Songwriter Advisor Blog

In Part 1 of this series we learned that songwriters can actually train their minds to create ideas and starting points for songs when they least expect it, in hopes of coming up with original, catchy songs when the inspiration strikes!

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!

Two questions I hear frequently are, “How long does it take to learn songwriting?” and “Should I practice and/or study songwriting everyday, and if so, for how long?”

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!