Improving Your Songwriting Skills

Let's face it - songwriting is not just an artform. It's also a craft. If it wasn't - a monkey could do it. Many artists visiting Fame Games are already excellent songwriters, but others only show potential which is yet to be fulfilled.

Amateurs often have a common argument against "learning" songwriting. It goes something like "you can't learn this thing, you're either born with it or you're not." Needless to say, and without much additional qualification, this is one of those "leave me alone I'm afraid to learn and fail" kind of arguments. You may be born with a special talent for something, but it will come to nothing without further development.

In my previous posts, and probably in some of the upcoming ones, I'll touch on some useful techniques for getting "more" out of your songs. There is an element of subjectivity in this, of course. But it's a bit like listening to someone speak. Some people bore you to tears even if the subject of their talk is very interesting. Others keep your attention even when they talk nonsense. We all have a radar in us which somehow knows what is "good" and what it not. We may differ on that point from person to person, but the overwhelming majority will tend to agree with each other at least on the general principle. It's just a fact of how our psychology works.

Some key points to keep in mind, when writing songs. And it's just a small sampling.

• Keep it real. Avoid meaningless and boring topics unless you really feel they need to be told.

• Keep it interesting. It may be just a key hook line or the entire lyric, it can be minimalistic or slightly wordy, but it needs to mean something to your listeners. Tell this story to a friend and see if he gets it. This doesn't have to be anything high-flying or philosophical. You may just want to write a song about partying and having fun with the opposite sex. But you can say it in a way which makes your listeners fall asleep - or you can put a smile on their faces.

• Ensure that the lyrics have a strong and balanced meter, and rhymes (if used) are strong and not banal. Don't "settle" for makeshift solutions. Make sure you know what your lyric "wants" to say and then find a way to express it. This will more often than not mean a LOT of revision.

• If your lyric has a good rhythm, so will your song. A well-written lyric virtually "sings itself." Many songs have "forced rhythms" - for example cases where a syllable is stretched unnaturally in order to make the rhythm work. This is not the same as extended syllables which are there for special effect or because they just need extra emphasis or styling. This is about those lines where the writer simply couldn't think of a way to make the phrase balance and he's cheating by stretching or contracting words until they fit. This technique CAN work, but all too often it comes across as simply amateurish.

• Learn about chordal progressions. Some progressions "flow" and are natural and some are... erm... challenging. Some progressions are so well established that they're known as "power chords" and you'd be surprised at just how many songs rely on them. The familiar C-Am-F-G progression works with children's melodies but it's also the basis of many classic hits. If arranged well (the right inversions, clever dynamics and rhythms) you might not even recognize it. Don't be afraid of using "standard" chord progressions, but do challenge yourself to ensure that they come across as fresh.

• Ensure that your melodies aren't "glued to the chords." Melodies which follow chords have been done to death in the past and any new song which uses that technique immediately sounds boring and dated, with few exceptions. Deliberately "flip out" some notes in your standard melody and see how the song gets transformed. Try your melody against different chords. Does it sound more interesting? But keep in mind that melody lines are like lyrics: you're always re-using familiar elements, but you need to put your own stamp on them. Between intervals, meter, rhythm and dynamics - and a bit of divine inspiration - you have all the tools you need to write something that nobody's heard yet.

• Push yourself. Subject your songs to analyses and cold-listens by unsuspecting strangers. Clock their facial expressions more than their words (which are often cautious compliments, even when they're not deserved). Find ways to write your songs so that the physical reactions you get become undeniably positive.

• Come up with tricks to improve your songwriting. One such "trick" isn't really a trick at all, but it can completely transform the way you write your music. Get another singer to sing your song. Not because they're "better" but because they're DIFFERENT. If you know a singer who's great get him or her to "interpret" your song. Try it with your melody line first, then ask them to just feel it and do their own thing with it. Then, get a "poor" singer to sing it. Watch him or her kill your song and unconsciously deliver a parody of it. The lessons you'll take away from this can be invaluable.

• Study other great songwriters. Note that songs by greats such as Lennon-McCartney, Elton John or Diane Warren survive decades and lend themselves to virtually any musical style. How did they do it?

• Always ensure that your demos are done properly. They can be simple or complex, "produced" or not - but the basic values need to be there. Strong confident instrumentation and vocal, "flowing" arrangement, hooks, little surprises - and a decent mix.

When reviewing demos, "the song" is always the biggest consideration. Given two songs, one of which is beautifully written but poorly produced, and the other hastily written but beautifully produced, all too often the latter will win out. This is because "production" is just another word for "presentation". We all know that it's not clothes that make the man and we shouldn't judge a book by its cover. But the fact still remains that first impressions are always going to be critically important. So have the depth and the content and all that - but also ensure that you grab their attention from the start with your craft - even if it's basic. "Basic" is ok, as long as it's "proper!"

Don't forget to check out my sub-blog "Write a Song About This"

Never Mind The Styles (Or: What Is Art?)

What's with all those genres? Country, hip-hop, rock, folk, etc... New artists often define their songs in those terms. "This is a country-style tune" they might say. And then you listen to it and discover that it sounds nothing like what YOU think of as "country." The world is full of hybrid songs which don't really belong in any clear box or category.

So what is it about those styles? What's in a name?

It seems to me that inasmuch as any of those labels convey any meaning, it must have something to do with "belonging" and by extension, with an "idea of belonging." Think of it like this. In the days when Western movies were king, young people everywhere idolized their gun-toting heroes, they wanted to be a little bit like them, and do what they did. The music those horoes listened to (or at least the soundtrack made you think so), was mostly Country & Western. It comes as no surprise, then, that this genre was doing really well in the mainstream back in those days.

But as cultural icons change, so does the music which accompanies them. Folk was the music of rebellious intellectuals who wanted to question everything. The likes of Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen opened up popular music to meaningful lyrics. Rock in almost all of its early guises was the music of liberation and a break with convention. And so was punk and - perhaps even more so - hip-hop. All of these styles came from real environments and as the public-at-large learned to identify with them, the style would enter the mainstream consciousness new idols would appear and imitators would spring up like mushrooms after rain.

Many of the subsequent superstars were not, by any stretch of the imagination, the real thing. Was Johnny Cash a cowboy? Was Cliff Richard a rebel? Was Vanilla Ice a boy from the hood?

So, while the music by many contemporary artists may not be totally true to its roots, and is, for the most part, only a vague imitation of the originals, one must not jump to the hasty conclusion that it is therefore invalid or too derivative to be worth anything. In fact, it might even be quite the contrary. Do you have to be an astronaut to be able to imagine how he or she feels? Does it mean you aren't allowed to study astrophysics? Or at least to make "space" tunes? Do you have to live in the ghetto to empathize with those people's plight and later write a passionate song about it?

Clearly, no. In fact, we must remember that all art is just a synthesis of influences, and those influences can not only be widely divergent, but they can also be personal as well as imaginary. A song - or any piece of art - needs to be judged not so much on the "authenticity" of its originator but on the cohesion, poingnancy and beauty of its creation. Does it create something within the listener? Good art, good music, is completely capable of doing just that! In fact, it may even be the very definition of art, that unless it contains the power of creation within itself it isn't really art.

And what is it that good art might "create?"

Starting with provoked thoughts, vague or particular emotions, feelings of sadness, happiness, anger or joy, a wish to enhance the communication with others, or the wish to retreat and think some things over - that's what art is all about. And never mind the styles...!

Don't forget to read my newest sub-blog - "Write a Song About This!"