Now we’re diving into the middle of how to start a songwriting group, so if you haven’t read part one and part two of this series, I’d encourage you to begin there. I’m going to begin this article by addressing pastors, elders — whoever is in charge of “shepherding the flock” of your church. If this doesn’t describe you, [...]
In part one of this series we laid out a biblical and historical case for encouraging a community approach to songwriting. Of course an exhaustive argument from the Bible alone would probably take a...
(please read the rest of the article at TheWorshipCommunity.Com)
Songwriting and the Guitar: The Complete Guide (Acoustic Guitar Guidelines)With this informative and unique guide, you will discover inspirations and ideas to craft out your own songs and get the best out of your instrument. You will gain a better understanding of melodies, chord progressions, alternate tunings ,etc . You will find tips and methods offered by top songwriters and singers, namely P
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INTERNATIONAL SONGWRITING COMPETITION ACCEPTING ENTRIES
The Internationa
Out of 6,200 songs entered for 10 categories in the national UK Songwriting Contest; with one final winner and three runners-up in each; four of my songs made the semi-finals and three were commended. Not bad considering I wrote those songs over 20 years ago. I was out by one point for a place in [...]
=> -insiders-songwriting-secret
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By Del Boland
I think we’ve all heard that we should enjoy the journey. This may be applied to many things including life itself. However, this adage is particularly true in the process of songwriting.
Songwriting has been an enjoyable avocation for me. Of course, there are ultimate goals that I would like to achieve, but there [...]
“I had tried to visit Woody (Guthrie) regularly… I would usually take the bus there from the Port Authority terminal, make the hour-and-a-half ride and then walk the rest of the half mile up the hill to the hospital, a gloomy and threatening granite building…. Usually I’d play him his songs during the afternoon. Sometimes [...]
Songwriting and the Guitar: The Complete Guide (Acoustic Guitar Guides)With this unique and informative Guitar guide, you'll discover new ideas and inspirations for crafting your own songs with accompanying Guitar 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 wor
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, [...]
“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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
“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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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.
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.
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 ...
