Songwriting tips, techniques, and ideas
There's much discussion among songwriters (and creative writers in general) about using sensory details to engage the inner senses of your audience. Sensory details work so well because they appeal …
Continue Reading about Compelling Scenes and Characters in Lyrics →
Berklee professor Pat Pattison, author of the classic songwriting text Writing Better Lyrics, is publishing a book of songwriting exercises called Songwriting Without Boundaries. It’s now available …
Continue Reading about Pat Pattison’s “Songwriting Without Boundaries” Now Available For Pre-Order →
Like most words, lyric has deep roots. It hasn't always referred to the text of a song, as it does now. 1876 This marks the earliest instance we've found of lyric being used to mean "the words of a …
Timing favored Leonard Cohen when he began his career as a singer-songwriter with his 1967 debut, but even had Songs of Leonard Cohen been introduced at a time when singing songsters were less …
Since July 4th I’ve written 22 lyrics. Many of these need to be polished and structured a bit better, so it’ll be at least a few more weeks until I post demos of these. Meanwhile, I have a small …
Ever been excited for somebody to arrive at your home? A relative, a close friend, a dinner date, a spouse returning from a business trip? Dinner’s on the stove, music’s on the stereo; everything’s …
Continue Reading about Surprise and Delight in Songwriting →
Earlier this week I wrote an article about how difficult it is to be heard as a songwriter and a performer. In that post I explored only a few of the barriers to reaching an audience today-I …
Continue Reading about Lack of Feedback Does Not Equal Bad Feedback →
To have Sade and Slayer side-by-side on your CD shelf? I hope not. Check out this smoldering performance by Sade; notice how well the melody of this one helps communicate what’s happening in the …
At one point in time, your goal as a musician was to sell your album. Just getting your CD into somebody's hands was enough. The new goal is to be heard. And strangely enough, getting your music …
Continue Reading about Even if You Give Your Songs Away for Free, You Might Never Get Heard →
After all this time spent identifying and straightening out kinks in your creative process, we’ve got one final set of obstacles to overcome. In this article we’ll deal a bit with the psychological …
Continue Reading about Finding the Kink in Your Song Hose, Part 6: What Are You Holding Back? →
Hi! If you’re new to this series—which has absolutely no Freudian implications in its title and shame on you for asking—you can feel free to start at the beginning. So far we’ve covered sources of …
Continue Reading about Finding the Kink in Your Song Hose, Part 5: Keep Those Melodies Coming →
Previous Installment: 13 Ways to Round Out an Incomplete Lyric Part 1 of this series: Check Your Idea Spigot So far in the Finding the Kink in Your Song Hose series—which contains absolutely no …