Music Career Finder

Start Here:

1. 1. Are you a Musician/Performer or are you just looking for a career in the Music Business? *This question is required.
2. 2. What are you most interested in? Select as many as you like. *This question is required.
Female DJ using mixer during live DJ set

DJ

Asian female singer in studio with mic

Singer

Music Director with headphones around her neck in the on-air studio at the radio station

Music Director

Closeup on an Orchestrator's hand writing notes on sheet music

Orchestrator

Young Black male Drummer playing the drums

Drummer

Young female Audio Engineer with soundboard in recording studio

Audio Engineer

Young female Pianist at piano

Pianist

Young black male Music Producer in recording studio

Music Producer

Mastering engineer using mixing console in recording studio

Mastering Engineer

Record Producers working in a music studio

Record Producer

Female Guitarist in recording studio

Guitarist

Songwriter with acoustic guitar writing lyrics in notebook

Songwriter

Lyricist listening to music and writing ideas in her notebook

Lyricist

Ceiling of opera theatre with crowd taking their seats

Opera Singer

Personal Manager in the recording studio with the band he manages

Personal Manager

Young female Bassist with her band

Bassist

Music Teacher showing bass to young male music student

Music Teacher

Concertmaster playing his violin

Concertmaster

Close up on a Composer's hands playing the piano

Composer

Director of A&R wearing headphones

Director of A&R

Writing a song is one of the most personal things any person can do, and everybody, from a child in their bedroom to a chart-topper, can always use some songwriting tips.

Whether the tune is about a breakup, facing the end of life, or dancing in a club, putting pen to paper and then letting the entire world hear and read what’s been written is scary, and it requires the person behind the cut to allow themselves to be vulnerable.

Songwriting is an art, and thus there’s no way to know if you’re getting it right or wrong, and there’s no one who can say for sure whether the end product is wholly fantastic or terrible. It’s all in the eyes, or the ears, of the beholder, as well as the artist behind the work. While there’s no roadmap to a perfect track or steps to take to ensure there are no mistakes made, there are tips that everyone can follow that will help them get started, break through Writer’s block and complete a tune.

If you write songs, or if you’re only thinking of trying to pen lyrics, read this article for some songwriting tips that you might find helpful as you progress as a Songwriter.

This article also features insights on songwriting from the following professional Songwriters:

  • Cliff Goldmacher (Ke$ha, Keb’ Mo’, Mickey Hart)
  • Ben Johnson (Charlie Puth, Meek Mill, Justin Timberlake)
  • Peter Zizzo (Vanessa Carlton, Avril Lavigne, Jason Mraz)

Getting Started with Songwriting

How do beginners start songwriting?

Hugh McIntyre

This is a very vague answer, but, you just…start. You can read all the songwriting books and articles and listen to Songwriters talk about the process until the cows come home, but nothing will get written if you don’t sit down and begin. If you need a little more help than that, here are a few tips.

Some tips for beginners who want to start songwriting:

  • Read. Check out articles and books from those in the music industry and well-known musicians who have years of experience with songwriting.
  • Listen and Watch. Interviews and podcasts with Songwriters are everywhere, and each person will have a different take on how to craft a tune, and all of them are valid.
  • Brainstorm. Come up with some topics you’d like to write about, from a breakup to a fight with your mom.
  • Jot Down Ideas. From single words to complete stanzas, keep a notebook with you and write down everything that comes to mind.
  • Piece It All Together. Once you have some phrases or lines that are all about the same topic or theme, try putting them together in a different order to see how they work.
  • Sing Do these lyrics sound and feel right? If not, is it the words? The order? Maybe how you’re singing them? Take your time and play with everything!

What are the most important aspects of songwriting?

Hugh McIntyre

There are quite a few different aspects and factors that go into penning a great song. What are they?

Here are some of the most important aspects of songwriting:

  • Melody: The tune of the song. It’s best if it’s something that will get lodged into a listener’s mind and never leave.
  • Chords: You don’t need to understand chords immediately, but if you want to progress with your songwriting, you’ll want to learn not only the names of the chords, but what they sound like. That way, you can place your words over them and make a song.
  • Lyrics: The words that everyone will one day be singing along to.
  • Sections: Every song has different parts, or sections, to it. You’ll want to read up on what an intro, verse, bridge, chorus, and outro are. Then you’ll understand how most songs are structured.
  • Theme: What is the song about? It can be love, loss, a party, or anything in between.

How do you get better at songwriting?

Hugh McIntyre

Like so many other things in life, there is only one way to become better at songwriting–keep doing it. There is no way around this fact, so accept it, learn to love the process, and continue churning out those tunes!

But if you want a specific roadmap, here’s how you get better at songwriting:

  • Keep writing. The more songs you write, the more you’ll understand what works and what doesn’t, as well as who you are as a Songwriter.
  • Share your work. Let others listen and ask for feedback. What do they love or what doesn’t work for them? Keep all of this in mind when you write your next song.
  • Continue learning. Read, listen, and watch more and more. Hear from the experts and those who have succeeded in songwriting before you.
  • Listen. Keep playing music! Now that you’re a Songwriter and not just a fan, you should think critically as you listen. How did a musician get a lyric stuck in your head? Why did they pick that word over another? What made someone choose one way of expressing an idea over another? Ask yourself these questions and so many more!

1. Know Your Instrument

So, you’ve decided to be a musician. That’s great! But…what instrument are you going to play? Are you going to shred a guitar in a hard rock band? Sing along to an electro-dance beat? Croon over a soft piano? While many artists bounce back and forth between styles and certainly use a lot of different tools, having some kind of idea of what may be used to create your next track can be helpful when it comes to writing the song itself.

Some melodies work better in certain kinds of songs, which usually lend themselves to one instrument or another. While there are no hard and fast rules in songwriting, going into penning a track knowing what you’d like the final product to sound like can be a great place to kick off.

How do you write a song with no experience?

Ben Johnson (Charlie Puth, Meek Mill, Justin Timberlake)

Just like you start any new hobby or profession! Just start. A great way to start is to try to write a song that sounds like one of your favorite songs. Then think about what you want to say, or what emotion you want to convey, and then just start singing.

It’s amazing how many hit songs have been written just from someone sitting down and singing whatever comes to the top of their head without thinking too hard about it. Be patient with yourself and understand that it’s most likely going to take a lot of bad songs to get to the good ones.

Cliff Goldmacher (Ke$ha, Keb’ Mo’, Mickey Hart)

There’s certainly no one way to do this. I think a lot of Songwriters come from the place of already being musicians, playing an instrument, or even being Singers. For me, when I started writing songs, I was sort of imitating songs that I knew and liked. Not consciously.

It wasn’t like I said, “I’m going to write a song that sounds like so-and-so.” I just think that we are, as Songwriters, the total sum of our influences. So when I started writing, I guess I was writing songs in the style of songs that I knew and loved.

I think it’s rare that somebody just sits down one day and says, from an intellectual place, “I’m going to write a song.” I think more often than not, you’re doing this because you can’t help it. Maybe you’ve been writing poems or you’ve been playing music for a while, then all of a sudden you just sort of turn a corner and you want to put something new into the world.

For those who are really trying to do this on an intellectual level, I think analyzing songs that you like and that you respond to is a good place to begin, because you can kind of get a sense of what’s working. If you’ve already become aware of a song, that means it’s been successful on some level commercially. So looking at a song like that and thinking about why it works may be a good place to start if you really are starting from scratch.

But more often than not, I think you write a song because you can’t help it; because you were playing your instrument, or you were singing, or you started to write a poem and you realized, “Hey, this kind of feels like the chorus of a song,” and just went from there.

Peter Zizzo (Vanessa Carlton, Avril Lavigne, Jason Mraz)

To be honest, you have to not be able to stop yourself from writing songs. Writing a song—and most importantly, finishing a song—can be a very scary and brutal process. You have to want to do it. You have to have a love for it and be excited about it.

When you get a really good idea or something you’re excited about pursuing, that’s nice. But when you get into the work, it can get very hard and you’ll want to stop. If you really want to do anything in life and you want to do it well, you have to understand that it’s not always going to be fun.

What’s fun is when you’ve finished something and you love it. You feel proud about it before anyone else in the world hears it. I find that to write and finish a song that you like when it’s still just yours, and no one else has heard it, is a beautiful moment of self-validation. And it’s an earned validation. It only comes because you did the work.

I don’t mean for it to sound scary in terms of the work. What I mean to say is, you have to love something to want to try it—whether it’s writing a song, playing a musical instrument, painting, or acting. There has to be some bravery involved. I would say it starts with a desire. It starts with you hearing songs and loving songs and wanting to try to write a song you’ve loved.

In more mechanical terms, I would say if you love songs, figure out why you love them. What are your favorite parts of the song? What is it about that part of the song? Is it the melody? Is it what the words are saying? Do you play a musical instrument?

If so, can you figure out the chords? Most contemporary songs have chord changes. With some pieces, you can adapt those chords and write different songs out of them. There are all kinds of ways operationally to start writing a song, but my overall answer is you just have to do it. And you have to want to do it.

I would say mindset is the second thing. The first thing is the interest and the passion. You have to convince yourself to do it and tell yourself that it’s important to do it. It has to be “this is the thing I have to do.” It’s hard to keep appointments with yourself. Or you might be writing with somebody else and you’re collaborating. You’ll call that person up and say that you want to write a song together and make time to do it.

2. Decide What Comes First

When writing a song, do you pen the lyrics first or the melody? Well, in a nutshell…yes.

Unfortunately (or fortunately?), there is no formula for writing songs, so there is never a perfect place to begin. You may want to launch this latest process with a melody that’s been stuck in your head, or perhaps there’s one line you jotted down some time ago that you know would make a killer title. Great! As long as you have something that’s inspiring you to begin with, don’t worry about what it is, just get started!

3. Learn Your Genre

There’s a saying in most artforms that you can’t break the rules until you know them. This is certainly true in the music industry, as you should first understand things like song structure (more on that soon), the pieces of a song, and genre before you embark on melding them together and crafting something completely original and brand new.

Genre isn’t as important these days as it used to be, but chances are if you’re just starting out as a Songwriter, a great tip is to study other tracks that fit under the style you’d like to make. If you’re planning on writing tunes for the dancefloor, you may not want to borrow lines and ideas from Norwegian death metal bands. You can certainly experiment, but make sure you explore lyrics and listen to lots of songs to create lists of tropes, typical words, structures, and even melodies that are commonly used.

4. Choose a Song Structure

Again, when you’re just beginning your career as a Songwriter, you may want to start with something familiar and simple and work your way from there. Many tracks contain verses, choruses, and bridges placed strategically, and most of the biggest hits follow similar structures. Get to know these, what purpose each piece of the song serves and how you can make each one as interesting and catchy as possible.

I won’t dive into all the different song structures here (this would be a much, much longer article if I did), but this is work you should do to develop a deep understanding of how songs are constructed before you begin trying to assemble some of your own.

How long does it take to become a good Songwriter?

Cliff Goldmacher (Ke$ha, Keb’ Mo’, Mickey Hart)

I hope this doesn’t sound daunting, but I would say don’t even begin to think about knowing who you are as a Songwriter until you’ve written 100 songs. I think once you’ve got 100 songs under your belt, you’ll be able to look back and start to find some patterns in your writing.

You’ll start to find the beginnings of your voice as a Songwriter, and I really mean the beginnings. I’ve written over 1,000 songs. I can promise you that I really didn’t know what I was doing or understand my own process until I’d written over 100 songs.

A friend of mine said the greatest thing: “Every once in a while, you’re gonna screw up and write a great song.” That’s fine. The problem is that you might write one that’s really great, but you might not have any idea how to recreate that process.

By the time you’ve written 100 songs, you’ll understand your process enough as a Songwriter so that every time you sit down to write, you know that you’re at least going to start at a baseline level of quality. And then, every once in a while—and we don’t know why—certain songs that we write will just have that extra magic pinch of pixie dust on them.

By giving yourself permission to just write, and write, and write, and write without expecting to be great right away, you’ll start to learn what’s working and what isn’t and be able to consistently create the stuff that does work.

Peter Zizzo (Vanessa Carlton, Avril Lavigne, Jason Mraz)

Your whole life? One song? Somewhere in between? I was writing songs when I was eleven or twelve. I thought they were great. I always thought I was a good Songwriter. I think the more important question is, how long until you believe you want to be a Songwriter? That shouldn’t take long at all.

It’s an unquantifiable skill. You can be a magically brilliant Songwriter and never have a break, a hit song, or make a lot of money. I’m thinking of two of the greatest Songwriters I’ve ever known in my life, and they’ve never made a lot of money doing it. I don’t know how important that is to them, but they scare me with how good they are. They own their part and their love of it.

Also, you never know when something might happen. Could be decades down the road. A good thing to go by is if you want to be as successful as someone like Ed Sheeran, read his story. Learn about what he went through. He started putting out EPs when he was fourteen and pretty much homeless and he slept on people’s couches for years.

Someone asked him, “How is it that you stayed with it through all of that rejection and silence?” He said it was because he had no plan B. It was this or death for him. A song like “The A Team,” that was the song that got him going and established here. “The A Team” was on a few of his earlier EPs long before anything happened for him. It was popular in England for a while before his label in the states decided to try it here.

When they tried it as a single here, it took a long time to catch on in radio. The only reason they kept trying was that they knew it had been a hit in the UK. They stayed with it, spent more money, and eventually, it started to happen; it became a massive hit.

To most people, they’re like, “Ed Sheeran wrote this amazing song, it became a big hit, and he became a star.” That’s not the way it works. He wouldn’t have had that kind of dedication from the label here if it hadn’t been a hit in another country. It wouldn’t have been a hit in another country if he’d given up on the song two EPs back and stopped thinking about that song and playing it for people. Staying with it was the only reason he became successful.

Ben Johnson (Charlie Puth, Meek Mill, Justin Timberlake)

It depends a lot on what you classify as “good”. If you’re enjoying writing songs, you’re a good Songwriter in that capacity. If you’re having fun, if your friends enjoy listening to your songs, and that is fulfilling to you, that can be classified as being a good Songwriter. If you want to be a commercially successful Songwriter though, it most likely will take years.

When I moved to Nashville and began my songwriting journey, I had already written hundreds of songs that I thought were pretty good. But it took six years of hard work after that before I landed my first cut. And I’m still learning and striving to be better every day because it is a very competitive industry, so if you don’t enjoy the craft and the process of writing songs, it can quickly wear you down.

I genuinely enjoy writing songs, whether they are ever heard or not, and I think that’s important if you want to be a Songwriter!

5. Understand Melody

When it comes to songwriting, many would argue that the melody is the most important part of the process–and of any song. A melody is the sequence of notes played or sung within a piece of music that can make or break a tune, in reality. A simple melody may consist of just a handful of short notes and nothing else, but it can be incredibly effective at capturing the listener’s attention and staying with them long after the song is over–and that is why it’s so important for songwriters to understand and master melodies.

A well-crafted melody can evoke a range of emotions and create a connection with the listener. In fact, some of the most memorable songs of all time are so beloved because of their unforgettable melodies. When breaking down a melody, there are two primary components to consider: pitch and duration.

  • Pitch
  • In music theory, every note in a piece of music has its own frequency that it moves–or vibrates–on, which determines its pitch. This is what gives each note its unique sound and allows us to differentiate between different notes in a melody.

    Pitch can be thought of as how “high” or “low” a note sounds, in basic terminology. A melody can move up and down in pitch, creating a sense of movement and progression throughout a tune. That is usually what makes a melody so memorable—the way the notes move in relation to one another, as it can create a sense of tension and release.

    • Duration
    • This refers to the length of time a note must be held, as well as the length of the break in between notes. For example, a quarter note is a one that lasts for one-quarter the amount of time of a measure that has been written in 4/4 time. Duration plays an important role in shaping the overall feel of a melody. For example, a sustained note can create a sense of tension or anticipation, while a series of shorter notes can create a more staccato, rhythmic feel.

6. Understand Chords

Chords are an essential element in songs, as they form the spine that other pieces hold onto. A chord is a group of musical notes played together within a given time frame. This unique combination of notes doesn’t necessarily have to be played all at once, nor do they have to be played by the same instrument. For instance, a guitarist could strum the six strings of a guitar to play a chord, and on the other end of the spectrum, the people that make up an orchestra could play a single note each to form a chord.

To better understand the fundamental structure of most popular music, it’s vital that you completely grasp the concept of chords. Now, the technicalities of chords can be quite complex, so for the purposes of this article, we will stick to the real basics.

The two primary chords are the major triad and the minor triad. These chords consist of three notes, each developed and created on certain degrees of either a major scale or a minor scale. What separates a major chord from a minor one is the third note, which is very special.

A major chord has a “natural third,” or the third degree of the chord’s respective major scale. On the other hand, a minor chord has either a “minor third” or a “flat third,” which is the third degree of the chord’s respective minor scale.

Very technical, but that’s the lowest-level definition that should do for now as you begin exploring songwriting.

7. Write Everything Down

If you think of anything clever, funny, something that rhymes, or a particularly interesting way to convey a feeling or emotion…anything that may one day be of use to you in a song, write it down! You may believe it’s the best thing you’ve ever come up with and you’re sure to remember it, but you won’t. We have all played that game before and lost.

Whether you keep a pen and small notebook in your pocket or stick to some sort of notes app on your phone, make sure you have a dedicated space for all the little snippets and ideas that pop into your brain. You will want to carve out some time to organize all of these and explore some of them. You never know which one will become the chorus to your next hit song or that one line in a verse that sticks with all your fans.

8. Be Authentic

When you’re writing a song, you can choose to open up and share what resides in the deepest recesses of your heart…or you can create a tune that’s all about having fun on the beach in the summer. Not all music has to be emotional and revealing, but the best of it must be authentic.

Writing authentically can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people, but basically, all you need to focus on is that you have to be yourself. Stick to your writing style, how you like to sing, to make art, and to what you want to say. Don’t try to copy others or pretend you’re someone you’re not. You’ll never succeed by being anyone other than your own interesting, creative self, as tough as that may be sometimes.

9. Write With Others

When most Songwriters are just starting out, penning lyrics and creating melodies is a lonely, solitary practice. Some artists choose to work that way for their entire careers, but most musicians find collaborators who add their two cents and bring the tracks to a new level with their own songwriting tips.

If you are just beginning your songwriting adventure, you may need to do some work to find people who want to write with you. There are plenty of online forums and websites where you can do this, or you may want to stick closer to home and ask a friend, family member, classmate, or someone in a local band to join you.

Writing with others is a good way to flex a new muscle, learn from your collaborator, and experience how many of the biggest hits in the industry are crafted, as very, very few big tunes are composed entirely by one person.

Is songwriting an innate talent or a skill you can develop?

Peter Zizzo (Vanessa Carlton, Avril Lavigne, Jason Mraz)

I think both are true. There are people that have a great innate ability to do things, and then there are people that have the love for it and just want to do it. That goes for anything at all. In many cases, I’d put my money on the people that weren’t born with as much innate ability to succeed over the people that were.

When you’re born with a gift, generally what happens is you grow up and people notice you have this gift. People tell you that you’re amazing at this, you’ll be a star, you’ll be incredible, it’ll be easy for you, etc. I know that comes from the right place, but it’s fairly destructive. What happens is when you grow up and get out there in the world, you find out it’s really, really hard to be successful no matter what you’re doing and how good you are.

And you may fail a lot. You may fail for years without a single break. When someone has been groomed to think that they’re the best and that it will be easy for them, they’re not prepared for that kind of rejection. They feel like all the eyes of everyone they grew up with are on them, and they’re going to feel bad so they won’t work as hard. If they start to fail, they’ll become depressed and self-medicated. All sorts of crazy things happen to talented people.

I’ll give you an example. When you ask who the greatest inventors of the last 150 years were, the first two names that come up are Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison. Thomas Edison is known for inventing the lightbulb. The truth about Thomas Edison is that he didn’t really invent the lightbulb and he really wasn’t a super brilliant guy. He was, by all accounts, a guy that would work ten times harder than everybody else, loved science, and loved the world he got into, more than anybody.

His Teachers said he wasn’t their best student but he outworked everybody. He loved the press and self-promotion. He worked with about thirty other scientists, and a series of things were developed that eventually became the lightbulb, through trial and error, and he got himself a lot of press for it. He’s seen as a great genius, but really what his genius was was his desire and his love of what he did.

The most successful Songwriters and Singer-Songwriters, when you peek behind the curtain, these are also people that are terminators in terms of their work ethic, fearlessness, and their ability to navigate and narrate their story and their brand. You didn’t used to have to be that way. You could be a Joni Mitchell, or a Donovan, or a Laura Nyro and become a hugely successful talent. It was purely based on how good you were.

Today, you also have to have a very canny sense of the age that we live in and how to navigate it. So people like a Shawn Mendes, a Taylor Swift, or a Justin Bieber, these are talented people for sure, but they’re smart and not afraid of anything. They’ve worked harder than most people put together because it’s what they want. Maybe there are more talented people out there who haven’t gotten where they’ve gotten and that’s because of the work ethic and the fearlessness.

Cliff Goldmacher (Ke$ha, Keb’ Mo’, Mickey Hart)

The answer is yes. It’s both. I do a lot of songwriting consultations. When I talk to my songwriting consultation clients, I tell them, “I can’t teach you to be inspired.” You can’t do that. The spark is yours and yours alone. But I can teach you what to do with the spark once it comes.

So there is a certain amount of natural desire to create and natural inspiration that you can’t really teach. But once you’ve got that, I can teach you where to look for inspiration in the future. I can teach you ways to keep that inspiration alive, and I can teach you what we call the craft of songwriting, which is how you take that inspiration and turn it into something that other people will care about.

Ben Johnson (Charlie Puth, Meek Mill, Justin Timberlake)

I think it is both. When I was seven years old, I was the best baseball player on my team. But my mom told me that a lot of the kids who weren’t very good would one day be better than I was if I did not work hard, and she was right. Many of the kids who were riding the pine at 7 beat me out for all-stars at 14.

There’s no doubt that you can have an affinity for something, but in the end, it’s the hours and effort that you put into it that pay the true dividends. If you want to develop your skills as a Songwriter, you should be ready to put the hours in.

Some things I suggest working on are studying songs you love, figuring out why you love them, and trying to implement what you find in your own songs. One thing I think people underestimate is just how many songs you most likely need to write to get to good ones. Even the best Songwriters in the world are writing fifty songs you never hear before they get to one that you do.

10. Write...and Rewrite

So, you’ve come up with excellent rhymes, honed in on your melodies, and even recorded a demo of your song. That means you’re done, right? Not exactly.

Whenever anyone is writing something for public consumption, a big part of the process is rewriting. Yes, everyone has to do it, from Journalists to those creating movies and TV shows and even Songwriters.

Look at what you have and think of new ways to say what is already in front of you in black and white. Are there other perspectives? Different adjectives or verbs that might spice things up? Perhaps a different rhyme scheme, or melody? Maybe the composition is a bit too full and you need to space everything out a little, allowing the lyrics and the music to breathe.

Nobody can tell you exactly what to do to your song during the rewrite, but every track, even the best tunes ever composed, needs to be looked over once finished, and sometimes more than once.

11. Step Away

Once you’ve been through everything listed above, you get to finally record your song…but long before you do that, step away from the track you’ve been working so hard on. Don’t jump right into the studio and consider it perfect! Put down the paper and your audio recorder and do something else. Focus on your homework, go to a movie, see friends, or even write something else (more on that later). Sometimes you’ll want to back away for a day, sometimes a week or more.

You need time for your brain to settle and remove itself from the grueling songwriting process in order to read it and hear it differently. You may find when you return that you still love what you’ve come up with, or, chances are, there will be a number of issues that jump out at you. This is a good thing! It’s better you catch anything you don’t love before you invest in studio time or even release a song in time to make any changes.

Anything else you think up-and-coming Songwriters should know about?

Cliff Goldmacher (Ke$ha, Keb’ Mo’, Mickey Hart)

There’s something I’ve been thinking about recently as far as a career in songwriting … which is that you should be both macro-patient and micro-impatient. You need to get up every day and be hungry to do the work. Every day. You have to be impatient to do that work.

Then you have to be incredibly patient when it comes to the fruits of your labor, because it will never happen as quickly as you would like or in the way that you expect it to happen. But if you get up every day and teach yourself to do the work, the good things will happen over time.

Peter Zizzo (Vanessa Carlton, Avril Lavigne, Jason Mraz)

There’s a theme I keep coming back to here and it’s fearlessness. You really have to not be afraid. When you read the story of anybody or anything that’s super successful, the backstory is always: nobody liked it, everybody rejected it, they went years without getting anything, and there were all these setbacks. But we only hear about them when they become successful; it looks as if they suddenly appear fully formed.

The reality is that’s not how it works. I think the more you know about how much goes into it, the less afraid you should be. If you love it, great! Keep finishing and showing songs to people. Keep connecting with people. Don’t be afraid of people not liking what you do.

Sometimes you shouldn’t listen if people say something like, “You’re too folky for today,” or, “You’re a girl and doing rock. Girls shouldn’t do rock,”—that was an Avril Lavigne concern. I even said that to her. I saw her as an acoustic kind of thing, not a Blink-182 thing. To me, she was a five-foot tall, boy-crazy, super-sensitive little puppy dog with a beautiful voice. She didn’t care. That’s what she wanted to be and she really had a degree of “fuck you” in her DNA and that’s why girls went crazy for her and followed her and loved that defiance.

Listen to the consistent criticism you keep getting. You have to pay attention when you hear a lot of the same thing, like, “I couldn’t follow the melodies and they were too busy.” Compare it to songs you really love and use it to learn and grow. Don’t be afraid of that.

I think my short version is that, if you’re interested in writing songs, it doesn’t matter whether you have innate ability or not. You just have to love it. Really, really love it. Don’t be afraid of stumbling and falling. I think it should start with feeling inspired to do it and then not being afraid.

This applies to anything you want to try and take seriously. This isn’t just songwriting. If you’re going to be afraid of the walls and challenges you need to make a way around, then you’re going to let that fear dictate decisions you make and you’re not going to make the right decisions in your life. Whether it’s people you date, the jobs you accept, or places you choose to go.

There are types of fear you have to recognize that are healthy and types that are based on your own self-doubt and your own feeling of overwhelm.

If you’re starting a song and it feels like it’s too scary or overwhelming or you get stuck, give yourself permission to put it down and get back to it. Make a plan to work on one part of it. Come back the next day. Do that every day. In a handful of days, you’ll probably have the whole song.

When you look at the parts you haven’t done, it can feel overwhelming because there’s so much unknown. You’ll hear songs that come on the radio that are finished and polished and you’ll think, “Fuck this, I don’t want to do it,” and you don’t know what they went through to get that song there. It’s gonna be hard.

Honestly, if you don’t want it to be difficult and you want writing songs to be easy, don’t bother. It’s not easy. I don’t care what anybody says. I hate when I read articles that say, “Oh, we wrote the whole thing in about fifteen minutes,” and I think, “Why are you saying that? It’s intimidating and discouraging to people.”

I, for one, have questions about it. I’ve been writing songs for more than thirty years and I’ve never once, alone or in collaboration, written a complete song that fast. You might do most of one, or enough where all that’s left is, say, the second verse lyric or whether or not it needs a bridge; it could be an awesome, fun session. But it’s hyperbolic. I wish these A-list Songwriters would instead talk about the struggle, how hard it was.

Everybody struggles. You have to walk into a room and there’s nothing in existence and create something from nothing that is valuable to other people. How are you going to tell me that’s not hard? It just is. But the beautiful thing is, the song is in the ether, and if you’re willing to keep courting it, it can be yours—and just possibly the world’s—forever. That’s what keeps me coming back.

Know How to Get Unstuck

At some point in your journey as a Songwriter, something is going to happen to you, and there is no way to get around it. You’re going to get stuck. It’s inevitable, and while it is certainly frustrating when you crash into a wall and can go no further, there are plenty of things you can do to get unstuck…eventually.

Here are just a handful of ideas that may be helpful to you when you get stuck writing songs.

Write Something Else

There is no rule that says you have to continue writing one song until it’s completely finished, no matter what. In fact, that’s not how most tracks are created, so don’t feel bad if you get stuck. When that does happen, walk away and immediately begin writing something else. Maybe a chorus for another track, or even an email, an article, or a poem. Sometimes when you’re not thinking about the one cut, the solution can come to you.

Write From Another Perspective

If you’ve been writing a song from one perspective, why not try another? If it’s about a boy pining for a girl, why not flip it around and do the opposite? Perhaps there’s another angle or side to the story that should be investigated? Or, if it’s sad, make the tune do a 180 and try penning it as happy. You never know what will come out of this exercise until you’ve done it!

Read

Lyrics. Books. Poems. Articles (perhaps books about songwriting, but not necessarily). If you’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about words and what sounds most interesting and how they fit together and you’ve gotten yourself stuck, try filling your head with sentences and paragraphs and rhymes from other places. They can come from anywhere! The point here is to read anything for inspiration.

Listen

As a musician, you’re already doing a lot of this, but if you’re stuck writing a new piece of music, you may want to stop listening to it over and over and over and press play on something else. Maybe your all-time favorite track, maybe a tune you’ve never heard. Listen to the words, the melodies, the harmonies, and how it all works together. The best artists borrow from others!

Set a Time Limit

This can be a fun exercise, and even if it doesn’t work the first time, it’s worth investigating and trying more than once. Set yourself a time limit to finish the song you’re stuck on. Maybe an hour, maybe three, maybe one day. If you know there’s a stopping point, your brain may finally cease introducing new ideas and alternate options. Sometimes too much freedom is a bad thing and parameters can be helpful!

Hey, what do you think about trying our new Music Career HelperMusic Career Helper really quick? It’s totally free and could help get your career moving fast! Give it a try. It’s totally free and you have nothing to lose.

Tips For Writing Melodies

As someone who wants to become a working songwriter, you need to learn how to craft melodies people won’t forget. If you want some help in that department, here are some tips that can help you along the way.

  1. One effective way to start the process of writing a song melody is to make things up on the spot. Improvise! But try doing so by using only a specific set of chord changes. Let your fingers find the notes within those chords, and allow a new melody to emerge.
  2. Major and minor scales are the building blocks of most pop melodies, but don’t be afraid to explore beyond just those. Try experimenting with dominant scales, altered scales, or modes to create unique and interesting melodies. Of course, you’ll have to learn a bit about all of that first. Combining notes from different scales can bring you some pretty unexpected results.
  3. Try to approach melody writing in a more structured way than you might normally be accustomed to. Write the chorus melody first, and then work backward to put together catchy and meaningful verses and pre-choruses that work well with the chorus.
  4. Most successful vocal melodies rely on motion, meaning that each note is only a half or whole step away from the previous one. But, as with anything in art, the norms and rules can be broken. Try including a major jump–at least two steps. That mixes things up and intrigues the listener.
  5. Repetition can be a powerful tool in songwriting–but sometimes it can feel a bit…tired. Boring, even. As you repeat phrases of musical moments, make some slight variations to the notes or rhythm each time it’s written. This can add interest and complexity to the melody, and can help create a sense of development and evolution within the song.

Songwriting Tips, Tricks & Exercises To Try

All songwriters have experienced moments where they feel stuck creatively. It happens to everyone at some point, but don’t worry, there are tons of little exercises you can employ to help you get past those moments.

As you sit down to work, consider trying out some new techniques to stretch yourself creatively. You may find that what comes out of your sessions is different from what you’ve produced before, which is the point.

Some of these techniques, tricks, and exercises come from other fields, which means they can be used in different aspects of your life as well. It’s not only about songwriting! Of course, some might not work at all for you, but you’ll never know until you try them and figure out what’s best for you and your creative process. As the Thomas Jefferson saying goes, “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.”

Set a Time Limit

This can be a fun exercise, and even if it doesn’t work the first time, it’s worth investigating and trying more than once. Set yourself a time limit to finish the song you’re stuck on. Maybe an hour, maybe three, maybe one day. If you know there’s a stopping point, your brain may finally cease introducing new ideas and alternate options. Sometimes too much freedom is a bad thing and parameters can be helpful!

Remove Distractions

In today’s fast-paced world, it can be challenging to break free from the constant distractions surrounding us. Our busy schedules and electronic devices can take a toll on our mental state and change the way our brain functions.

If you’re looking to explore new possibilities and expand your mind, try something as simple as looking out of the window. Take a moment to sit and breathe without feeling the need to rush or accomplish anything. Silence can do wonders for your mind. It’s essential to disconnect and ensure that nothing pulls you away, whether it’s music, your phone, or a computer.

Don’t worry about being productive during this time. Allow yourself to disconnect and embrace the peace and quiet.

Write Only A Few Lyrics

Simplicity is a valuable skill for any songwriter, but it’s not easy to execute, at least not well. Once mastered, however, it can make your songs pop and really stick with people. Thankfully, simplicity isn’t just for songwriting–it’s a skill that anyone crafting any form of writing should work on.

By cutting out unnecessary words, you can get straight to the point and convey exactly what you want to say. From there, you can always add in more ornate language or stylistic touches to enhance the piece.

Limit The Tools You Can Use

Modern music production has made it incredibly easy to create music using computers. These tools are fantastic, but sometimes having too many options can be overwhelming. Try to start with a strict list of what you’re going to use. It might sound counterintuitive, but working within constraints can actually boost your creativity.

When you have to work with what you’ve got and push it to its limits, you gain a deeper understanding of the tools you’re using.

Reward Yourself

If you’re feeling stuck, try setting a goal and rewarding yourself once you achieve it. It could be something as simple as treating yourself to a new shirt, a beat, or even an ice cream cone on a hot day. By setting a limit that you have to reach in order to earn your reward, you’ll have something to work towards beyond the satisfaction of finishing a song. While what you produce may not be a masterpiece, the goal is to overcome the writer’s block and keep writing.

Listen To Mozart!

If you’re looking for a way to boost your focus and creativity while writing music, try listening to Mozart. While it may sound cliché, studies have shown that listening to Mozart–or any classical music, for that matter–can have a positive effect on your concentration and spatial-temporal reasoning.

This means that starting your writing session with some Mozart could put your brain into high gear and help you produce quality work. In fact, a study published by the National Institute of Health found that participants who listened to classical music while performing creative tasks were more creative than those who worked in silence.

Try A Rhyming Dictionary

Using a rhyming dictionary can be an incredibly useful tool for any songwriter, and there’s no shame in utilizing it. Even some of the most successful songwriters in the industry continue to use a rhyming dictionary to this day. If you’re struggling to find the perfect word to fit into your rhyme scheme, take a look at a rhyming dictionary.

Sometimes just seeing other options can give you the inspiration you need. And even if you don’t find the exact word you’re looking for, exploring the various options can spark new ideas and help you come up with something even better.

Stream of Consciousness

Want to tap into your subconscious and spur on some fresh ideas for your music? Try the stream of consciousness technique. Forget about music theory and structure and everything technical and just let your mind and fingers guide you in your creation process.

Don’t judge anything that comes out–just let it flow. After a while, you may notice certain patterns or chords that catch your ear. The goal is to explore and experiment, so don’t be afraid of what happens, but do take note of things you like and try building off of whatever sparks your interest.

Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique has become increasingly popular among individuals looking to increase their productivity and efficiency, and it’s very helpful for those often distracted by lengthy tasks.

The Pomodoro Technique works by breaking down work into 25-minute intervals, followed by a five-minute break. This strict schedule encourages individuals to stay focused during the designated work time, knowing that a break is coming up soon.

The Five Cs Of Songwriting

Songwriting is an art form that requires a unique set of skills to excel, and some who practice it or even teach it like to focus on what are commonly referred to as “the five Cs.” These skills are critical to master for anyone hoping to create a memorable piece of music.

1. Craft

Craftsmanship is a crucial element for any successful songwriter, as one is always honing their skills and striving to enhance their craft. This means dedicating time to writing and consistently working towards improving. Studying the great songwriters of the past and present is one of the most effective ways to enhance one’s skills. In some ways, it can be viewed as the ultimate songwriting school.

2. Connect

The ability to connect with an audience is what sets truly great songwriters apart from the rest. In order to create a connection that goes beyond mere words on a page, a songwriter must tap into the emotions of their listeners.

This involves a deep understanding of what motivates people and drives them on an instinctual level. By using language that speaks directly to their audience’s experiences and feelings, a songwriter can create a powerful emotional connection that leaves a lasting impression.

3. Communicate

Clear communication is a must for any kind of writer, and that certainly applies to songwriters as well. They must have the ability to transform their thoughts and emotions into well-written songs that their audience can easily understand.

Great songwriters know how to use metaphors and other literary devices to convey their message effectively and are experts at painting a vivid picture in the listener’s mind.

4. Create

Songwriting is all about creating. In fact, that’s pretty much all it is at its most basic level. To stand out, songwriters must add their own unique spin to their work. The ability to create something new and meaningful is a skill that takes time and practice to develop, but it is essential for any songwriter–or any artist, really–looking to make their mark in the music industry.

5. Critique

It’s tough to do, but songwriters–just like anyone writing an article, a book, or a movie script–must be able to critique their own work and also be receptive to feedback from others. The best artists understand that their songs are not always perfect and that there is always room for improvement.

They are willing to take a step back from their work and analyze it objectively, identifying areas where they can make improvements. This self-awareness and willingness to critique their work is what ensures that only the best tunes make it out into the world, and it is not something that everyone in the music business excels at.

Songwriter & Producer Cliff Goldmacher
Cliff Goldmacher

In the music business for over twenty-five years, GRAMMY-recognized Songwriter Cliff Goldmacher is also a Producer, Engineer, Author, and Owner of recording studios in Nashville, Tennessee and Sonoma, California. A multi-instrumentalist and Session Musician, Cliff has recorded, played on, and produced thousands of recordings for major and independent Publishers, record labels, from up-and-coming Songwriters to GRAMMY winners.

Cliff has worked as a Staff Songwriter for a major Nashville Publisher and his songwriting collaborators include multi-platinum selling and Grammy-winning artists Ke$ha, Keb’ Mo’, Mickey Hart (Grateful Dead), Chris Barron (Spin Doctors) & Lisa Loeb. Cliff’s songs have been cut by major label artists in genres ranging from country, pop, and jazz to classical crossover. His music has also been used on NPR’s “This American Life” and in national advertising campaigns. Along with multiple songs in the top 40 on the jazz charts, Cliff’s song “Till You Come To Me,” went to #1. Most recently, Cliff’s song “Cold Outside”–a collaboration with Keb’ Mo’–was included on Keb’ Mo’s GRAMMY-winning album, “Oklahoma.”

As an educator, Cliff teaches workshops for BMI, ASCAP, The Stanford Jazz Workshop, NARAS, LinkedIn Learning, The Songwriter’s Guild of America, the Nashville Songwriter’s Association International (NSAI), Taxi, and The Durango Songwriter’s Expo. For multiple years, Cliff served on the San Francisco Board of Governors for the Recording Academy (GRAMMY Organization).

As an Author and Journalist, Cliff has written articles for EQ, Recording and ProSound News magazines along with numerous music websites and blogs. Cliff’s first eBook The Songwriter’s Guide To Recording Professional Demos, has sold over 6,000 copies.

Songwriter Ben Johnson
Ben Johnson

Ben Johnson is a Songwriter, Producer, and artist living in Nashville, TN. He is signed to a worldwide co-publishing deal with Tape Room Music (Nashville) and Artist Publishing Group (Los Angeles) as well as a record deal with BBR (Stoney Creek), and has written songs for artists such as Charlie Puth, Thomas Rhett, Kane Brown, Ava Max, Lee Brice, Meek Mill, Justin Timberlake, Lauren Alaina, Dierks Bentley, HARDY, and more.

Originally from Meridian, Mississippi, Johnson grew up surrounded by music. He is a classically trained Pianist and Cellist, and grew up performing everywhere from bluegrass festivals to orchestra concerts. From a young age, Johnson has written and produced music with his two sisters in their country band Track45 (managed by Missi Gallimore and Gary Borman, and signed to BBR/Stoney Creek).

In 2012, Johnson moved to Nashville to attend Belmont University, and it was at this time that he began co-writing. Johnson also made many connections in the country world singing BGVs for the CMA Awards each year–heʼs had the opportunity to perform with artists like Dolly Parton, Alan Jackson, George Strait, Reba, and many more. Johnson met Ashley Gorley of Taperoom Music through a co-writer and they began working together, leading to Johnsonʼs eventual signing at Tape Room Music/APG in 2018.

His first major cut was “Patient” with multi-platinum pop artist Charlie Puth on his 2018 album “Voicenotes”. Since then, heʼs had dozens of cuts in both the pop and country worlds, as well as success as a Producer. Johnson had his first #1 in 2020 with Lee Brice’s “One of Them Girls”, which stayed at the top of the charts for 3 weeks. He’s also had #1 songs with Weezer (“All My Favorite Songs”) and Dierks Bentley (“Gone”).

Currently, Ben spends most of his time writing and producing at his studio on Music Row, and working with his band Track45. Track45 released their first EP in 2020, and their single “Met Me Now” went to radio in 2021. The song earned them a spot as the most added artist on country radio the week of its release. Find Track45 online at www.track45.com.

Songwriter/Producer Peter Zizzo
Peter Zizzo

Peter Zizzo is an Emmy and Grammy Award-winning Songwriter and Producer whose work has sold in excess of one hundred million records worldwide.

He has written/produced worldwide hit songs for, and with, artists including Jennifer Lopez, Celine Dion, Avril Lavigne, Jason Mraz, Billy Porter, Brie Larson, M2M, Pixie Lott, BeBe and CeCe Winans (Grammy Winner: Best Gospel Album), and many, many more. His songs have also been featured in many major films and television shows.

As a talent developer, he was instrumental in the early careers of Avril Lavigne, Vanessa Carlton, Billy Porter, and Pixie Lott.

As a Composer for children’s television, he has written and produced the theme songs for hit Nickelodeon’ shows like Blue’s Clues and You, Rusty Rivets, Middle School Moguls, and Fresh Beat Band of Spies, and countless other songs for TV shows including Peter Rabbit (Emmy Nominee: Best Original Song), The Fresh Beat Band (Emmy Winner: Best Musical Composition / Direction) Winx Club, Norman Picklestripe, and many others.

Recently, Peter’s focus has shifted more and more toward the children’s television space: “Oddly, I’ve found that almost no other songwriting endeavor I’ve undertaken has so completely freed me to explore so many genres of music, while also tapping into my Jordan-esque level of pun-manship. I love the role songwriting plays in children’s storytelling. I can just fully externalize my messy, uncool inner creative child. In truth, I’m not that messy anymore. Though I do remain highly, and proudly, immature.”

In addition to writing the songs for an upcoming Netflix children’s musical series, Peter is developing his own music-driven kids shows, and has begun a book about songwriting entitled Dare To Suck!.

A lifelong New Yorker, he recently moved to Los Angeles, and lives in Marina Del Rey.

Site Search
We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.