Songwriting

Pitching songs that are not ready or that are not in the ballpark for the artist you are pitching to is one of the fastest ways to burn bridges.  In fact, doing either of those things is effectively pouring gasoline on the bridge.  Way too many people pitch songs prematurely and significantly hurt their chances…

One of the biggest things most people could do to improve their writing is to master the art of rewriting song lyrics. For my whole career, I’ve heard the saying… “Good songs are written but great songs are rewritten.” I have found that to be true in most cases. Sometimes, a song just falls out…

Over the weekend someone tagged me in a Facebook thread that had over 500 comments debating heatedly over whether or not a lyricist was an actual “songwriter”… All I can say is who cares? I don’t mean that in a harsh way. You see, I’ve been fortunate that over 150 major artists have recorded my…

One of the things I discovered when I started mentoring writers is that very few of us have a songwriter business plan. That may be the curse of the creative mind – we get so lost in making stuff up that we lose sight of the business side of things that must be tended to…

Here are some writing exercises I do when I want to sharpen my songwriting skills and just have a good time with it, putting no pressure on myself.  Ready for some songwriting fun?!? Thumb through a magazine looking for song ideas. Sometimes when I’m on an airplane, I pick up the inflight magazine and challenge…

The Definition of Songwriting Insanity… I’ve read that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. I believe there is a lot of truth in that statement. If you want something you’ve never had, then you are going to have to do things you’ve never done. It’s shocks many people…

Songwriters, like any craftsmen, rely on skill. But skill is largely based on your ability to consistently add tools to your songwriter’s toolbox. Here are 4 steps to get you on the path to adding new tools, break out of old ruts, and level-up your writing. Practice Active Listening. When we’re listening to music, it’s…

Songwriters have all kinds of goals… Clay and I do a lot of mentoring sessions. One of the big discoveries we have made in those sessions is that people have all kinds of different goals for their music. And we have discovered that almost every answer to every question people ask us depends on THEIR…

“In SongTown you are the hero and we are your songwriting sidekick.” ~Marty Dodson So many songwriting sites advertise the amazing things they can do for you. They will “turn you pro”, introduce you to someone who will magically “get” you and get all of your songs cut, or take you up to breathe the…