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Tips and Ideas for Song Writing

Writing your own music requires advanced skill and technique.

Songwriting is a difficult profession that requires commitment and creativity. Often songwriters will experience writer's block and find it difficult to come up with new ideas. In these times, it is important to continue to expand your knowledge of music and push yourself to improve your technique. By continuing to work, even through the difficult times, songwriters can continue to develop their skills.

Audience


Know the audience that you will be writing for. Learn about their likes and dislikes and write music that will be relevant to them. Great songwriters know how to take universal ideas that apply to a large audience and put them into musical phrases, lyrics and songs. Talk with others who like your music, ask them what they like about it and put up surveys on your website. If you have a social media site ask your fans what they would like you to write about. Maybe even start a contest and offer an autographed album for the best idea.

Study


Even if you are naturally talented, study every day. You always have more to learn in music; a solid foundation in music will help you to become a better songwriter. Take courses in music theory, form, analysis and writing. A songwriter has to be able to write the music and the lyrics for a song. It is important to be able to do this effectively and efficiently. Learning the basics of music will make the process of writing much easier.

Lyrics


Pay careful attention to your lyrics, or better yet, pay someone to write your lyrics. Some classical composers don't use their own lyrics. They will use lyrics from an established author with his permission. If the author has been deceased for more than 70 years, it is permissible in most cases to use his words in your own song. Make sure that the lyrics you choose are easy to understand and connect in a logical way to help the listener understand verbal and musical ideas. When writing lyrics, it is important to think about how the lyrics will be treated in relationship to the music. Obviously, lyrics that are morose and gloomy should be set to music in a minor key while happy and upbeat lyrics should be attached to a major key. Songwriters are in a position to carefully craft the music and lyrics so that they work together as a cohesive whole.

Daily Writing


One of the most important tips that any songwriter can receive is to simply write. Write every single day without a break. Daily writing helps to improve the quality of ideas and the ability of the songwriter. Even if you do not produce high-quality results, you can still improve your ability simply by attempting to write on a schedule. Many of the best songwriters will even go so far as to write at the same time each day.

Inspiration


Use existing art to help inspire you. Find some artwork you like and think about how to interpret the scene with music. Artists often rely on each other to develop skills and formulate new ideas. Songwriters are no different. Find a community of songwriters and composers so that you can trade ideas and help motivate each other to write.
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