Analyzing Problem Songs

When a listener doesn’t like a song you’ve written, they don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it. They’re unlikely to analyze what they don’t like about a song. They’re more inclined to simply move on.

That’s a problem for you, of course, because you need to know why! If you’ve written something that you think has potential, but no one seems to like it, it’s most definitely worth the time it takes to analyze what you’ve written and try to solve the problem, even just for your next song.

The average listener doesn’t really have the musical know-how or vocabulary to understand why songs fail. But if you take the time to examine your own songs, putting the magnifying glass on each and every element of your song, you should be able to narrow down to what the problem really is.

Sometimes all it takes is one small mistake to take a song from being great to being one that misses the mark.

A decade ago I wrote a checklist that I’ve updated several times in the past few years, called The Songwriter’s Checklist. It’s a guide that shows you how to look at each part of a song, in the bid to figure out what might be going wrong. The guide is free, and you can download it here.

Here’s a video that describes that booklet:

Every song is worth the time it takes to get it right. Download the free Songwriter’s Checklist now.

And remember that the eBook “Fix Your Songwriting Problems – NOW!” is part of “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting 10-eBook Bundle.”

Written by Gary Ewer. Follow Gary on Twitter.

The perfect combination: “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting 10-eBook Bundle” and a Study Guide! Dig into the songwriting manuals that thousands of songwriters are using to polish their technique, complete with a study guide to show you how to progress through the materials. Comes with an 11th FREE ebook: “Use Your Words! Developing a Lyrics-First Songwriting Process”