Songwriter Advisor Blog

The following is a really helpful article originally published in the October “Tune Sleuth” Newsletter.

If you’re still having trouble learning how to write songs even with so much information on SongwriterAdvisor.com and SongwriterAdvisor.com Blog, it’s probably because you don’t have a clear learning path laid out before you.

Most website articles are usually meant to focus on a solution for one specific area, and much of the responsibility is unfairly left to the reader to piece together and make sense of the information.

For those of you who haven’t yet had success or aren’t happy with your songwriting progress thus far, don’t be discouraged!  Let’s take this one step at a time so we can get you on the right track.

Follow this plan:

1.  First, read our beginner songwriting blueprint at: http://www.squidoo.com/beginner-songwriting-tips and familiarize or re-familiarize yourself with the basic sections of a song.

2.  Now take it one step further and download your free copy of “Beginner Songwriting Made Easy,” as a reference for the following entries below.

3.  Most songwriters get stuck before they even attempt to write anything because they simply don’t know what to write about! So, at this point, think of a simple STORY LINE you want your song to be about and write a sentence outlining your whole song idea.  Make it really simple for now.

E.g.,  STORY LINE = Although I miss you, you hurt me and treated me bad, so it’s time for me to move on so I can be happy.

4.  Now, start with the very first line of the song on a blank sheet of paper.  Use a pencil!!!!  Let’s start with the STORY LINE example above and make the first line grab everyone’s attention by letting them know right away “You miss the other person.

—I don’t know how I’ve made it these last few days without you

Kind of long right?  So, let’s break the line into two and start writing the song by using a line by line structure:

—I don’t know how I’ve made it
—These last few days without you

At this point if no melody has appeared in your head there are several things you can do. You can try singing these first two lines to a beat, you can just start singing the first two lines randomly in your head, or if you’re really stuck, you can take a keyboard or guitar and start playing random notes (one by one) for each syllable. 

If you’re using the random note method, merely take two or three syllables at a time and match a keyboard note to them.  For example, for “I don’t know” I played the notes “G”, “A”, and
“B”.  Voila!  Now I’ll experiment and keep building the first line.

I’ll then start working on the second line and once I like what I hear, I’ll move onto a third and fourth line.

—I don’t know how I’ve made it
—These last few days without you
—But I’ve managed to survive
—The river flooding my eyes
—Now they’re dry, now they’re dry

Hey sounds like a solid start for a cool R&B/pop song!
 

Once you have the first four or five lines with lyrics and melody, you have created a structure for your song’s verses.  You can use the same melody for the second part of the first verse and, of course, during the second verse after the first chorus.

When you’re done with the first verse, move on to the chorus and continue the same methods while referring back to “Beginner Songwriting Made Easy.” 

While you’re completing this exercise, don’t be overly concerned about whether or not the melody in the chorus should contain higher notes, etc. 

Take it one step at a time!  Get one song done (in rough draft form), then begin polishing it with a rewrite by using this guide:  http://www.songwriteradvisor.com/song-rewrite.html

When you’re comfortable with a rewrite, use the checklist at:http://www.songwriteradvisor.com/songwriting-checklist.html
Good luck! 

When the music industry refers to a musician as having an original style, it’s usually because that person has distinguished themselves by daring to be different, by consciously trying not to sound like any other musician, and by working hard to let their talent develop naturally. As a songwriter, if you really want to be successful or at the very least, musically appreciated, you should take it upon yourself to consciously try to be original. 

“Being original” in songwriting can mean anything from writing totally “off the wall” songs, to merely having a knack for amazing rhymes and wordplay, to having a certain cool vibe among so many other possibilities.  There are literally an infinite number of possibilities to make yourself a unique songwriter.  In other words, you can have your own “signature sound” by learning songwriting, and allowing yourself to develop naturally while searching for your unique voice.     

With a little patience and persistence, it’s fairly easy for anyone to learn songwriting basics and apply them quickly to your own original compositions.  Regardless of the songwriting genre you prefer, whether it be Pop, R&B, Dance or otherwise, once you have the basics down, at some point you’ll probably wonder “if, when, and how” you will develop your own, original style.     

To set yourself apart from the rest of the bunch it’s absolutely imperative that your songs stand out far above the rest.  It’s important to realize there are many great songwriters competing with you either locally or nationally, and that those songwriters are your direct competitors.  As a musician, I prefer to think of them as “friendly competition.” 

Songwriters who are your friendly competition hold so much valuable information in their heads and most of them are willing to share their knowledge through workshops and while networking through local and regional songwriting organizations just to name a few.  This is why it’s important to get out there and show your work and exchange tips and ideas through whatever type of worthwhile medium you can find.  The more influences and information you have, the easier it will be to find your own, unique songwriting style.

All songwriters have what I call a unique perspective of music, therefore they naturally and instinctively have their own inner music voice.  We all develop different “likes” and “dislikes“ when we first begin to hear music during our childhood years.  What happens?  Here’s what happens as your musical taste evolves; the music you know and love (likes) is absorbed into your brain and becomes an integral part of your being, whether consciously or subconsciously, and your mind filters out music you don’t like (dislikes).

Then, when you begin learning about songwriting, your musical tastes and influences become splattered into your songwriting like paint to a wall!  Oh, it might be a little messy at first but as you keep working hard on your craft the mess soon appears to become an actual work of original art!   

One last, important point to remember; every musician on this planet has been influenced by another musician before them.  The key to eventually being original lies in using those influences to help guide you into new, undiscovered territory!