Map out an outline of the song as soon as you decide on a hook. Knowing where you are going helps you avoid saying too much before you get to the 2nd verse. Second verses are not that difficult if you have planned out what you are going to say in advance and you avoid saying those things earlier in...

  As co-founders of SongTown, Clay and I have had a lot of success as writers in the country genre. Many people assume that we are "country songwriters" and that what we teach only applies to country music.  This is a false assumption.  (Watch "The Bad News Bears" for more info on assuming) We have both had major successes in other genres....

I'm a big believer in positive thinking. Here are some positive thoughts for songwriters that can help keep you moving forward and help you enjoy the journey. 1) The only person I have to beat is me. If I continually work at writing a better song than I wrote yesterdat, then I will someday be writing great songs. 2)I'm the only person who...

  5 Morning Songwriting Inspirations to go with your coffee!   Today is a new start. Today could be the day that I write that first cut or my best song. It doesn't matter what has happened in the past. I have a clean slate today. I will make the most of it. I am a better writer than I was yesterday. I've been working at...

  Someone pointed out this weekend that my posts often have as much to do with life as they do with songwriting. That made me think, and I realized that it's probably because songwriting is just a reflection of life. So many of the principles we talk about in our posts and the answers we give are really just life principles. How do...

Songwriting "rules" can stifle creativity. If you learn to communicate clearly with your songs, you have learned everything you need to know to write a great song!