Musical inspiration

How to Write Songs When you Don’t Feel Inspired

The whole notion of songwriting without being inspired to write — it begs the question, “Why”? Why write if you’re not particularly inspired to do so? One reason you might write when not “feeling the muse” is that you’ve got a looming deadline. Perhaps you’re recording, and you need one more song. Maybe you’re taking […]

chord progressions

Speedwriting Songs (Turn Off Your Inner Critic)

There’s a lot of value that comes from writing songs quickly. Speedwriting requires you to use your musical instinct as a primary part of your process. And most good songs have a noticeably improvisatory sound, as if the singer and players are sort of making it up as they go along (in the best sense […]

Guitar and Notepad - Songwriting schedule

A Deadline Is a Powerful Writer’s Block Antidote

Stuck trying to figure out what’s wrong with your song? This eBook will help you diagnose the problem: “Fix Your Songwriting Problems – NOW!” If you don’t have a specific day when the song you’re writing needs to be completed, you may not have a good reason for that song to be finished at all. […]

Music Studio Sound Board

Coming Up With Ideas to Take You From Writing a Song to Recording It

Once your song is written and you’re ready to record it, you’ll hopefully still find opportunities to to make it even better. Most of the time, rehearsing your song with bandmates gives you that opportunity. For most good songs in the pop genres, getting a hook working properly is vital. “Hooks and Riffs: How They […]

Band rehearsal session

Group Improvisation Ideas to Write Better Songs

Most songwriting processes use improvisation to some degree. Early in the process, improvising can seem aimless and futile. There’s a good reason for that: the best songs are a partnership of ideas. And since you’re just starting, most of the ideas you and your bandmates are coming up with might not be communicating with each other. […]

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 […]