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Songwriting Tips

Over the last several rounds of BOSAs songwriting competitions we have been polling our guest judges on a variety of topics so that we could turn their nuggets of wisdom and advice into helpful resources for both established and aspiring songwriters. This piece is one of these resources, with a collection of songwriting tips gathered from numerous artists and industry professionals over the past 2 years.

To prevent this information from becoming outdated we specifically asked them for their best "evergreen" or time-tested songwriting tips and advice. We hope this will be helpful to you, and want to stress that with any artistic medium there are no rules that are 'carved in stone', and that the following are general points to be aware of, but not necessarily hard-rules to be followed.

Set the right mood - I can't count the number of well written songs that have crossed my desk which I had to reject simply because the artist didn't match the mood of the music with the mood of the lyrics or story. In very rare instances a mismatched mood can help to drive drama and tension in a song, but in most cases it simply doesn't work.

Constant creative workouts - creating a song is a process, just like building a house, certain muscles, knowledge and skill sets are used to do either, and they need to be constantly exercised and pushed to the limits to be kept in top form, otherwise they'll turn flabby and weaken.

Don't worry if you can't find a groove or storyline every time you sit down to compose, just keep going with whatever comes to you. A good frame of mind is that only a small percentage of what you ever create will be truly good. The rest is just practice.

On originality - there are no original stories to tell, for any type of writer, but there are an endless supply of original perspectives to see the story from. Good songwriting is being able to convert your own perspective into a compelling story that flows from start to finish and catches the listener's ears.

Know the star of your song - in most cases a great song has 1 star and 1 supporting character. Typically the lyrics are the star and the music plays the supporting role, but that isn't always the case. Sometimes, especially with dance music, the music will play the starring role and the lyrics will be more supportive.

While crafting and polishing your composition, it's good to know who the star is going to be so that you can place and push the emphasis where needed.

Music Theory is only a theory - it's good to understand what normally works with what, and why... but it's equally good to break or abandon the rules from time to time too. Don't be afraid to step 'over the line' when the mood strikes you, you may just create something incredible from it.

Inspiration doesn't have to be emotional - not every great song has "come from the heart" of the writer. Sometimes, just thinking "hey, what if I put a heavy Bongo beat behind a jumpy piano lick?" can lead to something wildly fantastic. As a songwriter you're an artist, and great artists live to experiment with the tools of their trade. Don't be afraid to try anything that comes to you, and always be on the lookout for those moments of technical or craft based inspiration.

Try to pick out the layers of your own song(s) - great songs work on multiple levels, or layers. They build an environment, set the atmosphere, provide characters and tell a story; and they do it through a magical mixture of melody and vocabulary layers when done right. So look for the layers in your song(s), then look for the points where any might be missing. Could a flat-11th add a new layer to your bridge? Is there enough tension in your pre-chorus or would a strategically placed background vocal raise the bar higher?

Get help - collaborate with other songwriters, if you don't know anyone local find someone online through social networking sites. There's no substitute for the experience you can get in just spending time around others who do what you do, and by collaborating you can share ideas and techniques that you'll both grow from. Also, ask for feedback and critiques where you can get them. It's great to have your spouse or a family member tell you they love your newest song, but it's better for sharpening your skills to have a peer tell you what they thought was missing in it. Every artist wants admiration deep down, but the best artists equally value constructive criticism from peers too.

Defeating Writer's Block - everyone faces it, that blank piece of paper or music sheet sitting in front of you, taunting you... one exercise that works for many writers is to pick some people you know who don't know each other, perhaps a childhood friend and a co-worker, each people you know well but who have never met one another, and then place them in an imaginary situation together to see what would happen.

Maybe you'll make them passionate lovers in a heated argument, or maybe you'll imagine they still don't know one another but are both witness to some great/tragic event. Whatever scenario you create and put them in, try to turn their perspectives into a song idea. Believe it or not, this simple exercise has helped many writers (of all kinds) put pen to paper.

We hope that these songwriting tips will be useful to you, and always welcome your feedback on how we're doing and how we can be more helpful to you in the future.