Becoming a Top-Shelf Songwriter

Top-level songwriters are consistent in their ability to write great tunes.

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As a songwriter, one of your biggest concerns will often be the building of a fan base for your music. Decades ago, it was much more common to have a career as a songwriter that didn’t require you to be a performer. So we know of names such as Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, and so on, as being songwriters, not primarily as performers.

Those songwriters built a fan base by writing great songs, and by doing so consistently.

But these days if you want your songs to make an impact, it’s likely that you’ll need to develop your performing skills. It’s your most reliable way to get your songs out there, heard by others. Ever since the days of The Beatles, songwriters themselves have been the first performers of their music.

But consistency of excellence is still a crucial part of building a large audience base. Even mediocre songwriters will occasionally write a great tune. But if you want your songs to make a major impact and be the sort of tunes that others will want to perform, consistency is crucial.

That’s fine to say, of course, but being consistent with your songwriting quality isn’t something that happens simply by wishing it to be true.

Here is a short list of things to consider that will help you become a better songwriter, and develop a consistency of excellence that will help you become a top-shelf songwriter:

1. Write music daily. Schedule your writing time and stick to it.
2. Listen to music daily. Don’t let a day go by where you aren’t listening actively to music. Active listening means listening without distractions, in a quiet room, and make note of what you like and dislike.
3. Listen to music from different genres. Don’t just stick to the genres you like. The more diverse your listening habits, the better your music becomes.
4. Do songwriting exercises. Don’t feel that every time you sit down to write you must create a new song. Sometimes the best advancements in your technique happen when you identify weaknesses and work to solve them. Here are some to try.
5. Ask good songwriters to critique your music. Find songwriters (use Twitter, Facebook, etc) whose music you like, and ask them if you might send them a link to listen to something you’ve written. (Be careful here – You can annoy others by being overly persistent with this. But it’s possible to identify songwriters in your genre who seem to be open and willing to listen. Their input can be invaluable to your development as a composer of music).

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Written by Gary Ewer. Follow on Twitter.

“The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle looks at songwriting from every angle, and has been used by thousands of songwriters. How to use chords, write melodies, and craft winning lyrics. $95.70 $37.00 (and you’ll receive a FREE copy of “From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro.“)