Songwriter Advisor Blog

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!

It’s easy to fall into the same old routine by writing songs with the same basic chord structures, the same song forms, and similar melodies. Halfway into your set if somebody asks, “Hey, that sure sounds a lot like so-and-so,” that’s not so bad, but if you consistently get this kind of reaction with many of your original songs you might want to consider  slightly revamping how you approach your next few compositions.

Music is inspired by other music–we songwriters are all a product of our songwriting influences and musical tastes. You’d be hard-pressed to find one great songwriter who won’t cite another songwriter as being their inspiration.  In other words, if you learned how to play your guitar by learning The Eagles greatest hits you are more than likely going to have that Eagles flavor, however slight, show up in one or possibly a few songs somewhere down the line without even consciously realizing it initially. But at some point with all the music filtering in your brain, if you train yourself and just keep on songwriting, you will eventually turn a corner and come up with something totally original by merely experimenting.

Here are some surefire ways to spark your songwriting originality:

1.  While practicing or playing cover songs, concentrate on playing them and singing them in your own style instead of trying to imitate the actual recording.  This can be accomplished in several ways:

a).  Use different vocal phrasing and vary the melody in certain places
b).  Play the song in a slightly different or totally different tempo
c).  Play the song in a different key
d).  Vary the chords used in the original by replacing them with extended chords, relative minor chords instead of major chords(e.g. Em instead of Gmajor), etc.–any chords that add freshness and/or originality to the song!  You’ll find you can even change the whole chord structure of some songs and end up with an effective, entirely original-sounding version of a song.

The bottom line here is that by learning and practicing popular songs you’ll easily expand your chord knowledge and inspire your playing style of whatever instrument you choose.  You’ll even learn new chord progressions that’ll inspire creativity and stay in your subconscious mind as you write new songs.  However, instead of imitating the song perfectly as on the recording, make it your own by exploring your natural ability! 

 2.  Grab a chord book or visit JGuitar.com and begin or continue consistently expanding your chord knowledge.  Knowing at least some music theory is certainly beneficial, especially for jazz music, but it’s not absolutely required.  One of the most important parts in the musical aspect of songwriting is learning chords and how they interact and sound within the key of your songs.  Learn at least one new chord a day by not only learning the fingering, but playing the newly-learned chord until you recognize not only the sound of the chord, but also how it sounds when playing it amongst other chords you know.

3.  Look at your song catalog (completed songs)  and list them under three groups: uptempo, midtempo, slow.  If one or more song categories lag behind the other(s) by a large margin, consider writing the next few songs in that lowest number of songs category, e.g., if you’ve written 15 slow and midtempo songs and have written only 2 uptempo, consider writing the next couple of songs as uptempo songs.  By doing so, who knows?  You may hit upon a totally new, signature sound that blows everyone away!  

4.  Check out your local music scene and you’ll likely find great, undiscovered talent in your own home town that can influence your playing and even take you in a different musical direction altogether!  There are many talented musicians who are perfectly content with not chasing a major label because they’re making a great living playing and selling their own music.  Heck, in many cases, self-contained hometown musicians can make a better living than a major label artist!!! 

If you’re a guitar player, focus on the guitarist and how he or she plays in the context of their music.  Likewise, if you’re a keyboardist, watch the keyboard player and if you’re a drummer, watch the drummer, etc.  Any instrument you choose to focus on while you’re out listening to music has the potential to be the source of inspiration you’ve been looking for to help your originality!  

5.  Take your song catalog and try to listen for similarities between several songs, and ask yourself questions such as:

a).  Are the song intros the same the exact same length (4 bars, 8 bars, etc.)?  If they are, then make a conscious effort to vary the intro length. Try “no intro,” a two bar intro, etc.

b).  Am I using the same song forms for every song?  If so review Inject More Life Into Your Songwriting Pt1.  You may be using the same song forms everyone else is  because it’s “commercial” or you feel comfortable writing in that same style. 

c).  Is my lyric phrasing similar in length or style from song to song?  Vary the length of your lines while you write your next few songs.  You might come across a style that’s totally unique to you.

d).  Have I considered writing a new song with a new instrument or even without any instrument at all? 

6.  If you’re one of the lucky few to be hanging around with proven music industry songwriters, watch and learn how they work.  Pick up their good habits and don’t hesitate to ask them questions when, if at all, possible.  This will help you develop your own personal style as long as you merely assimilate their styles and work habits, and as long as you don’t try to copy their styles.

Most industry executives are looking not only for hit quality songs, but songs and acts that sound original enough to stand on their own!  The same holds true for hardcore music fans!  The truth is, the music world has pretty much shown us everything and “true originals” are extremely hard to find because inevitably, almost every songwriter or artist sounds like and is compared to another songwriter or artist.  If you come upon a great sound that’s totally original you have a distinct advantage in the music industry.  So explore, explore, explore!!!