Chrissie Hynde on learning to write songs, 1995

I can’t say I’m the most disciplined writer. It’s probably like anyone writes a song--where you might know two chords, but every time you pick up your guitar you hum this little melody because you can’t play anything else. And that’s how I started: I was just trying to learn how to play the guitar, but I couldn’t play any songs because I didn’t know how to play, so I’d kind of make up my own tunes. I never really played along with records, and I never played with other guys because they were guys and I was far too shy to pull out my guitar and play barre chords.

From the book The Complete Singer-Songwriter: A Troubadour's Guide to Writing, Performing, Recording, and Business