Songwriting - How to Write a Love Song

Many of us have asked ourselves the question of how to write a love song, as this is one of the most romantic things you can do for that someone special in your life. Even though writing your first love song appears to be a demanding task, there are many things that can help you turn your innermost feelings into an enchanting love song. All you need to do is read through some how-to articles, and you will find the answers to all the questions you are interested in. Let's start!

Dedicate Your Song to the One You Love

If you plan to write an intimate love song, you ought to include the name of your loved one into a song. This will help you express your feelings better, and it will help you focus on the person the song is dedicated to instead of writing about love in general. It is a very common problem with writing songs that you can easily wander off, and if you want any song to be good you need to make the song to the point.

Don't Wait for Magic to Happen

Many people who are writing a love song for the first time start things the wrong way by waiting for an epiphany to help them write the perfect song out of the first try. It is easy to guess that this is not a good idea if you want to create a love song, owing to the fact that a song like this usually cannot be written in one breath, especially if you are a beginner in this field. This being said, try to write down any ideas that might pop into your mind, and eventually you will be able to collect of these thoughts and turn them into a song. Try writing down all the things you love about that someone special; try to answer the question why you love them and maybe let them know you appreciate they are part of your life.

Trim the Lyrics

After you have written an outline of what you want to include in your love song, you should drop everything that seems unnecessary in your piece. When writing down your thoughts and especially feelings it is easy to get carried away and write many unnecessary words, because the feelings are very difficult to put into words. Therefore, try to make your song easy to take in.

Should Your Song Rhyme

There are many different opinions on the topic of whether a love song should rhyme or not, but since this is highly subjective there is not a right or wrong answer. The fact is that rhyme makes songs easier to read and remember, but a song that does not rhyme can be just as beautiful. As long as your words are coming straight from your heart, the song will be just great.

Ana is a freelance writer, and she enjoys writing on any topic.

View the original article here

3 Hints on How to Write a Song

Songwriting is not as daunting or difficult a task as you might think. The best way to develop as a songwriter is both through practice and through utilizing proper tips and tricks. In this article I'll cover how to write a song from the ground up.

First off, it really helps if you have had experience with playing a chorded instrument or in other words an instrument which plays chords such as the piano or guitar. This makes developing your hooks and subsequently the rest of your song a great deal easier and a little bit of music theory helps, as well.

Now think of a title for your song. This is a great way to write your initial hook for your song. Come up with your title and then assign different notes to each of the words or syllables for those words. You can either sing the words themselves with different notes or just hum each note per syllable. Keep messing with different notes until you find a melody which you like.

This is where it first helps to be able to play chords underneath of your potential melody. Trying different chord progressions helps you develop a melody idea and at the same time it lets you work out different progressions until you find the best sounding one to pair with that part.

This is also important because once you narrow down the chords you'll be using for that melody which will likely make up the majority of that section of your song (whether that's a chorus, verse, etc.), you can make note of which chords within the key you're playing in you've neglected. This is important for coming up with adjoining sections of your song. It's very refreshing to the ear to hear a chord which it hasn't heard yet so you can use this to your advantage.

For example, if your chorus is a standard 1 5 6 4 (four chord wonder) chord progression, then you can focus on either a chord which you haven't used yet for the verse like a 2 or a 3, or alternatively you can construct a verse which neglects the major 1 altogether and saves that for the chorus, teasing your listener until you get to the big payoff that is the chorus. This is used in pop songs all the time; even if the major 1 is used somewhere before the chorus, it's certainly not the focus like it is when you hit that 1 5 6 4.

We've only scratched the surface so far so I invite and encourage you to enlist in my FREE 5 Day Songwriting Boot Camp. You can sign up for free by clicking on this link for how to write a song; all you need is to enter your name and email address in the pop up to be sent the course to and you'll make huge strides in songwriting in just 5 days guaranteed.

View the original article here

How To Write Songs: Choosing A Title

This is part of an article series about how to write songs, which I am writing entirely from my own experience as a songwriter. I don't have any formal training and haven't studied under any great teachers in the field, but I seem to have a knack for it, and it is my passion and livelihood. I have taught a number of successful songwriting workshops and am happily pursuing a career as an independent recording artist, performer, and producer. I hope these articles help you. If you like what you see, please comment with your own songwriting tips, questions, or success stories.

In this article, I just want to say a few words about the different ways to choose a title for your song.

The most common way to name a song is to take a phrase or word in the song that repeats and use that for your title. In other words, choose the "obvious" title. This has the advantage of being memorable, and there are experts who say that this is the best way to go if you want to write hits. There are obvious benefits to having a title that listeners can guess if they hear the song on the radio or at a concert or party. That being said, I almost never do this. I find it much more fun to make the title change the meaning of the song in some way. If your lyrics are memorable, that's good enough, in my opinion.

For instance, you may choose a word or phrase which only occurs once or twice in the song and use that for the title. That way, your listeners, knowing the title, will be listening for that word or phrase. When they hear it, it will stand out, giving it added significance in the song. Famous examples include Burrito by Pete Yorn, Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell, and Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin.

Another approach would be to choose a title that does not appear anywhere in the song at all, but contextualizes the song in some way. It may tell you something about who is singing the song, or when, or about what. Some examples are Anthem by Leonard Cohen, Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict by Pink Floyd, Sympathy for the Devil by the Rolling Stones, Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin, Ghost Story by Sting, Bear Tracks by the Grateful Dead, and Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls.

If you enjoy reading my articles, I hope you will check out my music. Visit http://www.vanessacardui.ca/ to download your free mp3 of my new single. Enjoy!

View the original article here

How To Write Songs: 5 Ways to Beat Writer's Block

This is part of an article series about how to write songs, which I am writing entirely from my own experience as a songwriter. I don't have any formal training and haven't studied under any great teachers in the field, but I seem to have a knack for it, and it is my passion and livelihood. I have taught a number of successful songwriting workshops and am happily pursuing a career as an independent recording artist, performer, and producer. I hope these articles help you. If you like what you see, please comment with your own songwriting tips, questions, or success stories.

In this article I will share five different techniques that have helped me to shake myself free of writer's block.

1. Take a Walk

I have written many, many songs while walking. I once wrote an entire song while delivering flyers for my home teaching business. (If you're a fan of my music, you might be interested to know that I'm talking about It All Winds Up in the Glass from Thought Experiment.)

Taking a walk is a time-honoured technique for clearing the mind. Try not to think too much about the songwriting process at first, and don't give yourself a destination. Just walk around for a while and the ideas will start to flow, like magic. It might be a good idea to take a recording device along with you to record your ideas, unless you have a very good memory. If you normally write with an instrument, like a guitar or piano, you might be surprised at how beneficial it can be to get away from your instrument for once. Which brings me to my next tip:

2. Change Instruments

If you normally write on the guitar, give the piano or keyboard a try. Even if you don't think you know how to play the piano, plunking around on the keys might give you an idea for a melody. Getting away from instruments entirely can also be helpful. We tend to fall into certain habits and patterns when we play an instrument. If we get away from them and just hum or sing to ourselves, it gives us a chance to approach songwriting from a new angle.

3. Automatic Writing

Sit down in a quiet, calm place with a pen and paper (or your computer) and just write. Write as fast as you can and do your best not to think about it. If you haven't done this before, you may feel self-conscious at first, but be patient. Once you learn to write without thinking, you will begin accessing your subconscious mind and giving it a voice. You may be very surprised at what comes out. This is a good way to come up with lyric ideas. They may need editing, but automatic writing can produce some wonderfully visceral and powerful lyrics.

4. Draw Stories From Your Life

Some of the best songs you can write will be based on your own experience. I'm talking about vivid life experiences: the very best and very worst things that have ever happened to you. What matters most, though, is not so much what has happened to you, but how you feel about it. For instance, if you had a difficult breakup, you may resist writing a song about it, thinking that it's already been done to death. If you think about your own experience of that breakup, though, you will find something unique that could make a truly beautiful song. How did the pain feel, physically, in your chest, belly or throat? What were the dreams that you had to give up? What are the images that come to your head when you think of it? Going to the heart of your own experiences can create very powerful lyrics.

5. Draw Stories from Mythology and History

Are you interested in history or mythology? If you haven't really thought about it before, this is a good time to start. There are millions of wonderful stories that make wonderful subject matter for songwriting. Singing of the deeds of heroes, the power of gods, and the fate of nations has kept songwriters busy for millennia.

If you enjoy my articles, I hope you will check out my music. Visit http://www.vanessacardui.ca/ to download your free copy of my new single. Enjoy!

View the original article here

How to Write a Business Music Plan

1. Engage Your Business Mind: I believe every person has a money mentality. As a matter of fact many people who are not academically educated are very good with money. In the same way the artist/band/musician has the innate ability to understand money if they choose to engage that part of their brain. Can I ask you to please do away with thoughts like, "I am only doing music out of love". These are the major barriers to thinking in a profitable manner. At the basic level you tend to think about what you are spending and what you are making. So if you spend £10,000 making an album and £5000 promoting it then I must make back money in excess of £15,000 if I am to be in business profitably. Such simple facts must be allowed to permeate your mind. Be careful to think about being profitable so that we do not end up like those other artists who sell millions of albums but end up in council flats and who were cheated out of millions by managers and labels because they chose to remain the uneducated artist.

2. Write How You Think: One of the main stumbling blocks for musicians when it comes to writing a business plan is the feeling of having to write the business plan in a corporate, business language. I think such thoughts are not only untrue but cause many people to give up even before they start writing. For a start, most business plans should be used for running the business so no matter the way it is written the important question to ask is whether the people concerned are capable of understanding what is written within the plan. Furthermore, if you write a business plan in plain language and you feel it needs to be much more formal with business jargons then there are many services to help you put your plan in that context. But all the main ideas would have to come from you!

3. Follow Your Own Ideas: Although it is important to read many other people's approach to a music business career or release, the plan you write must be built with your own ideas. This means that although other people's strategy and approaches can be included, they should never be the dominant ideas to run the business. What I am saying is that unless an idea fits into you or you are very confident you can achieve it, the idea should be held in a second. The reason for this is that what worked for someone else may be devastating for you. In other words, following the pay-what-you-like model implemented by the Radiohead may be disastrous for a small label whose fans may not be as loyal or inclined to offer fair prices.

View the original article here

How To Write Great Songs On Bass Guitar - Why It Can Be Easier Than Songwriting On Six String Guitar

So you play bass guitar do you? You'd like a piece of the action?

Well the good news is that you can become a songwriting power house!

Although I'm a lead guitarist and songwriter believe it or not I find it much easier to write songs on a cheap $50 bass guitar I picked up from a second-hand store.

I never actually intended to use it as a writing instrument and only bought it in the first place because I wanted to record some live bass guitar on my songs and just figured it would fit this purpose well.

Then one day I was just strumming around on it playing a very simple line and suddenly, out of the blue a singing melody came to mind.

Before I knew it I had some basic lyrics and a really catchy song, with a verse, chorus, bridge and a rhythm that just rocked.

I was quite taken aback to be honest because I'd never actually considered it would be possible to write a song on a bass guitar but it came very easily, and since then I've written many songs on that bass guitar.

In fact it is now my main songwriting instrument and here's why:

What all great songs have is a great melody. The simpler and more catchy the melody then the more chance people are going to like the song.

This is because people just love to sing-a-long to a catchy hook.

Because bass guitar gives such a simple and pure note, then I believe that it allows the creative mind more space to think and create.

It makes perfect sense to me.

Think about it.

When you are playing chords then there is already a lot of notes flying around to influence and distort the melody line.

For instance if you are playing an A Chord on guitar then you have an E, a C# in there that is bound to clutter your thought process and taint your melody.

With a bass guitar then A is A, which means that if you want to hum a melody along you can hear clearly how it fits with your bass line.

You also get a much better feel for the rhythm of the song and how best to structure it because again it is a much simpler and less complicated sound that you are working with.

So to all you bass guitarists out there - you have no excuse for not contributing to your band's song repertoire.

If you are keen to write songs then check out the tips and ideas on this songwriting: Songwriting For Guitar.

Once you have a great melody then learn the secret of writing great lyrics that people will love: Write Great Lyrics.

View the original article here

Write Better Lyrics: Go Back to Elementary School

When it comes to writing songs, I have found most artists, producers and beatmakers struggle with lyrics. Since you are reading this article I will assume you are looking to become a better lyric writer. I'm going to give you a couple of tips you have probably never thought about. I think most artists don't understand that to write better lyrics they need to expand their vocabulary. Most people, in general, get their vocabulary from family and friends. Most young people get their vocabulary from family, friends, television shows and the latest music craze (video and radio). This is not necessarily a bad thing but, it is very limiting. A limited vocabulary will limit your lyric writing.

In school, the way we learned how to write sentences was to read sentences. Once we read the sentences we would then emulate what we saw. Many of us listen to songs and we sing the lyrics, but we never take the time to read the lyrics so our writing suffers.

Tip 1) One of the best ways to improve your lyric writing is to read song lyrics. Google the lyrics to your favorite songs, and not so favorite songs and read them. Read the lyrics without the music and then read them with the song playing. You will get a new appreciation for lyric writing, because it is truly an art form.

Record companies, publishers and even producers have specific people they go to for lyrics. These people specialize in lyric writing. If you research songwriters you will see many of them pop up on hit song after hit song. That is because they are always writing and studying lyrics and studying life (lyrics come from life).

Tip 2) Another good exercise is, find out who the writers are on your favorite songs, find other songs they have written and read them too. You will get a jolt of inspiration and you will increase your lyric writing greatly with this technique.

When I was a kid I would sit and listen to an album (now we have cds) with the words in front of me. I learned so much about production and lyrics by doing that. I wanted to know who wrote and produced every song on an album. That curiosity lead me to become a musician, songwriter and producer.

So remember, you need to become a student of great lyrics and great lyricist. So read song lyrics, books, magazines, newspaper articles, internet articles (like this one) and anything else you can get your hands on to increase your vocabulary. When you come across a word you don't understand go to dictionary.com or google to find its definition. And most of all keep writing.

Richard RJ Johnson is a musician, producer and songwriter. His works have appeared on the CW, LATV, BET, Oxygen, Superstation and Pepsi among others. He is the owner of Floric Music, which is a company geared toward empowering independent artist through information and education. For more information visit http://www.floricmusic.com/.

View the original article here