Alas. As the title of this post says: just because a song is fun to play doesn’t mean that it’s fun to hear.

Given that unpleasant truth, if you can manage to hear your own songs as though they were written by somebody else, you’ve given yourself an amazing advantage.

Attempting to experience your own song like a stranger allows you to objectively see what’s working well in your song—and what needs improvement. It allows you to fix what’s broken, and to strengthen what is already strong. To put it simply: it’s like looking in the mirror before you leave the house… just to make sure you don’t have half of your lunch dangling from your spectacular folksinger whiskers during a gig.

But hearing your own song with that kind of distance and perspective isn’t easy. How on earth do you listen dispassionately to something that you’ve spent hours slaving over? It’s your creation! Your baby!

With that in mind, I’ve listed four approaches to hearing your own music in a more open-minded and impartial way. This is a guide to checking your beard carefully before you walk out the front door.

Four Ways to Hear Yourself Clearly

Record Yourself.

Have you ever heard yourself on a friend’s voicemail, or on an audio recording, and thought, “That’s what I sound like?!”

Because of the way sound travels, we physically hear ourselves much differently than others do. One way to hear yourself from outside is to record a demo of whatever song draft you’re currently working on.

Already, this simple step gives you something of an outside perspective on your own song. It allows you to listen to your song without having to simultaneously read the chord charts or remember the verse lyrics or focus on hitting the right pitches. With all that distraction gone, you’re able to focus on what matters: the quality of the song itself.

Stash it in the wine cellar.

Once you’ve recorded the song, stash that work tape away and go work on something else for a while.

Scratch down ideas for a totally new song. Practice your piano skills. Go sailing. Whatever.

The goal of storing the recording is to give yourself time to forget about it a little bit. I recommend putting it away for at least one day before attempting to revise it.

When you’re a little unfamiliar with your own song, the way you perceive it is much closer to the way your listeners will hear it. Lines of lyric that made obvious sense to you before will now cry out for revision—and any clever twists will now be a genuine surprise as you rediscover your own lyric and melody.

Seek critique.

Get honest feedback from other songwriters. Their comments on your song will help you compensate for your blind spots.

Of course you’ll have to carefully consider which suggestions you agree with and which you’ll discard. Either way, take notes on every compliment, recommendation, and criticism you receive. Revisit these notes later, after your defensive and self-righteous fury subsides. 😉 What seems an outrage now might be useful later. Stay cool and welcome as much criticism as you can get.

Analyze and critique the songs of others.

Listen to your favorite songs to see the gears of songwriting in action.

For example, if you’ve been reading about rhyme schemes, consider listening to a favorite song and diagramming its rhymes.

If you have the opportunity, give thoughtful critique to other songwriters also. Obviously, giving critique increases the chances that its recipient will return the favor when you need a critique.

Here’s the more subtle benefit: if you spend enough time critiquing, that habit of analyzing songs will spread into your own rewriting processes. Over time, you’ll find that you’re able to anticipate criticisms and correct them before the song ever leaves the house. Gradually over time, you’ll get better and better at critiquing yourself.

Recap

Next time you write a song, consider the following steps.

1. Record a demo.
2. Let it age for at least a day.
3. Open it up to critique when it’s ready. Take notes.
4. Cultivate a habit of analyzing the songs of others. It’ll carry over to your own writing process.