write certain chords in certain ways, I wanted to feel exactly what he was feeling at the time he wrote each of his songs.

When writing a song, there’s a fine line between imitation and emulation.

Whereas at the time I was imitating his work to guide myself, there comes a time where we must stop imitating and start emulating.  Emulation is where the bits and pieces we have imitated or borrowed from, run out; our own creative process obtrudes them.  In this moment our voice shines as it is juxtaposed with the voices of our creative heroes.  If we cease to emulate, then essentially we are stealing.