Songwriting

You don’t have to play an instrument to start writing songs effectively or successfully in a very short time. Of course, it is advantageous to play an instrument, but it’s definitely not a requirement. Indeed, many hit songs have been written by beginner songwriters just like you who didn’t know the difference [...]

If photographers can have a visual portfolio of their work then why can’t songwriters have an aural portfolio of their work? What’s the use in writing a song if you can’t find it when you need it? Well, I have some ideas on this. For years I had a songwriting book where I would write all of [...]

I held a workshop for SCALA (Songwriters, Composers and Lyricists Association) some time ago about “dissecting the songwriting process”. From doing the workshop I was able to summarize my own songwriting process into bite size pieces. A very handy exercise for someone like myself who, at times tends to make things more complicated than they should [...]

I realised a long time ago that there’s no such thing as a perfect songwriting process. It can always be improved upon. Listed below are twelve ways in which you can enhance and improve your songwriting process. Even if you implement just one of these suggestions you will be well on your way to writing more [...]

In recent times, I’ve been making a real effort to collaborate with other songwriters. I’m really enjoying letting go of my own ideas and sharing them with other talented people. When I first started to write songs I was co-writing a lot. This was mainly out of necessity because I wasn’t playing guitar back then. Nevertheless, [...]

It is easy when you are blogging to lose yourself a little creatively. It is natural to lose focus from time to time. Some bloggers are even writing outside their comfort zone in an attempt to make a little money. Wow, that sounds exactly like a lot of musicians I have met over the years. When I [...]

“Writing a song is like fishing. You have to bait the hook to get a bite.” - CS I thought it was about time I put onto paper how I get my songwriting ideas. What works for me may not work for you but give it a go anyway. If it does work for you then [...]

“Take the attitude of a student, never be too big to ask questions, never know too much to learn something new” - Og Mandino I think the above quote sums up what I call the “songwriters attitude”. If songwriting is life then to get the best out of our writing we need to develop a certain [...]

No, I’m not saying that you should copy another song and then call it your own however, by asking yourself “what songs do I like to hear?” and studying those songs to define what unique voice you have is a great start towards improving your own songwriting. Remember, you dont have to promote or perform every [...]

“Everyone has at least five great albums in them” - Chris Martin, Coldplay I saw an interview with Chris Martin and Will Champion from Coldplay on the TV the other day. The interview covered a lot of topics but it was the discussion about the bands songwriting process and philosophy that interested me the most. Chris Martin [...]

Whether you pen songs yourself or not, you will appreciate these next couple of paragraphs from songwriter Thom Schuyler. I came across this via Andrea Stolpe's great songwriting blog: Somehow the collective wisdom of Music Row has determined that if...

I received a message the other day from a songwriter who expressed to me the pain they experience writing songs. In the messege he mentions to me that the philosophy he uses in his songwritng process is “if it aint a hit, it aint worth writing”. No wonder he’s experiencing the pain of songwriters block. I think [...]

I hear a lot of beginning songwriters bemoan the fact that they have little or no musical theory knowledge and therefore will not be able to write ‘good’ songs. For me, songs come from the heart and mind not from some mathematical formula. However, if you want to learn music theory, do it because you want [...]

Subscribe to my feed! It’s free, easy to do and makes me happy! I came across an interesting blog a couple of weeks ago called Hunting The Muse: A Creative Writing Blog.I read several of the articles, one of which, Writing about dreams, caught my attention. Brady, the blog author, was talking about capturing story ideas from our dreams. What better place, right? I mean, we all have superfunkacalifragisexy dreams from time to time that lead to interesting story ideas.Well, I commented that musicians could do the same. If you're dreaming of playing or hearing wonderful music, you could keep a voice recorder by your bed and try to hum the melody or bass line to the music. Then, when you wake up, try to play what you recorded. But enough about how cool his blog is...Here's the scoop ...I've

As songwriters we should be always looking for ways to express what’s inside our minds, our hearts and what we observe. We also have to balance that with the fact that we want others to listen to our songs and relate to, embrace and make them a part of their lives. Right? So, in saying that, why [...]

Music and songwriting is my life. I find it hard to have room in my life for anything else. Music is also my social life as well. I know lots of musicians and we all have one thing in common. WE LOVE TO JAM! Getting together with other musicians and playing music for its own sake is a form [...]

To master the craft of songwriting you must first embrace the fact that there’s always something to learn about it. The more you know the more you need to learn. I know of some songwriters that are either bored or restless with their craft. They complain that everything that they do all sounds the same. They feel [...]

The world is full of words. For me, writing lyrics can be a challenge in itself. Any tool that make it easier for me to put down my songwriting ideas from head to paper should be adopted into my songwriting process. The two main tools I generally use in writing lyrics are a rhyming dictionary and thesaurus. You can find [...]

Your environment affects you in so many ways. Personally, if I get up in the morning and my house is in a state of chaos then I feel that inside. If it’s tidy and organised then I feel that too. My songwriting output can vary depending on how organised (or disorganised) my life and my home [...]

“To live a creative life we must lose our fear of being wrong” - Joseph Chilton Pierce Today I want to share with you my personal thoughts on the subject of fear in songwriting. You know, I’ve never heard of anyone dying from writing a song but I know some songwriters that fear their own songwriting like [...]

I started Songwriting Zen on February 29th and already it’s April 1st. Time does fly when you’re having fun. I wanted to reflect on the first month of this blogs existance because doing Songwriting Zen has really made a difference in my life. I wanted to re-focus my online music marketing and start from a clean [...]

“Ordinary people say the most extraordinary things”. When we hear someone speak, we normally start thinking a few steps ahead and therefore miss out on the whole conversation. However, if we as songwriters practise the art of actively listening we won’t miss out on anything. We gain more opportunity for gathering song ideas. There is a huge [...]

“Songs come from the most amazing places” I was asked some time ago to lead a songwriting workshop for the songwriting organization that I belong to called SCALA. The topic for this particular workshop was ‘how to capture songwriting ideas’. In researching for the workshop, one of the questions I asked myself was “where have my songs [...]

“Songs come from the most amazing places” I was asked some time ago to lead a songwriting workshop for the songwriting organization that I belong to called SCALA. The topic for this particular workshop was ‘how to capture songwriting ideas’. In researching for the workshop, one of the questions I asked myself was “where have my songs [...]

First of all I want to thank everybody for visiting Songwriting Zen so far and for making this site a regular stop on your songwriting journey. It’s a really great feeling connecting with other writers from Australia and all over the world. This post is to let you all know of some of the changes I’ve made [...]

If writing lyrics is all about words, then to be a good lyricist you would need a healthy respect for the english language and how it can be made to tell a story, describe things or put across a point of view. You would also need to become very interested in what you read, speak, [...]

“In a world full of similarities, it’s the differences that stand out the most” When I was studying music theory and composition in high school I remember having a conversation with my music teacher one time about the “rules” we were learning and why we had to learn them. Being a precocious 15 year old I remember [...]

Your goal as a songwriter is to keep your songwriting ideas alive at all times and to develop ways of capturing those ideas at any given opportunity. If you want to keep your ideas alive then my advice to you is to never trust your memory. If you do, you’ll lose more ideas than you gain [...]

There are many, many resources for songwriters on the net, far too many to list in one blog post. What I am going to do though, is outline the types of resources that are available with some links to start you off on your journey. First thing you should do is to type songwriting into Google and [...]

I love playing covers as much as playing my own music. The main reason for this is that by learning to play covers that have been hit songs themselves, I’ll learn how to write my own songs better. Here are some ways that learning covers has helped my songwriting process: I learn different song formats, song structures [...]

As a songwriter, there are going to be times in your life where you’ll be inspired to write a complete song but, for most of the time there will be times where all you’ll be doing is fishing for songwriting ideas. It’s important for a songwriter to have an ideas archive at their disposal. You don’t necessarily [...]

From one idea, many ideas form. I love mind maps. I’m a visual person, and developing a songwriting idea by using a mind map really helps me write my song lyrics more effectively. Right now you’re probably asking “what is this mind map?” Well, according to Wikipedia a Mind Map is: “…a diagram used to represent words, ideas, [...]

To increase your ability to write songs it’s necessary to increase the amount of life experiences you have. The best way to do that is to get out of your comfort zones, break out of your routines and do somethings different. There are so many ways that we, as songwriters can escape our zones of [...]

I reckon that everything in contemporary music has been done before. So why are songwriters so concerned with trying to sound totally original? Look at the music industry at the moment. There are genres, sub-genres and sub-sub-genres all trying to find some niche in the music business and some originality in the music. While there are lots and lots [...]

You know, I love a good songwriting contest. A songwriting contest brings out the best in songwriters because it gives them something to write for.  A deadline to achieve. I am always amazed by the amount of people out there that put pen to paper and just go for it, it’s fantastic. You also get to hear some [...]

There are the two qualities that are so important for a songwriter to get more out of their chosen craft. They are observation and mindfulness. We all look at the world around us through our own eyes. If we, as songwriters are to put these moments into songs then the best thing that we can do [...]

Never throw anything away, EVER! You just never know. That piece of paper you threw in the bin with the half finished lyrics penned the night before might have contained the ideas for THE song that defines you as a performer, artist or writer. All it might’ve needed was a few re-writes. The cornerstone to my [...]

Winning the conversations that you have with your inner voice is one of the main keys to getting the most out of your songwriting. For me, writing down my thoughts (journaling) is one of the best strategies for doing that however, there needs to be some conditions attached to this exercise. 1. It has to be done every day. Make [...]

If I asked 100 songwriters that question I reckon I would get 100 different answers. I can’t speak for all songwriters but I would like to share with you my personal answer to what I feel to be the most commonly asked question in songwriting. First of all lets look at the definition of what makes up [...]

“Whoa!!” You maybe saying to yourself. To a songwriter that question is like asking a philosopher “what is the meaning of life?” The reason why I’m asking is that I feel that we as songwriters generally overlook the most important aspects of what we do. WRITING! Lets look at the word SONGWRITING. The dictionary.com meaning is: “Writing the music and [...]

The second annual songwriting contest at Raymond Walters College (RWC) is now open to high school and college students in the Cincinnati, Ohio and Northern Kentucky areas. Any theme, style or subject matter will be accepted and songs will be judged anonymously. The quality of the music and lyrics and especially the relationship between the two [...]

With candor and passion, 15 of the nation's most talented tunesmiths offer personal accounts of how they create their works, what their songs mean to them, and how they keep their creativity flowing. This entertaining collection on one-on-one interviews provides inspiration and advice for songwriters and music afficionados.

die musik der drei bisherigen great lake swimmers alben wird vereinzelt auch als “ambient folk” dargestellt. ein nicht unbedingt ausdrucksstarker begriff, doch beschreibt er das gemisch aus folkigem country-pop und den atmosphärischen sound-einlagen recht gut. um nicht gleich beim aktuellen album “ongiara” zuschlagen zu müssen, bietet die band nun eine kleine live-ep zum download an. aufgenommen wurde sie in toronto. ein wirklich verlockendes angebot.

With this unique and informative guide, you'll discover new ideas and inspirations for crafting your own songs and making the most of your instrument. You'll gain a better understanding of chord progressions, melodies, alternate tunings and other subjects through a series of expertly designed workshops, and you'll find tips and techniques offered by top singer-songwriters, such as Paul Simon, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Don McLean, Patty Larkin, David Wilcox, Dave Matthews and more.

I've been writing with Susan Santiago...she's been kicking out at least one lyric a day...sometimes two. What a great lyricist...I'm in awe of her prowess and honored to write with her...nice... Hi, Thanks for stopping by...visit rebecca-dru.com for more fun and listening pleasure.

Formula or no formula? Of course we all want to be on our "A" game every time we sit down to work on our hit songs. But what do you do on the days where you ain't got it? A purist might tell you that you need to wait on the muse to come around, or for the inspiration to strike. But there's a lot to be said for muscling through it. And one of the best ways to go about that is to come up with "songwriting assignments" for yourself. For example, something I'll do is try to write a song based on a description of an album or artist I've never heard. You know, a new record will come out and there will be rave reviews in all the magazines where they say that the record sounds like so-and-so and that they've finally returned to their roots. Or maybe you've never even heard the artist before. I'll try to write a song solely based on these descriptions. Neil Young used to write songs using titles like "Strawberry Fields Forever" that were already famous, just so he could kno

Singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk has accused Lavigne of stealing her song “Contagious,” of which a track of the same title appears on the April release. "Avril doesn't really sit and write songs by herself or anything … [she] will also cross the ethical line, and no one says anything," she said.

Country music icon Dolly Parton was honored for her songwriting on Thursday at the Songwriters Hall of Fame, where she made jokes about her famous big bust that she quipped would outlast her."I can just see two big mountains growing up out of my grave, and people going around on mule rides to look at them," said Parton, who was honored for writing such hits as "I Will Always Love You" and "Coat of Many Colors."Parton, already a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, was given the Johnny Mercer Award by the association for her songwriting."Throughout my whole career, I've been known for two things," joked the singer, famous for cutting a memorable figure in cleavage-revealing, glittery outfits."I'm talking about my music and my lyrics," she said.On a more serious note, Parton, who is famous for her big voice, big wigs and big smile as well, said she would like to be remembered most for her songwriting."It is my favorite thing to do. It is my private time with God. That's when I feel

Here is a common problem that one of my subscribers expressed to me recently… “I’m 16 and the main problem is, I know what I want to write, but when I do write it down I just think it sounds la…Read full story

Songwriting is like keeping a savings account:  you save small amounts to use later . . . and you really can’t spend it right away. I have 4 great songs (among a laundry list of marginal ones!) 1. Talk to Me 2. People 3. Matter of Fact -and- 4. Soul Traveler Now before I go on, I just want to say that I am not assuming other people find my songs great.  I am only referring to my feeling about them in comparison to the whole of my repertoire.  Each one of these 4 songs I wrote with little tune ideas I had in my head for years prior (except Talk to Me which I wrote over the course of a month). In my opinion, too many people write songs “just to write songs.”  These usually suck.  What the worst scenario is when a “signed” artist writes a whole album without inspiration “just to” appease their recor company’s contract. I don’t have a record contract, but I know I’d rather renig on one than force a single song to be written

"I wrote 'You're Beautiful' in two and a half minutes, after seeing an ex-girlfriend.'"- James BluntBlunt said on VH1's The Vspot that he wrote this song about seeing his ex-girlfriend with a new man in the London underground. He says that they shared a lifetime in the brief eye contact.-----------------------------------------------EXCERPT FROM JAMES BLUNT'S SONGWRITING JOURNAL: Tuesday, January 18, 20052:37:30 PMTrain should be here in about 150 seconds. Maybe enough time to write a song???2:37:36 PMPossible song topics: Trains. Unemployment. Sodding London weather. Come on man, think!2:37:42 PMIsn't that Stacy?2:37:48 PMThat IS Stacy! Who the f---- is she with???!!!2:37:55 PMStacy be lookin FINE.2:38:04 PMWhere was I? ... Trains, right. Maybe something about a little engine trying to get up a hill?2:38:09 PMLucky bastard. What was it Mum said when Stacy broke up with me? "God's will." Well I hope the sodding angels are happy. Bollocks.2:38:17 PMFeeling very sad.2

I've always been interested in how creative works are written, either stories, books, films, or songs. The inspirations behind them, trying to picture what's inside the mind of the artist has often been a fascination for me. Here is a story behind one of the most haunting love songs ever ...