Songwriting Honesty Is A Great Learning Policy
It’s imperative as a songwriter to be honest with yourself while trying to analyze the quality of your work (songs). This is an easy, natural task for some, and much harder for others.
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!
