I often come across singer / guitarists who perform a little and who at some point have tried to write a song or two, because they believe it is the next step in a musician’s career. For most of them a few unfinished songs are produced and they generally give up, thinking they don’t have the talent. The truth is, as with most things in life, it is largely about the discipline and hard work more than the talent. You will pick up the skills as you go along, but you can’t expect to write a good song in one or two weekend sessions.
First and foremost you need a song writing method. Part of this method involves identifying your target audience and your performers, and consciously making decisions on your song format and content. It might appear easy to think it is just country, rock, blues, metal, hip hop, dance etc and expect it will all fall into place, but you need to go deeper into the content. For example, is the song going to be about your attitude to something (eg “Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones), or will it be a simple narrative (eg “The Gambler” made famous by Kenny Rogers)? For many budding song writers the first trap is that they think every song needs to be about their own experience, otherwise they are not being honest. Professional song writers however work with “imaginings based on fact”, in other words, what is being sung about might have happened to someone in their target audience. Limiting yourself to writing about yourself is far too self indulgent. Let your imagination go and write a good (very short) story, or describe an attitude typical of your anticipated audience.
How do you get started? Titles are a good place to start. John Lennon apparently looked at newspaper headlines for inspiration, and, as it is what your audience is left with to describe your song, it needs to be memorable. In general, newspapers are considered a good source for song writers as they provide the sort of stories and information that can inspire a song.
Next month I’ll provide some tips on song-writing tools, form and the importance of sharing your music with others.
Do have a creative musical month!
