Choosing a career in the music industry as a songwriter is crazy. There is a constant power struggle between the artistic side (the fun part of making music) and the business side (actually making money, the more frustrating part).
In this guide, we’ll focus on sharing the absolute best songwriting tips and career advice – touching on everything from easy chord progressions, the importance of writing repetitive, catchy song lyrics, conquering writer’s block, the ideal songwriting process, and ways to escape those painful creative ruts.
The first time someone hears a song, not only does it need to resonate, but it needs to be remembered. A new song entering your brain for the first time needs to be super catchy, otherwise it will be forgotten and buried in the sea of noise.
Songwriting For Guitar
The more times we are exposed to an ad—whether it is on television, radio, online, or in print—the more likely we are to remember it and be affected by it.
Comment threads across the internet are eager to tell you how awful you are. So why even go down that rabbit hole?
“You can please some of the people, some of the time. You can please a lot of people, a lot of times. But you can never please everyone, all the time.”
Pro Songwriting Tips For Vocalists
This guide is for unleashing the best songwriter within YOU. That means, learning how to sing (at least enough to record reference takes and demos), will benefit you tremendously.
However, you should be able to hold down melodies and express the vibe of the song, especially if your goal is to place the music with a major artist, or license your song in a commercial, etc.
That’s why singer/songwriters are so valuable, because they can do both! Leveling up will accelerate the entire songwriting process, therefore learning the basics of singing will help you create better melodies and run faster recording sessions.
How To Write A Song On Guitar: Guitar Chords And Songwriting Tips From Tom Morello And Herbie Hancock
Keep in mind that some of the best singers can’t write a lyric to save their own life. And vice a versa, some of the best lyricists are brutally tone deaf.
In fact, “over singing” can hurt you as a songwriter. Why? Because incredible singers are not always the most relatable. They sing too virtuously, and mass audiences are not able to follow along.
You don’t need to be Mozart, or be an expert with music theory – but knowing how to play chord progressions, riffs, melodies, and being able to record some midi will definitely help you while writing lyrics.
Invoking The Muse Of Lyrics
In fact, some of the best songwriting advice from top writers suggests writing lyrics to an instrumental track or set of melodies first (rather than writing lyrics without a melody).
Why these programs? At the end of the day, they are just more songwriting tools to have in your arsenal of weapons.
But actually, they are time & money savers. You will waste a lot of time and money paying a professional audio engineer to track ALL your crappy demos and musical ideas.
Songwriting And The Guitar
I get it – you’re not a professional audio engineer. But knowing the basics of these audio recording softwares will benefit you greatly.
Learning these programs isn’t about perfecting your technical engineering skills. It’s about being able to get ideas down, self-record your own song concepts, and pitch rough recorded drafts to producers you are working with.
Great songwriters understand how to deliver their rough ideas and concepts to professional recording engineers and producers. In most cases, DIY singer/songwriters will even be able to provide a decent rough mix that already captures the vibe of the record.
Songwriting Tips For Getting Started, Breaking Writer's Block, & More
Grammy award winning songwriters have written hundreds, if not thousands of songs. You aren’t going to make it by only writing 10 songs.
Now try to reverse engineer the song structure and understand why it became a hit. Take note of any ideas from the original that you like and try to create your own flavor that can be applied to the instrumental.
This technique will show you how advanced you are in writing a good song compared to a great song, or how you stack up against whoever is already writing the “hits.”
Songwriting Tips To Write Your Next Banger
Just keep in mind, popular music doesn’t mean it’s a hit. It just means that it’s popular, which doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good quality music.
If your ears perk up the second you hear a new song and you love it from the moment you hear the intro – that exact melody you love is the top liner used to hook listeners.
The hip-hop group Migos are the masters of repetitive top lines. They take song titles and repeat them ruthlessly throughout the entire song.
Acoustic Guitar Songwriting
Gaetano is a Miami, FL 🌴 based songwriter, music producer and growth marketer. As he grinds through the music industry, Gaetano is documenting his experiences and sharing his story through his brutally honest articles.Interested in writing your own music? The acoustic guitar is, in my opinion, the premier instrument for writing music. Check out our articles below on songwriting on the acoustic guitar. We’ll be adding more in the not-too-distant future.
For one, it’s versatile. Writing music on the acoustic guitar won’t limit you creatively. It’s an instrument found in all walks of musical life from delta blues to rock, through to jazz and classical music. In the hands of an accomplished technician such as Mike Dawes or Tommy Emmanuel it’s capable of great complexity but in the hands of a renowned singer/songwriter such as Bob Dylan, plays a crucial supporting role, never getting in the way of what really matters, the song.
It’s also portable, you can take it anywhere. As it’s an instrument that doesn’t require electricity or accessories it’s a far more accessible instrument for improvisation or if you suddenly find inspiration strikes while sitting around a campfire.
How To Write A Song (when Your Acoustic Guitar Doesn't Want To Play Ball) By Tommy Ashby
Are you writing for yourself or a band you are involved with? writing in the hope of selling your music, or writing for other forms of media such as television or movies?
Each goal will have a different set of rules to follow, and it helps to know what you are aiming for, rather than just noodling on the guitar and hoping for inspiration to strike.
E.g. If you want to write for a specific genre make your music more focused, use reference material, and immerse yourself in the genre you are targetting. E.g. listen to the kind of strumming patterns, voicings, and techniques being used in that genre.
Ways To Mic An Acoustic Guitar
Understand what’s possible. The story of Paul McCartney writing Yesterday is a good example (and just happens to be one of the finest songs ever written). He woke up with the melody, and as described by McCartney himself, said he felt like he was merely putting together a puzzle.
This is huge. At the end of the day, great songs are just a combination of melody, rhythm, and harmony. If you write enough songs you are bound to come across some great ideas, just be open to hearing them.
Push yourself. Just because it’s music doesn’t mean we don’t work hard. Be ridiculously fussy with your material. If you think it’s just OK, toss it. Only work on ‘great’ ideas. Sure, sometimes those ideas may not become what you had hoped in your head, and sometimes average ideas can turn out great, but honestly, if you are not feeling it in the initial stages, chances are it’s not going to happen.
Songwriting 101: Basic Song Structure
I personally believe to write songs that resonate with people you have to listen to a lot of great songwriters. It’s great to go back and revisit old albums you maybe haven’t given enough time to, but definitely focus on new music.
I know personally whenever I discover a new artist or band, I always seem to be more productive musically around that time or shortly after. It’s part inspiration and part rewiring your brain as to what your expectations of a great song are.
They say innovation is often the result of introducing something new from another area to an existing one. For example, automation being brought to factories resulted in faster and more efficient production. The lesson we can take from this for songwriting is to get out of your comfort zone or you will end up doing the same things repeatedly.
Songwriting Tips For Beginners (from A Real Artist)
Listen to everything. Classical music is great if you haven’t listened to it much before. Don’t limit yourself. Otherwise, you will find yourself boxed in, limited, and unable to grow as a songwriter.
Your approach to songwriting might develop over time but have some structure to what you are doing e.g. aim for a reliable, repeatable process. This can help defeat self-doubt by building a habitual method of writing and a process you can trust has worked for you in the past.
As musicians, we often like to think inspiration comes from somewhere unknown and if we analyze it too much or overthink it we can lose that sense of mystery, that magic. And in some cases, sparks of inspiration will just fall in your lap but even then having a reliable and repeatable process for advancing the song can be important. E.g. find a tempo, add a drum loop, add a line, build a song
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