Without getting too technical (I might confuse myself) I can tell you our minds filter all the stimulation we absorb through our five senses, and if you’re a songwriter, with proper training and knowledge, you can subconsciously harness all that power running through your mind’s filter and eventually allow song ideas to spring into your head! 

“How do I do that?” you ask.   The answer is less complicated than you probably think.  This is what you have to do, step-by-step:

1.  Learn all the songwriting basics necessary to write songs.  Check out this free beginner songwriting guide, this free step-by-step songwriting guide, or consider a more complete but lengthier songwriting guide such as Six Steps to Songwriting Success, Revised Edition (Due out 10-02-2008): The Comprehensive Guide to Writing and Marketing Hit Songswritten by Jason Blume.

The point here is to learn all the necessary songwriting basics so you have strong knowledge of all the sections used in songwriting. These include; intro, verse, prechorus, chorus, bridge, instrumental, raps, and spoken word parts. You need to train yourself to automatically recognize the different sections that make up songs and how they are used. This takes studying songs and actually writing your own songs (although it’s helpful, you don’t even have to know how to play an instrument to learn songwriting basics).

2. Listen to your favorite songs and pick out the most interesting parts such as the song hook, parts of a verse, a certain rap line, etc.  Now, what you’re looking for is a short catchy line that stands out as being the most memorable part of the song.  As mentioned in Part 1, these are also song areas for you to study and analyze: 

1. a great original song title
2. a catchy melody (usually a short musical phrase)
3. an interesting lyric
4. an infectious rhythm
5. a pleasing harmony
6. any other song component

For example, in Leona Lewis’ smash hit single “Bleeding Love” the part that stands out most to me is, “I keep bleeding I keep, keep bleeding love.”  This is a very short phrase that keeps repeating as the song’s hook.  It contains interesting lyrics and a catchy melody, the most common example as it relates to this exercise.  A great original song title is also there to boot!  This short phrase could have definitely been an idea that just popped into a songwriter’s head!  This sort of thing happens all the time to hit songwriters and you can do it, too. 

3.  Once you know all the songwriting basics and you’re able to recognize different parts of songs, the next step is to really dive deep into writing your own original songs.  You may have already started to compose your tunes by now anyway, but I’m talking about continually and consistently trying to write songs.  You will eventually reach that “zone” where song ideas spring out like water from a faucet!  Many pro songwriters swear they become so consumed by songwriting in phases (usually a few weeks) several times a year because the ideas just don’t stop!    

The trick is to know all the songwriting basics, to know what to look for in songs, and to become really active in your songwriting by continually trying to compose songs. 

The more songs you write, the more experience and knowledge you gain, and before you know it, you will reach that “effortless zone” those pro songwriters seem to reach all the time.  For some songwriters, reaching “songwriting mode,” a condition created by yourself whereby you effortlessly come up with great song ideas, can take a few weeks to several months to a few years.  It depends on how hard you really want to work at your songwriting craft.     

 Be patient-with experience and practice, there’s no doubt you will eventually get to a point where great song ideas stream into your head.  Just don’t try to force the ideas into your head-this will create too much stress, and you’ll actually regress instead of progress.  I know-’cause I’ve been there!

Sting recalls how he woke up in the middle of the night with the line, “Every breath you take, every move you make dancing in his head, so he sat down at the piano and wrote the million-seller “Every Breath You Take” in 30 minutes.  Countless other songwriters talk about a short phrase or melody suddenly and unexpectedly taking over their brains and hit songs literally “writing themselves” with little effort!

So how does this happen?  It certainly doesn’t happen by accident to just anybody who has no interest in writing a song.  It happens to songwriters who put themselves in what I call “Songwriting Mode,” which is the ability to train your brain to subconsciously create any of the following:

1. a great original song title
2. a catchy melody (usually a short musical phrase)
3. an interesting lyric
4. an infectious rhythm
5. a pleasing harmony
6. any other song component; and
to instantaneously translate that idea or ideas into the making of a great song by allowing your mind to literally take off in different musical directions!  Usually, musical ideas from being in “songwriting mode” come in short phrases or spurts, and they can be any part or section of the song (i.e., the last line of a verse, the middle of a chorus, etc.)

On Thursday, August 14, 2008, Part 2 of this series will begin to disclose how to condition your mind to reach the stage of being in “songwriting mode.”

If you’re a beginner songwriter, you can learn songwriting basics rather quickly – maybe in 7 to 10 days or so  if you use the right information to get you on the right track.  The most important thing, however, is to move at a comfortable pace so you can try to assimilate each topic thoroughly.  It’s better to thoroughly learn the basics in 30 to 40 days instead of using a quick, ineffective method where you forget most of what you learned the day before!  If you take 15 minutes during each study/practice session to learn a chord a day, you will have learned 30 to 40 chords during the same period.  Now that’s progress! 

As in many topics of interest in any field, understand sometimes certain subjects won’t be instantly clear but don’t let that discourage you from pressing on.  For example, you might not be able to figure out at first, how songs can be more interesting with certain song dynamics, until you continue piecing different articles or chapters and by actually practicing what you studied.  The pieces of the puzzle will eventually come together, you’ll have “aha” moments where you’ll feel like you’ve struck a songwriting goldmine and certain things will become abundantly clear as long as you’re consistent with your effort to learn songwriting.  In due time, in due time! 

Intermediate songwriters can benefit immensely from slowly and deliberately dissecting topics such as “rhyming,” “verse development,”  “chorus development,”  “song forms,” and “using metaphors” just to name a few.  The key to taking these into the depths of your soul is to work on them wholeheartedly, one at a time, until each topic is second-nature to you.  You won’t believe how much easier and more effective songwriting can be if you can instinctively tell the difference between a pedal point and a descending bass line!

Advanced songwriters have a great advantage over other songwriters when it comes to learning new techniques because they usually have a superior understanding of beginning and intermediate songwriting basics, and they can take advantage of great, innovative songwriting articles like:  Be Bold – by I. Woloshen on Irene Jackson Songwriting Tips,  The Creatice Process Of Songwriting - by Garrison Leykam, and Special Singer-Songwriter Songwriting Ingredients by me!  Yet many advanced songwriters rarely take the time to continue their learning process for various reasons including their absolutely crazy, super-busy, committed lifestyle to the wonderful world of music in the big leagues!

Take note, even you Grammy and American Music Award winners - you should never stop learning new techniques.  Don’t wait until your well runs dry like many have in the past. There is far too much excellent information in songwriting circles, clubs, and organizations, and in various training formats such as articles, CD’s, etc.

If you can take 30 minutes a day to follow a Tae Bo workout you can easily read at least one interesting article a week to keep your juices flowing strong.

Good luck to all! 

Next time you write a song try this: 

1.  Take your song worksheet and underneath all of your noun, verb, and other words entries, and leave some space on the bottom for lyric phrases.

2.  Take your title, and start asking, “Who, what, where, when, why, and how?” and use the bottom of your worksheet to enter the following method: For example: If my song title is, “I’ve Known All Along,” first I need to clarify in my mind what I’m trying to say with the song title – this is the song idea or theme. The song could be about (a) someone catching the other cheating, (b) someone saying they never doubted themselves, (c) someone saying they were sure the other would fall in love with them, etc.

For this example, I’ll pick (c) as my song idea to illustrate this method.

Now I’ll start asking questions, and I’ll write ideas, not necessarily lines for the song in finished form, just basic thoughts that come to my head:

Remember the song idea for “I’ve Known All Along” was (c) someone saying they were sure the other would fall in love with them.

With this as your starting point you should have enough ideas to begin putting your lyrics together by starting out with powerful opening lines in your first verse and chorus.
——————–
For example, in this song, my first line in the first verse could be:

I can believe it’s come to this………<< taken from “I’m not surprised” entry in, “What?”

——————–
The first few lines in the chorus might look like this:

I’ve known all along…………………………………………………<<song title
I’ve known all along…………………………………………………<<song title
Your eyes have always told me………………<from “the way your eyes……” in Why? 
With you I could never go wrong……………< unrelated to this exercise

The last line “With you I could never go wrong” was a line naturally sparked by the other lines as a result of this method.  Now, this is by no means a masterpiece of a line but it’s certainly a great starting point.  And that’s exactly what this method is about, sparking ideas and creating a starting point!

There are some songwriters who seem to have an internal button that pushes itself to let them them know that “PING!”……that line needs work, the hook/chorus is lacking, or the song itself is just O.K., not very good at all, etc.  On the other hand, there are some songwriters who write a song and think it’s the greatest song since “Stairway To Heaven” only to get a cold reception and an “I don’t think so, dude,”  from an audience every time they play it.

A huge part of becoming a great songwriter is to learn how to be completely honest with your work so you can continually improve. 

To train yourself on how to guage your songwriting properly in order to benefit your songwriting tremendously, follow these tips: 

1.  You can start by listening to your favorite music and giving each song an honest opinion about the lyrics, melody, harmony, rhythm, etc.  Don’t fall into the envious trap of thinking, “Oh that song completely sucks, my songs are better,” without figuring out why you think the song is so bad.    It’s human nature to put down another songwriter’s work especially when you believe it’s true, even if you just say it to yourself, but why not dig deeper to see how correct you are and justify why you’re making this determination for your learning experience?   

If you approach it this way, you’ll probably find that many of those songs you don’t like are simply not your cup of tea!  You see, while there is some fluff out there, there’s usually some quality such as the recording artist to the infectious melody to the catchy rhythm that makes the song appealing and successful.

2.  After writing and rewriting your song, rehearse your song and record yourself if possible, even if it’s a mini-recorder.  If your song is more electronic-based and depends more on a groove such as  R&B, some types of Pop, Rap, and Dance, download the free The Hammerhead Rhythm Station for Windows or the orDrumbox for Mac, learn how to use the free software machine, and sing or rap to the beat.  If you have a recording studio of any size at home, or access to a studio through a friend, this is the ideal route to take.   By recording yourself, you will be able to hear good parts as well as flaws that need work.  

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sung in a recording studio thinking the song was excellent and the vocals O.K., only to come out of the vocal booth and find the song as well as the performance stunk!

3.  Run your song(s) through one of the many great songwriting checklists on the web to make sure it’s your best possible work.

4.  Test the song(s) out with family members and friends (when everyone’s sober!), look at their immediate reaction,  and ask what they like and/or dislike about the song.  This is by no means a perfectly accurate way to gauge your progress but it gives you a general idea of your song’s impact on people. 

5.    If you find your songwriting is lacking in some general area such as verse development, go back to the basics, review verse development techniques and rewrite your verse or verses once again.  With patience and persistence, you’ll eventually get it right and be pleased with your work! 

If anyone’s experienced a great way to be honest with their own songwriting or musicianship for that matter, I’d love to hear what you did and how you did it!

Here’s an example of this method.  I recently used it to write the country tune “An Offer I Can’t Refuse.”   I chose the title after hearing it on TV and several ideas for a song poured into my head like ten severe thunderstorms raining down on me at once! 

1. First, I created the story by picking out ONE song idea from several possible ones that came to my head for this title:

I’m in love and I don’t want to miss the chance at having that special someone slip through my hands just because I’m not sure if I’m willing to commit to a serious relationship.  I can actually see us having a beautiful future and I can definitely picture her walking down the aisle to meet me at the altar.  I need to go for it–and take a chance at being happy.  I’m so grateful for having her in my life.

2. Then, I shortened my idea to only ONE sentence:

I’m not going to let my big chance of loving you pass me by, I’m going to commit to you, and I’m going to do everything I can to make this work and make you happy.

3. Next, I picked out a song form I thought would work to get my message across.  Keep in mind that initially selecting a song form is a good idea so you can structure your song but this can change minimally or drastically later on.  In other words, select a song form as a starting point.  For this song I picked the common verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus (ABABCB) form.

4. The next step I took was to outline what I was going to say in each section:

Verse 1 – I can’t let this chance pass me by
Chorus – You loving me forever is an offer I can’t refuse
Verse 2 – Can you see in my eyes how grateful I am for having a chance to love you  
Bridge – I’m ready to work hard at keeping our relationship going through the good and the bad

5. Finally, here’s the song after a few rewrites to perfectly drive my message across:

An Offer I Can’t Refuse
(O. Gutierrez)

Verse 1
I’m not going to give up on this chance
It feels much too right
To make my every step a lifelong dance
With you by my side

My gut keeps telling my head
There’s absolutely no risk
It’s easy to feel this way
Every time you kiss me

Chorus
Oooohh
I can taste the treasure in your lips
I feel the potential of my soul
To give itself
To you completely

Ooooohh
You don’t have to say another word
I’m already convinced
Your love has made me
An offer I can’t refuse

Verse 2
For you I’m going to trade in all my cares
For hopes and big dreams
Everday I’ll thank the man upstairs
For helping me see

You are the diamond
I never thought I’d find
Can’t you see how my eyes sparkle
Knowing you’ll be mine

Repeat Chorus

Bridge
I’ll take you up
On what you say will take us far
I’ve bought into
Me and you
Playing it smart
And placing our biggest bet
On each other’s heart

Repeat Chorus

Copyright 2008

Songwriters are no exception to this rule, especially when they find they’ve written a few solid songs using the same “routine” and “formula,” so to speak.  In songwriting, it is sometimes hard to break free from a proven method of songwriting,  and some songwriters resist change by sticking to “their style of songwriting,” while declaring, “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.”

So consequently, as an example, some songwriters stay focused on the classic song forms of verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus, in pop and country music , or verse-chorus-verse-chorus-rap-chorus in r&b with little or no variation.  After a while, songs start to sound the same and you not only risk losing your listeners, but you also run the risk of having music industry people think you’re one-dimensional.

It’s not that difficult to add some variety in your songs and give them a definite boost if you know where to inject them with song form variations.  That’s right!  All you have to do is start experimenting with song forms.  This is the easiest way to lend variety to your future collection of original songs.   

If you find yourself in these songwriting shoes and you want to break free from the “all too familiar” type of song, try using the following song forms to help your songs be more original and stand out in a crowd:

1.  Instead of verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus (ABABCB) format, use:

For rock, pop, r&b, and country music

verse-verse-chorus-verse-instrumental-chorus-verse-chorus
verse-chorus-verse-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus
chorus-verse-chorus-verse-bridge-chorus
chorus-verse-chorus-verse-instr-bridge-chorus
verse-chorus-instr-chorus-verse-bridge-chorus
verse-prechorus-chorus-verse-chorus-instr-prechorus-chorus

also:

try using the rarely-used verse-verse-chorus-verse (AABA) format, and variations such as:

verse-verse-bridge-instr-verse-bridge-verse
bridge-verse-verse-bridge-verse-new section-instr-verse

This list can go on and on–there’s no limit, and this works well for many other genres!
Try making a 2nd verse only half of a verse, or a 2nd chorus a half-chorus—You get the idea! Cut a song section in half and go into an instrumental part.
Don’t always settle for what’s expected. Sometimes rearranging a song’s form can bring out the life you never expected in that song. Big-time music producers routinely and instinctively rearrange song forms to make songs more powerful because oftentimes they’re presented with twelve songs that basically have the same song forms. Why not take care of all that work by yourself by being original in the first place?

These days, to stay competitive and original, songwriters are thinking outside the box far more often than just a few short years ago. Don’t get left in the dust! Always look for new ways to add spice and originality in your songs even if it means rearranging your song form in a small way to add that extra “ooomph,” and you can’t go wrong. Yes, human beings love familiarity, but didn’t someone say once that, “Variety is the spice of life?”