Get a breakdown the secrets of great songwriters. Get a dose of songwriting inspiration and technical insights for writing better songs and making it in the music business.
Overview
Syllabus
Introduction
- Welcome
- If you write songs, then you're a songwriter
- Make your lyric easy to sing
- Don't wait to sit down and write
- Your chorus is the song's main message
- Set up a place at home to write
- Try using nonsense words in your lyric
- Write down a song title every day
- Make your metaphor's imagery consistent
- Write more and edit less
- Try the hook at the end of the chorus
- Keep a file of unfinished songs
- Try using the first line as the last line, too
- Commit to writing for five minutes
- Keep your rhyme scheme the same
- Write like you have a publishing deal
- Use imagery and details in your verses
- Try switching your verses around
- Think of songs as having three parts
- Learn your songwriting strengths
- Make sure your melody isn't too rangy
- Don't reject a cowriter's suggestion
- Use repetition in a melody
- Keep a recorder running while writing
- Ensure your bridge takes a new angle on your theme
- Make a rough recording of your song
- Everything points to the hook
- How songwriting is a muscle
- Don't chase trends
- Reach out to a new cowriter
- 50/50: The simplest and best split
- Try learning a new instrument
- Read poetry
- Write based on the day's conversation
- Join or start a songwriting group
- Set a regular time of day to write
- Give yourself a writing assignment
- Do one business thing every day
- Make one song pitch every week
- Catalog your lyrics and demo recordings
- Make each verse line further your story
- When in doubt, say less
- Write a song based on the structure of one of your favorites
- Make your bridge an instrumental
- Similar sections should have similar structures
- Cut your song’s intro in half
- A song under 2 minutes is fine if that's all you have to say
- Make sure your song isn't too long
- A lyric is a start, but you’ll need a melody before you can call it a song
Taught by
Cliff Goldmacher
