The SongWriter's Studio
P.O.Box 210902
Nashville, Tennessee 37221
Phone:(615) 952-2138
THE ELEVEN COMMANDMENTS OF SONGWRITING
1. Look at your lyric sheet - if it's covered in words you probably need to trim it down. Try to be as concise as possible.
2. Use common words in your lyrical presentation. Odd words and strange rhymes will only hurt your chance for success.
3. Make the second verse strong. Harland Howard once told me that the key to his success was a strong second verse. If you could get them to listen through to the second chorus you had a winner.
4. Make the demo arrangement as much like a "radio" song as possible. Including an instrumental hook, short solo and the extras will give the producer/publisher/artist a true idea of "hit" potential. This will also sell your song way above another that is poorly arranged.
5. Demo as many songs as you can. Just like you wouldn't want to go to Las Vegas with one quarter, you don't want to pitch just one song.
6. Build up a diverse catalog of songs. Some ballads, some mid-tempo, some high energy, male female songs, perhaps a duet. This way you'll have a song for every pitch and won't be trying to force a ballad on an uptempo pitch. Producers won't even listen if your song isn't targeted to their need.
7. Don't demo the song until you are sure it's finished. If you feel you need to get a critique, make sure you get one prior to the demo. Otherwise, you could be throwing your money away on a demo you'll never pitch.
8. Listen to others. Learn from others. However, when your song is critiqued by professionals or other songwriters, bear in mind they are not aways 100% right. A critique is just an opinion. Think of how many times you've seen a movie that the critics loved and you hated, and vice versa. Be objective about the critique and your own song. If five critiques recommend changing the second verse perhaps you should rewrite it.
9. Write your songs for fun. Being creative is part of being human. If you do it just to make money you'll be quickly disappointed. However, songwriting is one of the few hobbies where you "can" actually reap a big financial success. If you're a fisherman, that fishing trip is just a 'fish story' five years later. Yet as a songwriter, you can play that song and still enjoy it the same as the day it was created. Plus, five years later you can still be pitching it. I've heard of many songs that we've written ten years before they became a hit. DON'T GIVE UP just because of some rejection. Rejection is commonplace in a creative industry.
10. If you're after commercial success, LISTEN to what is currently popular in that format so your songs will be up to date. I know of one successful songwriter who said he always wrote for what the artist would want to record six months from now. I know of another who goes out and buys the Top Ten every month and studies the lyrical direction, song structure, feels, and tempos.
11. HAVE FUN. Enjoy your writing. If you enjoy what you do, success will come!