In professional circles, song writing for yourself as opposed to trying to write a song to please a certain market or genre is sometimes difficult to do. Once you’re signed to a publishing deal, you are subject to much scrutiny if your songs don’t start fitting in to that particular record company or music publisher’s expectations.

If you’re a songwriter in a new, unproven solo act or a band member you will likely have someone looking over your shoulder until you can prove your worth.

So, what can”song writing for yourself” mean for you in terms of success?

Here’s the answer: There are very few music industry executives in the music industry who are “true visionaries.” These same people are not capable of hearing, appreciating, or believing that your music will appeal if given the chance, only because it doesn’t fall into their comfort zone of expectations.

Truly visionary people tend to keep an open mind. They’ll hear good music, maybe something they’ve never heard before that catches their attention, and they’ll say, “There’s something in that music that people will love, I just don’t know what it is or how we can formulate a marketing plan for it yet.”

By contrast, non-visionaries will hear the same music and remark something like, “It’s cool, but it’ll never make it ’cause it’s not consistent with what’s out there and the public is not ready for it yet.  I’m going to have to pass on it.”

Your job as a songwriter, then, is to convince and silence skeptical, non-visionary people as you climb your way to success.

History has shown you can do this by, first, being honest with yourself regarding the quality of your music, and by figuring out through tremendous perseverance and conviction, how to achieve that success! It’s not an easy task, but look at the following list of a few visionary artists and executives who had the guts to do it their way, and tell me it wasn’t or isn’t worth believing in yourself and telling non-believers to get out of your way;

The group “Chicago” in the 70’s before they became formulaic (unbelievably original music), Quincy Jones, Prince, Kanye West, and Jack Johnson, just to name a few.  This short list is subjective but it can go on and on……….The bottom line is; the best music in history is by people who dared to be different and stayed true to themselves!

Today more than ever, with so much fierce competition, you need to stand out in a big way if you want to be successful in the music industry. As a pro or amateur songwriter, you can do this by sticking to your guns and song writing for yourself!

These days the music industry is much more competitive than ever and one of the most effective ways to set yourself apart from the rest of the pack and get noticed is to write great, original songs.  Music industry reps are always looking for “the next big thing” and this could be you if you prepare yourself!  If you prefer to be a self-contained local or regional act and sell your own CD’s through your own independent record label you’ll find it much easier to develop a loyal following if your songs are strong enough.   

If you’re not yet a songwriter, or if you don’t have a songwriter in your band, your second choice would be to find a local songwriter willing to offer you exclusive rights to performing and/or recording their songs through a contract.  Don’t just settle for second best.  Really go out there and find yourself a great songwriter or songwriters who match your style of music.  It won’t be an easy task, but it can be done-there are many excellent undiscovered songwriters out there!

While we’re on the subject; for you undiscovered songwriters out there with big dreams-you’re time is now! Put the word out that you’re a songwriter with much to offer however you can. Take out ads in your local entertainment publication and be specific about your style of music and what your goals are! Launch a website and feature your songs on it! Visit local concerts and shows, whether at clubs or larger venues, and put the word out by networking. Go prepared and look professional by offering business cards. You get the idea!

Finally, songwriters can help non-songwriting musicians by being supportive and helping them achieve their goals by writing songs that eventually fit their style, even if it takes a few songs and much trial and error. By the same token, non-songwriting musicians usually end up influencing songwriters by exposing them to a new dimension in their compositions. Helping and supporting each other is a win- win situation!

Songwriters can make a great living through many avenues.  You can be successful at songwriting in a variety of ways, and everyone’s definition of success varies.  For example, there are many local performing songwriters who are not only content playing in small clubs, they’re actually making a good living selling their merchandise at their shows and through their web sites.   

Okay, so you’ve prepared yourself by developing your talent, but have you concentrated on your appearance and the professional image you want to convey?  Do you carry yourself respectably when meeting up with music industry people?  Music publishing and record label representatives are always looking for talented people, and once they verify you have talent and that you’re most likely the “real deal,” they try to find out who you are as a person.

The moment you engage in a meeting with a music industry representative you’re being “sized up.” Once you’ve made a favorable, lasting impression with your talent, personality and appearance, they want to really dig deep and find out the one thing equally as important as your talent; how committed you are to being successful for their company’s benefit.  The reality is – no one’s in the music business to lose money, and if you’re trying to get signed to a deal with a successful company you better believe they’re thinking about what’s in it for them!

There are many sacrifices we all make in our daily lives and songwriting, by its very nature, requires sacrificing a bit of your family life because of the amount of time you spend writing songs, improving your craft , performing your songs in public, and pitching your songs to the music industry.  This can take a toll on your personal and family life even if you’re prepared but you can minimize this by communicating realistic goals to your partner and/or family members.  

The bottom line is this:

No matter how you define songwriting success at it applies to you, you will have the best chance  at being successful if you are totally committed to songwriting.  Successful songwriters don’t reach their goals by working on their songwriting “here and there” when they get a chance.  Even if they have a time-consuming day job, they develop routines that enable them to work consistently on their music and they use their time wisely.

This is a fact;  The vast majority of successful songwriters live and breathe songwriting.  

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!!!

Two of the most popular songwriting keys are: The key of “C”, and the key of “G”

These two keys contain many of the same basic chords so you only have to learn 10 instead of the 14 listed below in the two “key” columns!

Key

“C” = C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bmb5

“G” = G, Am, Bm, C, D, Em, F#mb5

Here are the ten chords to jumpstart your guitar playing and songwriting:

All chords will be located on the first four frets of your guitar

X = don’t play string
O = open string
Fingerings: 1 = pointer finger, 2 = middle finger, 3 = ring finger, 4 = pinkie finger

     “C Major”

O|—–|—–|—–|—–|
  |-1-|—–|—–|—–|
O|—–|—–|—–|—–|
  |—–|-2-|—–|—–|
  |—–|—–|-3-|—–|
X|—–|—–|—–|—–|

     “D Minor”

  |-1-|—–|—–|—–|
  |—–|—–|-3-|—–|
  |—–|-2-|—–|—–|
O|—–|—–|—–|—–|
X|—–|—–|—–|—–|
X|—–|—–|—–|—–|

     “E Minor”

O|—–|—–|—–|—–|
O|—–|—–|—–|—–|
  |—–|—–|—–|—–|
  |—–|-3-|—–|—–|
  |—–|-2-|—–|—–|
O|—–|—–|—–|—–|

     “F Major”
*This is a “bar chord” so your pointer finger lays flat on the indicated guitar fret
|–1—|—–|—–|—–|
|–B—|—–|—–|—–|
|–A—|-2-|—–|—–|
|–R—|—–|-4-|—–|
|——|—–|-3-|—–|
|–1—|—–|—–|—–|

    “G Major”

  |—–|—–|-4-|—–|
O|—–|—–|—–|—–|
O|—–|—–|—–|—–|
O|—–|—–|—–|—–|
  |—–|-2-|—–|—–|
  |—–|—–|-3-|—–|

   “A Minor”

O|—–|—–|—–|—–|
  |-1-|—–|—–|—–|
  |—–|—–|-3-|—–|
  |—–|-2-|—–|—–|
O|—–|—–|—–|—–|
X|—–|—–|—–|—–|

   “Bmb5″

  |-1-|—–|—–|—–|
  |—–|—–|-3-|—–|
  |—–|—–|—–|-4-|
X|—–|—–|—–|—–|
X|—–|—–|—–|—–|
X|—–|—–|—–|—–|

    “B Minor”
*This is a “bar chord” so your pointer finger lays flat on the indicated guitar fret
  |—–|-1-|—–|—–|
  |—–|–B–|-2-|—–|
  |—–|–A–|—–|-4-|
  |—–|–R–|—–|-3-|
  |—–|-1-|—–|—–|
X|—–|—–|—–|—–|

   “D Major”

  |—–|-2-|—–|—–|
  |—–|—–|-3-|—–|
  |—–|-1-|—–|—–|
O|—–|—–|—–|—–|
X|—–|—–|—–|—–|
X|—–|—–|—–|—–|

     “F#mb5″

X|—–|—–|—–|—–|
X|—–|—–|—–|—–|
  |—–|-2-|—–|—–|
  |—–|—–|—–|-4-|
  |—–|—–|-3-|—–|
  |—–|-1-|—–|—–|

Follow these practice tips to accelerate and super-charge your chord learning:

1. Start by fingering the “C” chord with your fretting hand. Practice removing your fretting hand and placing back on the “C” chord several times until you feel comfortable.

2. Now repeat step 1 but add your other hand into the mix by lightly strumming the strings with your thumb or a pick everytime you finger the chord.

3. When this becomes easier, move on to the next chord, “Dm,” and repeat steps 1 and 2 with this new chord only.

4. Now practice switching from “C” to “Dm” with your fretting hand only, then start lightly strumming with your other hand when you feel you’ve got the fingerings down!

5. Repeat the whole process by adding one new chord after another and you’re on your way!