Songwriting

Many of our SongTown members put songwriting aside for years while they raised a family.  The dreams from their 20’s only really started to get a chance in their 40’s or 50’s or beyond because life got in the way. So, they come to us and ask “Did I wait too long to start writing…

How many times have you heard it said that one must “Fake it to make it” or “Act as if you’ve already achieved your goal.” Nice comforting quotes but not a smart strategy for chasing your songwriting goals. I remember starting out years ago, landing my first publishing deal as a staff writer in Nashville,…

Ever wonder where your favorite artists or songwriters consistently find those great song ideas? I like to think of ideas as a creative river—constantly flowing by. It may sound simplistic, but maybe it’s purely a matter of learning how to catch them. Once you learn how to find great song ideas, it really is that easy.…

When I was a rookie songwriter, I don’t know how many times I had someone tell me “you have to write FROM your title”. Looking back, I think that advice contributed to some weak songs. At the time, I didn’t need any help writing a weak song. After gaining more experience and writing hundred of…

Do you feel like your melodies are dated? Are you in a creative rut? It happens to us all. One day we wake up and everything starts sounding the same. Every new idea we create seems familiar. And worse, those ideas may sound like melodies we heard years before! So, how do we stop banging…

One of the hardest things a songwriter has to learn to level-up their writing is learning how to avoid or pull themselves out of a songwriting rut. Here are 5 things I’ve learned over my 25+ year career that have me avoid songwriting ruts and stay inspired… Switch instruments to spark new song ideas… If…

One of the most common questions I get is “How much furniture does my song need?” What the writer means, is “How many nouns and adjectives should my song have?” For instance, if I talk about my rusty blue Ford truck, I have painted you a picture. If I just mention my truck with no…

So you’ve reached that point in the song; you’ve written two verses and a chorus, and that little voice in your head is asking “Does your song need a bridge?” When do you know if a song truly needs a bridge? I’ve heard publishers say things to their writers like, “You must write bridges because…

I believe that our writing “muscles” are just like any other muscle group. If we want to be as flexible as possible, we have to stretch those muscles from time to time. So, this morning, I wanted to give your brain and maybe your writing muscles a little “Morning Stretch”. It makes me cringe every…

Here are some ways to judge whether you are writing “better” commercial songs. No one of these measures alone determines “writing better,” but putting all of them together gives you a pretty good sense of your progress: Are you writing more unique ideas? Look at the songs you wrote a year ago compared to the…