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…

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The 10,000 Hour Theory And Songwriting

The 10,000 hour theory… I was reading a magazine on an airplane the other day and ran across an article about Dan McLaughlin, an Oregon man who quit his job and decided to try to become a golf pro by testing out the 10,000 hour theory made popular by Malcolm Gladwell in his book “Outliers”…

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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…

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Songwriters: Where Is The Bar?

How High Is The Bar For Songwriters? When you mention the word “bar” to songwriters, most of them start craving a beer.  But that’s not the bar I’m talking about here.  I’m talking about the “How good does my song have to be to get it recorded by an artist?” bar.  Not every songwriter wants…

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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…

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Job #1 As A Songwriter… Do Your Job!

Last week in a mentoring session I was offering tips to help a young writer understand a songwriter’s #1 job. One of the demos had an extremely long guitar solo after the first chorus. I suggested that: #1- Guitar solos typically are after the 2nd chorus and not the first. #2- The solo was so…

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No Songwriter Excuses!

If there is one thing that I have learned in my journey through the music business it’s that songwriter excuses never made anyone a success in the music business. We’ve all heard them… “It’s harder than ever to get a cut” “You have to write with the artist to get a cut” “I write songs…

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Verses Need Hooks Too! #Songwriting Hacks

verses need hooks

Video Summary: Today more than ever, it’s not enough that your song has a great catchy chorus. In the modern world you must pull the listener into your song and keep them listening. To do that you need to remember verses need hooks too! We’ve put together a video lesson that covers these and much…

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How To Write A New Song Every Day

I can’t count the number of times I’ve been asked “How in the world do you come up with a song-a-day – every day?”  Learning how to write a new song every day can seem like a daunting task. Here’s how I pull that off… Coming In With Ideas I have a database that includes…

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Songwriting: The Art Of Choosing

Where should I take the second verse? Should I switch to first person? What is the chorus missing? Is my set-up line better using the opposite technique? Songwriting choices. Many are conscious, and many are made so fast we don’t realize we’ve made them. But, no song can be written without making choices. Many writers…

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