Songwriter Advisor Blog

What does it take to learn to write songs the right way?  If you’re a beginner, why not just start fiddling around on the piano or guitar, and hope to start writing a song off the top of your head.  Why not?  History has shown us there have been a select few people who have merely been lucky, writing a hit song on their first try.  I’ll tell you why.  

Do you want to write songs that get no respect, you’ll have a hit once, and never write another one after it’s found out you have no depth in your songwriting, or do you want to learn to write songs that fans appreciate and respect, and build a lengthy, consistent, lucrative career?  This “all washed up” scenario has repeated itself over and over in the music industry!

Do you want to learn to write songs your hometown fans, family, and friends think are merely O.K., or do you want to learn to write songs that blow you away while you’re creating them, knowing instinctively based on your experience that people are gonna’ love the songs?

The way you prevent yourself from becoming just another person who calls themselves a songwriter is to learn the basics before you dive into the world of songwriting.  There are many websites all over the Internet that you can start with.  For starters, type “songwriting basics” into your Google browser and begin to read and prepare yourself through great information provided free on the net.

The Songwriter Advisor parent website also has a wonderful, free beginner songwriting course, and another free one can be found at Beginner Songwriting Tips to Get You Hooked.

Songwriters are either being considered for, or being signed to publishing deals with major and independent publishing companies virtually everyday.  That’s because music publishers are constantly looking for the next big Ne-YO or Dianne Warren to write hits for them.  The ones still making a great living in this music industry include songwriters and music producers.  You can experience success in this music industry as a songwriter and possibly set yourself up for life.

But to get to that level, you have to prepare yourself, and learn to write songs the right way!

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!