Songwriter and guitar

Producing Your Own Songs: Making the Tough Choices

I was told once by someone that there are two kinds of people near the top of any successful company: ideas people and doers. I’m not a business specialist, so I have no idea if this is really true, but it makes sense. You need people who can come up with some great ideas, and […]

Band in rehearsal

Getting Chords to Support the Mood of the Lyric

As a songwriter you likely already know the importance of having a strong partnership between the melodies you write and chords underneath them. That partnership between melody and chords is a crucial one. But don’t forget that lyrics are an important member of that partnership. And in that regard, the chords you choose can have […]

Headphones and keyboard

How Objective Listening Improves Your Songwriting

The more curious you are about the songs you hear, the more likely it is that you’ll improve your own songwriting technique. If you’re the kind of person who always wonders, “What was that chord?”, “How did they do that?”, or “What’s going on at that spot in the song?”, you’re also likely to be […]

Microphone

Interviewing Yourself Can Show Your Songwriting Strengths and Weaknesses

You should assume that with every song you write, some will love it and some won’t. What you hope for is that the vast majority will be in the righthand side of that bell curve, where most people will either like or love it, and hopefully a small minority will dislike or hate it. And […]

Musical magnifying glass

Assessing a Song to Find Its Problems

Part of being a songwriter is being able to objectively critique your own songs. That term, objectively critique, means all of the following: You can listen to your own songs as if someone else actually wrote them. You can focus in on exactly where problems may lie. You can make radical changes to your songs if necessary. […]

Songwriter - editing music

The Confidence to be Honest as a Songwriter

You’ve got little to no hope of achieving your goals in songwriting, or any of the creative arts, if you don’t have the confidence to be honest about your songs. Confidence refers to your ability to stand behind and believe in your songs even though others might dislike them. Honesty refers to your ability to hear […]