Every time you write a song, you’re communicating something to your audience. When we think of that word communicating, we automatically think of lyrics, because communication and words go hand in hand. But in good songwriting, everything you write plays a role in communicating. For example, if you want to write a nostalgic song, you need nostalgic lyrics, […]
If, after listening to your song, a listener can’t really recall much about it, they’re far less likely to seek your song out to listen to it again. What makes music memorable can be a bit complex, but there are certainly things you could be doing as you write your next song to make it […]
There’s more to a song hook than meets the ear… a lot more. “Hooks and Riffs: How They Grab Attention, Make Songs Memorable, and Build Your Fan Base” is a vital manual for any serious songwriter. American indie rock group Moon Taxi’s 2015 single “All Day, All Night” is a good reminder that you can […]
If you like writing songs that are on the cutting edge — innovative, creative and complex — you already know that there’s a problem to solve: building an audience for your music. It can sometimes help to look at other singer-songwriters and bands that have solved this issue. For most, though, the solution was to […]
What metric do you use to measure your songwriting success? Is it money? The size of your fanbase? Your own personal sense of musical satisfaction? For me, it’s all about satisfying my musical soul. The music I write needs to be expressing some part of my innermost being. Not to be too corny about it, […]
Good songwriting students can appreciate and learn from music they don’t necessarily like ____________ Do you describe yourself as being a “student” of songwriting? If you do, I applaud you. To be a student of songwriting means that you’ve risen above being a fan of musicians and their music, and you actively study what makes […]
