Posts by Clay Mills
Real Songwriting Is Not Fast And Easy!
Let’s talk… This morning several ads popped up on my Facebook feed for things like… Learning To Write Great Songs In Just 3 Days, Writing Songs Really Fast, or Earn A Hundred Thousands Dollars In First Year For Writing Movie Songs…oh my… I must be the slowest songwriter on earth…I’ve been a professional writer for 25+ years and still learning everyday to play guitar, write better songs—and…
Read MoreWriting an Explosive Hit Chorus in 3 Steps
Over the course of my career, I’ve had a diverse collection of artists sing my songs, from R&B artist Babyface to rocker Darius Rucker to country’s Reba McEntire. I believe the reason for this lies in my ninja power for writing an explosive hit chorus— songs that leap out of the speaker when they hit…
Read MoreSongwriting Hack #2 – “Lay It Down, Repeat It, And Move On”
If you’re like me, you’ve probably noticed over the last year that there have been quite a few songs popular in both pop and country music that have the same chords in the verse and the chorus. Yet, they still manage to keep the songs interesting. So today I wanted to talk about a technique…
Read MoreHow To Get Motivated To Write More & Better Songs
Over the last 10 years at SongTown I have personally responded to thousands of aspiring songwriter emails. Many want to write better songs but can’t seem to find the answer to how to get motivated to write on a regular basis. If this is you, you are not alone. We all feel the pull of emails,…
Read MoreTransform Your Songwriting: Our Best 5 Tips
Clay and Marty share their best 5 tips for raising your songwriting skills to that next level. Clay & Marty’s 10-day video series: This video series will help you level-up your songs and finish them faster. CLICK HERE to begin! SongTown Press Books: Mastering Melody Writing : Check It Out The Songwriter’s Guide To Mastering Co-Writing : Check It…
Read MoreSongwriting 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 MoreThe 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 More4 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 MoreSongwriters: Do You really need that expensive song demo?
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 MoreWhat 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