7 Tips to Become a Better Songwriter
In this industry, one of the most important players is the Songwriter. The Songwriter is the one, who, no surprise, writes the song. The Songwriter may or not be the actual singer, a lot of times they aren’t. Many of the most powerful and successful acts in the Music industry don’t always, or never write their own material. They have a team of songwriters who are on the side writing out the hooks, the verses, coming up with topics that are suitable to the specific act that they work for, and so on. Examples include Beyonce, Madonna, Michael Jackson, and Taylor Swift.
Again it’s not that these people don’t ever pen a song, but it’s that they have a massive team of creative help when it comes to crafting songs, which has no doubt aided in their success in the industry. After all, no matter how beautiful, handsome or energetic the act, they would have a huge piece missing if there were no words to speak or sing, then at that point it’s just weird moaning. Anyways whether you are trying to be a great songwriter, or are an artist looking for a way to better your own songwriting skills, here are 7 songwriting tips to becoming a better songwriter.
1. Learn from other songwriters
Emulation when you first start is one of the best ways to get better at any craft, and songwriting is no exception. Now I’m not saying go out of your way to copy someone else’s style, but you can learn important techniques and practices by watching others. I’m sure you have a favorite artist. Look up some interviews, or sessions where they are working on a song. You could also look for someone whose work with them, or watch videos from those people talking about how that artist crafted songs and so forth. Whoever it is you admire, or who works in your craft, learn from them.
2. Practice Everyday
Now this may be a bit hard for some of you. Especially since some may say, “oh I only write when I feel inspired,” well we all know that’s not every single day, so if you write only when you’re inspired, then you are no consistent and as result, you will not be successful. Any mastery of any craft is reached after hours and hours of practice, 10,000 hours to be precise. At the very least, practice one aspect of songwriting each day. Maybe you work on hooks one day, or a full verse the next. Maybe you can just watch a bunch of videos on songwriting and figure out how you can incorporate that into your songs. Whatever it is, you must do some form of practice each day.
3. Listen to great hits and songs and break them down and analyze them
Other than just watching how others write songs, try listening to your favorite songs as well. Listen to them intently and with an analytical ear. How are they structured? How do they sound? What kind of topics make for the best songs? What really makes the song? When you pay attention to songs, patterns and certain details start to become apparent, and those details and patterns are what usually make a great song. I could write a whole article about that…hmmm maybe I will….but anyways you’ll have to really pay attention and listen to those songs if you want the secrets to be revealed to you.
4. Keep track of your progress
One way of helping you become better at songwriting is keeping track of your progress. Like anything else, keeping track of how far you’ve come in a particular craft can help give you confidence and reassurance which can have a positive effect on you, which in turn helps you practice harder, and in the end helps you become even better. It’s a great cycle.
5. Get feedback from other professionals
Another thing to do is to get good, honest feedback. I don’t mean go to your mom or your best friend who don’t know anything about making music. Go to a professional, or another person whose working in the same field as you. Sometimes though, regular non-music people are important, so from time to time your mom will come in handy because you may be writing songs that you want the general public to like, but a good amount of the time it will have to be from professionals. Especially if you are writing songs for a niche genre or something you know your family won’t like, you shouldn’t be asking them for an opinion. Instead ask those who understand the craft as intently as you do and care about it as much, those are the people who will give you proper, honest feedback which is the best feedback if you want to become the best.
6. Write with other people
Sometimes, two minds are better than one. Lots of great songs have been co-written. And you may be very close to writing one too, but you can’t get there until you get that second person. You could be stuck on a hook, or a verse or the whole song and it takes someone else to come in with a different perspective and thought to open your eyes to other possibilities which can then help elevate your song.
7. Read More
This is very important. Great Songwriters are masters of language. I’m not saying you have to go and get a degree in literature or be an expert on Shakespeare, but the more you read, the better. The more you read, the more informed you are about the world, the more insight you get, the more experienced you become in different perspectives and ideas. You can then utilize these ideas, and the vocabulary you learned to make even more masterful, poetic great songs.
So that right there is the list of 7 things you can do to become a better songwriter. There’s plenty of other things out there you can do to become a better songwriter, so I may be coming out with another list sometime in the future, but don’t wait on me. Go out there and find more and expand your mind on the subject so you can become a great songwriter.
Written by: Jean-Bernard Lauture for DMVLIFE.com
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