Songwriting Hack! “Short-Short-Long Verse”

Recognizing Patterns Today, a friend of mine posted on Facebook, a song by Bruce Springsteen. It’s an old song called “My Hometown”, and it kind of struck me. I often encourage people, when they listen to melodies, to try to recognize patterns. I hadn’t heard this song in a long time, and the first thing…

Read More

The Music Lab: Verses Are The New Chorus

One of the most noticeable style shifts in songwriting over the last few years is the emergence of chorus-like hooks in verses. For the longest time, if you had a memorable and “hit” sing-a-long chorus you were golden. Your chances of finding an audience for your songs were pretty good. Even if you were the…

Read More

4 Keys to Co-Writing Songs With A Band

Someone asked me the other day, “What is your secret to co-writing with a band?” Over the years I’ve been blessed to co-write songs with great bands like Lady A and Little Big Town. As a songwriter, it can be tricky to sit down with three or four other people in one room and make…

Read More

Songwriters: Do You really need that expensive song demo?

song demos- 7 tips

One of the top questions Marty and I get in the SongTown Mailbox is “what is a reasonable song demo price?” It seems a common myth exists that says in order to have a record company or artist pick up your songs, you have to produce a song demo that sounds like a finished record. Fortunately…

Read More

What To Do If You Don’t Know Anyone In The Music Business

Hit Songwriters Clay Mills and Marty Dodson share their stories of how they made it in the music business as songwriters. They also share encouragement and strategies that you can use to navigate the music business even if you don’t know anyone in the business. Hit Songwriter Clay Mills has six #1 Hit Singles, 2…

Read More

Are You Falling Into The Arrogant Songwriter Trap?

As a songwriter, I am a “lifer.” I’ve spent many hours everyday writing with, teaching to, and in online forums conversing with songwriters. It’s not uncommon to hear songwriters say things like, “You can’t learn songwriting. You either have it, or you don’t.” Or, “This song came from my inner soul, so it’s perfect just like it…

Read More

Why Talent Is Overrated

Marty Dodson and Clay Mills discuss why talent is overrated. And why hard work and the willingness to learn gets you closer to success as a songwriter. Adding More Heart To Your Songs : Online CrashCourse Change the way the world hears your songs! 🔥 In this 3-week immersive songwriting course you will learn how…

Read More

Does Your Songwriting Focus Need Tweaking?

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned over my songwriting career is that my songwriting focus constantly needs tweaking. It’s easy to lose sight of the important foundational things and veer off into the worlds of negativity or procrastination. So I have a short checklist of things I remind myself of daily… No matter what…

Read More

5 Simple Ways To Unleash Your Own Creative Songwriting Power

As a professional songwriter, I am asked often how I walk into a co-write with superstars like Darius Rucker, Little Big Town, or Lady A and create songs “on-demand?” Well, I didn’t start out doing this, but I’ve learned a few tricks over the years that’ve allow me to train my creativity and tap into…

Read More

Songwriters: Find Your Song Circle

When I was 19 and moved to New York to pursue my dream of being a songwriter. I was fortunate enough to meet someone who invited me into a song circle. I had no clue what a song circle was or what it would one day mean to me, but I convinced myself to get…

Read More