It’s common to hear people describe music as a kind of language. And it’s not hard to see why the comparison is made. With a language, we learn words and phrases that communicate thoughts and ideas to others.
And in a very real sense, that’s what music is. Sometimes, the actual thing we’re communicating may not be so clear; we may not have a clear picture of what the composer is trying to convey, but we still understand that communication is happening, and part of the enjoyment of music can be trying to parse musical meaning.
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There are lots of ways to become better at songwriting, just as there are lots of ways to become better at understanding the nuances of a language. If you’re an English speaking person, you’ll learn to write in school, and perhaps if you become really good at that, you’ll have success as an author.
If you look back through your exercise books from your early school days, you’ll probably notice that your early writing seems juvenile and probably contrived. If you’ve saved writings from all your years at grade school, you’ll notice that the more you wrote, the better you got.
To what would you attribute your improvement with words? Probably a combination of things:
- You did lots of writing, making up stories, maybe keeping a diary, leaving notes for your friends and family, etc.
- You were listening to good books that someone was reading to you.
- You did lots of reading, both to yourself and out loud.
- You had teachers who guided you, corrected your work, and probably influenced your use of the language.
In other words, the more you used your language, the better you got at it.
That’s where we see the most obvious connection to music. The ones who become good songwriters usually do the following:
- They write lots, creating songs, and keeping a journal of what they’re experiencing.
- They listen to good music, both live and on recordings.
- They play lots of music.
- They’ve had peers and teachers who have guided their progress, serving as important influences in the development of their musical skills.
I think it’s fair to say that like any language, you’ll become a better songwriter with every song you write, as long as you are allowing yourself to be influenced by good music. If you’re not listening every day, you’re probably writing in a creative vacuum, and that’s going to stunt your growth.
Like your efforts in grade school, you may find your first attempts derivative: you’ll typically sound a bit like your own songwriting heros. But eventually, as you see and feel the need for individuality and innovation, you’ll develop your own distinctive style.
But that’s not going to easily happen if you aren’t listening to music daily, and writing (almost) daily. Just as you improve your use with any language the more you use it, you’ll become a better songwriter with each and every song you write.
Written by Gary Ewer. Follow Gary on Twitter.
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