So, part 1 of ‘Tips for Songwriting’ showed you that exposure to music influences your composition. Here are some other songwriting tips that you can develop as a songwriter.
The second of the songwriting tips is …
Learn to play other songs
I can honestly say that I couldn’t write my songs if I had never learned the melodies that I learned when I first picked up my guitar. The first song I learned (or half of the song since I didn’t learn the whole song) was ‘More Than Words’ by Extreme. Then I learned a lot of songs from the contemporary Christian church. To this day, I can still hear the influences of these songs on my songwriting.
If you play other instruments, it is also helpful to learn to play melodies on those instruments. I remember trying to play some of the Elton John and Ben Folds solos on the piano, and I can see how that has influenced a couple of my songs. I even learned “A Thousand Miles” from Vanessa Carlton. As I continued to learn the way other people played, it affected the way I shape voices on the piano, which affected the direction of my composition. The way the piano is played in Christian worship music is very different and that has been a huge influence on me as a composer.
Learning to play styles outside of your liking can also be beneficial. I’m not really a fan of jazz, but when I learned a few jazz chord progressions it took me into the world of sixths, ninths, and 13 majors and all those rich voices that flow from jazz. Hear how jazz influenced John Mayer or gospel music (I’m currently listening to contemporary gospel music).
Expand what you can play and have fun with it.
to write
The next songwriting tip is to start songwriting. Set aside some time specifically for writing. If you start writing an hour a day or even 30 minutes a day, every day for a month, you will see the difference between your first song and the last song you have been working on during that period. Isn’t this true with nothing? You practice basketball every day for a month and what happens? You magically become a better player! This will be great practice for writing even when you are not inspired.
Many people know what to do, and for songwriters, they know that they have to write every day. But many do not. Why? Because they don’t feel like it, or they’re too busy, or they get distracted by something else. The truth is, you can make time for it if you really want to. Try committing to writing for two weeks 30 minutes a day and see if you like it after two weeks. If you don’t, you can get back to your life without spending 30 minutes a day writing.
Sometimes people create this reality that it is too much work to learn songs or to sit for 30 minutes to write a song. Learn your favorite song and have fun. You are “playing” music, not “working” music. Learn a song to sing to the girl you’ve secretly fallen in love with. You definitely won’t consider it a job doing that. But please don’t sing it to him if you haven’t told him you like him (what’s this? Dating advice? I thought this blog was about songwriting).
Anyway, let’s go over the three songwriting tips we’ve discussed so far.
1) Listen to music, even music outside of your normal playlist.
2) Learn to play some songs you enjoy and songs in styles outside your norm.
3) Write. Write even when you don’t feel like it.
Enjoy every step you take to grow as a songwriter.