September 6, 2023August 23, 2023 by Veronica Tan

Songwriter Habit #4 – Getting Feedback

Songwriters are often solitary creatures. Most of us like to work away at our projects, treating them as our babies and ensuring that they never reach another person’s ears till they’re complete. However, one of the most crucial habits that distinguishes highly effective songwriters from the rest is their willingness to seek and embrace feedback. In this blog post, we discuss what getting feedback means, why it matters and more.

This article is a summarised transcript of the fourth point in our video “7 Habits of Highly Effective Songwriters’’. Click here to watch the video for more details, explanations and examples.

What is Feedback?

It’s necessary to understand that getting feedback doesn’t mean sharing your song the week before it releases on Spotify. While that is important, that’s asking for support and not getting feedback.

Getting feedback means asking for a third party’s opinion during the process of creating your song. This gives you the chance to take their opinions onboard, and consider how you might better improve your song.

If you’d like to discover more ways you could improve your songwriting, download this free PDF eBook entitled “14-Day Songwriting Challenge”:

Examples of Artists Who Find Getting Feedback Important

John Legend:

During a Hollywood Reporter Roundtable discussion, John Legend talked about how he shared a collection of songs that included his hit single “All of Me”, with a group of trusted friends and collaborators. What’s important to note here, is that at the point in time of sharing his songs, he didn’t know that he would release “All of Me” as his single.

However, when he got feedback from the people he shared them with, all of them unanimously agreed that “All of Me” was the song. In this instance, John used feedback to help him narrow down which of his songs he should focus on and develop further. He understood that a third party would be able to make a more impartial decision, since he as the songwriter was too close to the matter.

Dua Lipa:

Sometimes, feedback can be given in the form of collaboration or co-writing. On a Song Explorer episode, Dua Lipa discusses the writing of her song “Levitating”. She talks about how the song was constructed working with some of her long-time collaborators in the studio bouncing ideas off each other.

This situation can be described as her receiving real-time feedback. She’s essentially taking their suggestions onboard, making changes and throwing it back to them again. Through this, we can see that collaboration, co-writing and feedback sometimes all blur the lines between each other.

Sting:

In interviews, he talks about how he often starts a song by himself. Then, he takes the song draft to his band, and if they can’t make it work within 30 minutes, he scraps the idea.

You can see from this that Sting uses feedback not only as a way to develop a song, but also as a process of elimination. In this manner, he’s able to ensure that he doesn’t waste time on developing songs which might not work out. He uses feedback as a tool to help him decide.

When to Ask for Feedback

There are multiple stages throughout a song’s life where you can ask for feedback. The initial draft phase of a song is one of the best times that you can get feedback. Since the song is in its early stages, everything is still very easily changed and there are so many different directions that it could go in. By asking for feedback, you’ll be able to easily influence your song in the early stages of its life.

However, for some people, it’s too difficult for them to share a song in its first stage. This is understandable as the first stage is when things are still very raw, which would make many songwriters embarrassed of sharing. If this is the case, you could polish your song a bit more first, before using the second or third version to seek feedback from other musicians, producers or songwriters who don’t necessarily write in the same genre or style as you.

Who to Ask for Feedback

A lot of musicians aren’t sure who to ask for feedback. This is mostly due to the fact that songwriters are often solitary, and have trouble forming the right relationships to help with this process. One way to go about it, is to seek out a community of songwriters or join some songwriting groups.

An amazing example of this is our Patreon channel which we specifically set up to invite other songwriters in and give them a safe space to be able to share their songs at different phases of the writing process. We also host songwriting groups that run 4 times a year that anyone in the world can join. – click here to check that out.

Another thing that’s really important, is to identify and follow the kinds of songwriters whose music and songwriting you love. Find out who the producers on that record are, then take a chance and reach out to them, asking if it’s alright for you to get some feedback.

You should also be sure to actually go watch live music shows. These environments are great to physically meet people in, foster relationships with people and ask for the kind of feedback that you’d require as a songwriter. This might result in you having to pay people for their help. However at some point, it’s really important to hire people who have the skills and knowledge to help you take your own craft to the next level.

Conclusion: Songwriter Habit #4 – Getting Feedback

As songwriters, we need to be open-minded enough to understand that feedback is meant to be a tool to help us grow. To that end, we should actively seek out feedback to further develop our craft and ensure that we can make our songs the best versions of themselves that they can be.

This is only one of seven habits of highly effective songwriters that we’ve listed out. Check out the full article for all 7 habits or watch the video here now.

Learn professional songwriting methods and discover strategies for collaborating with artists around the world:

September 5, 2023September 2, 2023 by Veronica Tan

Let It Go – A Lesson in Songwriting

The song “Let It Go” from the Disney musical Frozen is a song that solves an age-old problem that songwriters face: how to repeat something, but make it get more interesting, not less interesting. So, whether you’re into Disney or not, take a moment to read this blog post and learn the crucial songwriting tricks that “Let It Go” uses.

This article is a summarised transcript of our video “Why Let It Go is a Songwriting Masterpiece”. Click here to watch the video for more details, explanations and examples.

The Problem

Repetition is a fundamental element of songwriting. Listeners don’t just enjoy hearing something repeated; they need it. It’s the repeating part that draws them in, creating an emotional connection with the song. However, the challenge lies in ensuring that each repetition feels fresh and emotionally resonant rather than becoming stale or predictable.

For example, if you tell the same joke again and again using the same punch line, the joke gets increasingly less funny. Similarly, if each of your verse sections use the same words or imagery, then your song will become less interesting and get less of an emotional reaction.

This is a problem that many songwriters struggle to overcome, and it’s something that “Let It Go” solves very well.

Analysing “Let It Go”

Before we jump into some techniques we could use to overcome this problem, let’s take a look at how “Let It Go” does it.

“Let It Go” is not only the title of the song, but also its hook. In line with that, the phrase is repeated multiple times throughout the song. However, instead of becoming dull, the phrase “Let It Go” means something different each time it’s sung. Below are the different meanings of the hook throughout the song:

Letting Go of Expectations: The first time Elsa sings “Let It Go,” she sheds the weight of other people’s expectations, revealing her true self and powers to the world. She is letting go of the person she’s expected to be.

Letting Go of Limits: In the second instance, she lets go of her own self-imposed limitations on her powers. She’s no longer bound by rules, and she’s eager to explore the extent of her abilities. This shift in meaning helps the emotion grow and gain power, rather than lose it.

Letting Go of Relationships and the Past: Finally, in the third iteration, we understand that Elsa is actually letting go of the past. She is severing her identity and becoming someone new.

Each time Elsa sings the same words, they take on new layers of meaning and emotion, creating a captivating story that resonates with listeners.

Technique #1: Title Strategies

The first technique we can use to create interesting repetition in a song is title strategies. This means that we should try to choose a title that can be re-colored from different angles.

Instead of looking for just any memorable or interesting phrase, look for phrases that could be approached from different angles. We can apply this thinking even as we’re brainstorming for titles by asking ourselves:

Are there at least two angles from which I could approach this title?
Are the two angles able to be related to the core idea of the song, but not take the same approach?

Once we’ve decided that, then we can use the different angles as different parts of our song. For example, take the phrase “No one but me”. We could approach the phrase as follows:

All alone, there’s … “No one but me”
No one has answers…”No one but me”
I don’t need … “No one but me”

The 3 different meanings can all be used as different song sections, which would then serve to further deepen our song’s story.

Another important part about this process is to try and structure your thoughts in the form of a song map.

Click here to watch a video that explains more about the concept of a song map.

And to download a free PDF song map template, click here:

Technique #2: Trigger Lines

The second technique involves the use of trigger lines, which are the lines immediately before the repeating chorus. These lines “trigger” the meaning of the chorus into something new with each iteration. They’re called trigger lines because their proximity to the hook or chorus or title of the song triggers its meaning into that repeating thing

To give you a clearer idea of how they’re used, the trigger lines from “Let It Go” have been highlighted in the image below:

One way to use trigger lines is to reverse engineer them. First, ensure that you have your title and a song map. You also need to have a clear idea as to the different ways that you’d like to approach the title. Then, start at the end of a section and work backwards to write your trigger lines.

Sting has previously talked about this in a Sodajerker podcast. In it, he talks about reverse engineering his sections from the titles or from the important lines that he wants to put at the end of sections

Conclusion: Let It Go – A Lesson in Songwriting

Disney’s “Let It Go” demonstrates that the art of repetition in a song is not magic, but the result of carefully crafted technique. As songwriters, we should learn from songs such as these and consciously employ these techniques to create songs that people will listen to over and over again.

If you would like more details, explanations and examples, then be sure to check out the video now

Level up your songwriting with five radically practical exercises used by professional songwriters around the world:

September 3, 2023August 23, 2023 by Veronica Tan

Songwriting Tip #4 – Turning the Chorus into an Anthem

The goal in most songs is to shine a spotlight on the chorus, and really ensure that the hook sticks in our listener’s minds. In this blog post, we’ll analyse how “We Will Rock You” by Queen turns their chorus into a powerful anthem.

This article is a summarised transcript of the fourth part of our video “How to Write a Killer Rock Anthem – 7 Secrets from Queen’s We Will Rock You’’. Click here to watch the video for more details, explanations and examples.

Phrasal Deceleration

If we take a look at the phrasing of the verses, we’ll see that it goes from extremely busy at the start of the verse to less busy as the song heads towards the chorus. This is an interesting phenomenon that is known as phrasal declaration.

In a nutshell, phrasal deceleration is when we go from having a lot of notes in a bar to having less notes in a bar. This results in us feeling a sense of deceleration, even though the tempo of the song remains unchanged. By using phrasal declaration, we anticipate the refrain even more, as it provides a release from the tension that was building in the verses.

If you’d like to learn more about how you can build tension and release in a song, download this free PDF entitled “Functions of Chords in a Diatonic System”:

Conclusion: Songwriting Tip #4 – Turning the Chorus into an Anthem

By creating a sense of anticipation using phrasal deceleration and ensuring that the refrain only lands on downbeats, Queen successfully creates an anthem that resonates with people of all ages and backgrounds. As songwriters, we should learn from this and try to implement these techniques in our own songwriting as well.

This is only the fourth of seven songwriting tips we have for you from analysing Queen’s song, “We Will Rock You”. Check out the full article for all 7 tips or watch the video here now.

Turn your inspiration into beautiful songs with step-by-step guidance through two professional songwriting methods. By the end of this course, not only will your tool belt be stocked; you’ll have a plan and a method for finishing your songs – all of them:

September 1, 2023August 23, 2023 by Veronica Tan

Step #2 of Writing Great Melodies – Create a 4 Note Melody

Songwriters commonly assume that using as many notes as possible in your melody is a great thing to do. However, the truth is that when you first start composing a melody, it’s best to limit yourself to using 4 notes from the scale. In this blog post, we’ll discuss creating a 4 note melody as part of the melody writing process.

This article is a summarised transcript of step two of our video “How to Write Great Melodies in 7 Simple Steps’’. Click here to watch the video for more details, explanations and examples.

Why Pick Only 4 Notes?

There are 3 main reasons to limit yourself to 4 notes. They are as follows:

Encouraging creativity: By imposing limitations, you encourage yourself to work within those limitations. Thus, you also encourage yourself to be more creative with limited materials.
Avoid sounding like an exercise: When you use all 7 notes of the scale, it often tends to sound like you’re just running a scale. This makes melodies boring and sound like exercises.
Reserve material for other parts of the song: It’s important to leave some of the notes for you to use in other parts of the songs. Having somewhere to go is what gives melodies a sense of purpose and a journey to follow.

How to Use 4 Notes to Create a Melody

Before trying to create a melody with 4 notes, be sure that you’ve picked your scale, key and chord progression.

If you need some help, click here to download a free PDF eBook containing all the diatonic chords written out in 6 different keys titled “Diatonic Chords in 6 Different Keys”:

A really important thing to establish at this point is that it doesn’t have to be perfect. In further steps, we’ll be refining and creating different iterations of this melody to work with. Start by singing the 4 notes you’ve chosen over the chord progression you’ve chosen. Experiment with different combinations of the notes and remember to try and keep it simple, as simplicity at this point is key.

Conclusion: Step #2 of Writing Great Melodies – Create a 4 Note Melody

By limiting yourself to four notes initially, you create a foundation upon which you can build an engaging melody. Through experimentation, you’ll be able to compose great melodies that work well over your chord progression.

This is only the second of seven steps to writing great melodies. Check out the full article for all 7 steps or watch the video here now.

Level up your songwriting with five radically practical exercises used by professional songwriters around the world:

August 31, 2023August 23, 2023 by Veronica Tan

Flip Method #6 – Pairing

Clichés are great. They’re relatable, well-known and convey what we need to in a short and sweet way. However, because of all these same traits, they can also come off as dull and overused. In this blog post, we take a look at pairing – a method to flip around clichés to turn them into something new.

This article is a summarised transcript of the sixth and final part of our video “The Crazy Easy Trick to Write Great Lyrics (The Flip Method)’’. Click here to watch the video for more details, explanations and examples.

What is Pairing?

Pairing requires us to think of clichés as predictable word pairings instead of just famous phrases that we know. Some examples are “Hot and cold”, “Soft and hard” or “Up and down”. These are all pairings that very much make sense, as we’ve learnt them since we were children.

Predictable pairings need not be confined to only images. We could also use predictable rhyme pairings such as “Pain and rain”, “Love and above” and “Fire and desire”. The pairing method involves replacing a part of the predictable phrase with a different word, so as to create new and unexpected pairings in the process. So, for example, replace the word “Cold” in “Hot and cold” with something else.

If you’d like to experiment with this method, you can download this free PDF eBook entitled “The 5 Best Songwriting Exercises for Writing Great Lyrics”:

How to Practice Pairing

Take a phrase such as “If you are a bird, then I am the ___”. Then, fill in the blank with ten different kinds of words.

At the start of this exercise, you might come up with predictable words to fill in the blank with, such as “Wind”, “Sky” or “Clouds”. However, this isn’t a problem as it’s good to get the more predictable words out the way first, so that we can come up with more creative and interesting pairings later.

As an example, a cool word we can fill in the blank with is the word “Rifle”, to form the phrase “If you are a bird, then I am the rifle”. This paints a picture of a sort of toxic relationship between two people, as one exists to the detriment of the other. In fact, this line is actually used in a song called “The Bird and The Rifle” by Lori McKenna.

Conclusion: Flip Method #6 – Pairing

Crafting great lyrics takes time, effort and practice. Although it requires some extra thought from us, it’s still important to use the methods we’ve learnt such as pairing, to create lyrics that are both distinct and relatable.

This is the last of six flip methods that we’ve come up with. Check out the full article for all 6 methods or watch the video here now.

And if you’re interested in more ideas, tools, techniques, and inspiration for your lyric writing make sure to check out this playlist that we have made just for you

Level up your songwriting with five radically practical exercises used by professional songwriters around the world:

August 30, 2023September 2, 2023 by Veronica Tan

Songwriter Habit #5 – Stepping Away

Songwriting isn’t just about writing songs. It’s about how we find inspiration and ensure that we can write not only consistently, but also regardless of whether inspiration jumps out at us or not. Here, we’ll discuss a part of that process: Stepping away.

This article is a summarised transcript of the third point in our video “7 Habits of Highly Effective Songwriters’’. Click here to watch the video for more details, explanations and examples.

Why Does Stepping Away Matter?

It’s important to note that the creative process is not just all about being hunched over your desk or laptop and pounding away at a line that you can’t solve. While this is important, it‘s only half of the process of songwriting.

When we step away, we allow ourselves to enter a different headspace. By taking a break, we can achieve breakthroughs and gain new perspectives that we may have never thought of before

If you’d like to discover more ways to enhance your creative process, download this free PDF eBook entitled “14-Day Songwriting Challenge”:

Examples of Artists Who Find Stepping Away Important

Sting:

In an interview on the Sodajerker podcast, he says “There’s something about the binary rhythm of walking around – left, right, left, right – that opens up the creative channel. If I get stuck with a problem, I’ll go out and walk it off.”

Paul Simon:

Songwriter Paul Simon is also a fan of stepping away when he’s stuck. He has said “I think it’s very calming, it’s like a Zen exercise really. The act of throwing a ball and catching a ball is so natural and calming that your mind kind of wanders. And that’s really what you want to happen. You want your mind to wander, to pick up words and phrases and fool around with them and drop them.”

Tom Waits:

This prolific songwriter has also talked about how he will deliberately go for long drives as part of the creative process. He feels that by putting his brain in a completely different state of mind, it helps to create new connections between ideas that he wouldn’t have come up with sitting at a desk.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:

Even classical musician Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has been quoting saying “When I am, as it were, completely myself, entirely alone and of good cheer – say, traveling in a carriage or walking after a good meal or during during the night when I cannot sleep – it is on such occasions that my ideas flow best and most abundantly.”

Conclusion: Songwriter Habit #5 – Stepping Away

Stepping away is a habit that is just as important for songwriters to practice, as it is for them to practice writing songs. By stepping away, you allow yourself to create connections you never would have thought existed. Thus, helping you to write songs more consistently and efficiently.

This is only one of seven habits of highly effective songwriters that we’ve listed out. Check out the full article for all 7 habits or watch the video here now.

Level up your songwriting with five radically practical exercises used by professional songwriters around the world:

August 27, 2023August 23, 2023 by Veronica Tan

Songwriting Tip #3 – Moving the Story Through a Timeline

A common problem that songwriters face is not knowing how to structure our verses. Through analysing Queen’s hit song “We Will Rock You”, we’ll learn one of the ways we can develop the storyline of a song.

This article is a summarised transcript of the third part of our video “How to Write a Killer Rock Anthem – 7 Secrets from Queen’s We Will Rock You’’. Click here to watch the video for more details, explanations and examples.

Tell A Story

Sometimes when we write songs, we’re simply describing a specific moment. In the case of “We Will Rock You”, they’ve instead opted to describe the different phases of a character’s life. Observe the first line of each of the verses of the song, as below:

Verse 1
“Buddy, you’re a boy, make a big noise”

Verse 2
“Buddy, you’re a young man, hard man”

Verse 3
“Buddy, you’re an old man, poor man”

From this, we can see that the verses take us through different stages of Buddy’s life. Verse 1 describes him as a boy, Verse 2 describes him as a young man and Verse 3 then describes him as an old man.

If you’d like to learn more about how you could plan your song sections out, click here to download a free “Song Map Template” PDF now:

The Effect This Has

This chronological storytelling approach evokes a sense of nostalgia and reflection.

By assigning each verse to a different era of Buddy’s life, this allows listeners to contemplate the various stages and challenges we all face throughout our lives. The lyrics suggest that despite growing older, Buddy’s circumstances and struggles remain unchanged, creating a sense of constancy and a never-ending cycle of hardships.

While “We Will Rock You” is often seen as a confident and empowering anthem, this storytelling technique adds depth and complexity to the narrative. It portrays a character who persists in the face of adversity, regardless of the challenges that life presents.

It’s to be noted that as with any song, interpretations may vary, and listeners may find their own meanings and connections within the narrative. This is just one of many potential interpretations, but it’s not necessarily the only one that there is.

Conclusion: Songwriting Tip #3 – Moving the Story Through a Timeline

“We Will Rock You” is a great example of the power of storytelling in songwriting. It’s important for us to learn from this song and remember that a song doesn’t necessarily have to be about just a moment, but can take us through the timeline of a story instead.

This is only the third of seven songwriting tips we have for you from analysing Queen’s song, “We Will Rock You”. Check out the full article for all 7 tips or watch the video here now.

August 25, 2023August 23, 2023 by Veronica Tan

Step #1 of Writing Great Melodies – Figure Out the Scale

Many songwriters often wonder where they should begin when trying to write melodies. In this blog post, we’ll demystify the first step to creating great melodies – figuring out the scale.

This article is a summarised transcript of step one of our video “How to Write Great Melodies in 7 Simple Steps’’. Click here to watch the video for more details, explanations and examples.

How and Why Should We Figure Out the Scale?

Imagine composing a song as preparing a recipe. You begin by deciding on the essential ingredients. When melody writing, your ingredients are the notes of your scale. Common scales used for melodies include the major and minor scales. By determining the scale, we narrow down the number of ingredients we could possibly use in our recipe i.e. our song.

For instance, let’s take a look at the scale of the key of G Major:

G A B C D E F# G

By deciding on our key as G Major, we can narrow down the notes our melody uses to the notes in the scale.

Using the Scale to Compose Melodies

There are a few ways we could go about using the scale to start composing our melody. We could simply sing up and down the scale, randomly picking notes to combine with one another. However, an approach that tends to be more intuitive for beginner songwriters is to pick 3 or 4 chords from the key, and write a chord progression.

Click here to download a free PDF eBook containing all the diatonic chords written out in 6 different keys titled “Diatonic Chords in 6 Different Keys”:

By using chords and notes from the same key, any melodies that we create will naturally sound good over the chord progression we’ve chosen.

Conclusion: Step #1 of Writing Great Melodies – Figure Out the Scale

Starting the process of writing melodies doesn’t have to be daunting. Through deciding on our key and scale, we provide ourselves with a framework to create melodies on. In this manner, we won’t feel lost or overwhelmed when trying to begin the melody writing process.

This is only the first of seven steps to writing great melodies. Check out the full article for all 7 steps or watch the video here now.

August 24, 2023August 23, 2023 by Veronica Tan

Flip Method #5 – Swapping

So many songwriters default to clichés when they write their lyrics. This is completely understandable – after all, clichés are well-known and relatable. However, they are also uninteresting and stale. In this blog post, we’ll discuss a simple technique we call “Swapping”, that can be used to create new phrases from old clichés.

This article is a summarised transcript of the fifth part of our video “The Crazy Easy Trick to Write Great Lyrics (The Flip Method)’’. Click here to watch the video for more details, explanations and examples.

What is Swapping?

Swapping is when we take a cliché or idiom that has two words or images in it, and actually swap their positions. This method relies on finding clichés that actually make sense when you swap them around.

If you’d like to experiment with this method, you can download this free PDF eBook entitled “The 5 Best Songwriting Exercises for Writing Great Lyrics”:

Examples of Swapping

Let’s have a look at the cliché “There’s no time like the present.” If we swap around the words “Present” and “Time”, we instead get the phrase “There’s no present like time”. Whilst the original cliché refers to how we should live in the moment, the swapped one instead implies how precious time is.

Another interesting cliché we could look at swapping is “Storm in a teacup”, which means a great outrage or excitement over a trivial matter. This can be swapped around to “Teacup in a storm”. The swapped version of the cliché paints for us a picture of someone who is able to maintain their calm no matter the situation. However, because we’re already acquainted with the original cliché, it still feels relatable despite meaning something entirely different.

Conclusion: Flip Method #5 – Swapping

Swapping is a really creative technique that can allow us to entirely change the meaning of clichés whilst still maintaining a semblance of their original form. This not only challenges our listeners to think differently about things, but also helps us find ways we never imagined to express ourselves with.

This is only the fifth of six flip methods that we’ve come up with. Check out the full article for all 6 methods or watch the video here now.

And if you’re interested in more ideas, tools, techniques, and inspiration for your lyric writing make sure to check out this playlist that we have made just for you

August 23, 2023August 23, 2023 by Veronica Tan

Songwriter Habit #6 – Thinking Like An Anthropologist

It’s easy for us as musicians to say that we listen to lots of music. However, what differentiates the way we listen to music from the way popular songwriters listen to music? In this blog post, we’ll discuss what we mean by thinking like an anthropologist when listening to music, and why it matters.

This article is a summarised transcript of the second point in our video “7 Habits of Highly Effective Songwriters’’. Click here to watch the video for more details, explanations and examples.

What is Thinking Like An Anthropologist?

In 2008, when I was given the chance to learn from John Mayer, he talked about something that stuck with me till this day. He said that on every day of the week, he listens to the Top 10 Hits. However, he doesn’t listen critically – instead he listens with curiosity and with the intent to learn from the song/ artist.

This is essentially what it means when we say to think like an anthropologist, in regards to listening to music. It means to listen to without judgement, and only with the intent to take things apart and learn. You don’t have to enjoy what you’re listening to. Instead, listen with an open mind and understand that it’s possible to learn something from anything.

If you’d like to discover more ways to enhance your creative process, download this free PDF eBook entitled “14-Day Songwriting Challenge”:

Question 1: Why Do Millions Love These Songs?

The first question that John Mayer asks himself when he listens to songs, is “Why do millions love these songs?”.

Music doesn’t just end up in the Top 10 because it’s had millions of dollars pumped into it. Rather, it’s because millions of people actually enjoy it that songs can become famous. While it’s easy to dismiss popularity as a product of mere marketing or trends, that would be a mistake.

Taking the perspective of an anthropologist allows you to think more about why these songs are loved by millions. Then, we can take what we learn and try to apply it in our own songs.

Question 2: How Can I Use These Elements in My Own Songwriting?

The second question he asks himself is “How can I use what I’ve learnt in my own songwriting?”

Learning from a song and using it in our own songwriting doesn’t necessarily mean that we should be imitating what we hear. Instead, we should be trying to understand the mechanics behind what makes these songs great.

For example, if you enjoyed a bass riff in a song, understand why you enjoyed that bass riff. And then, maybe use a bass riff in your own songs as well, but put it through the filters of your own style and aesthetic to truly make it yours.

Remember, the key is not imitation, but emulation.

Question 3: How Would I Improve This Song?

Finally, the last question John asks himself is “If I was the producer/songwriter of this track, what would I have done differently?”

As songwriters, it’s not sufficient for us to be able to say that we just enjoy the vibe or mood of a song. We have to be able to articulate exactly why we like the song. For example, ask yourself, is it the melody, chords or lyrics that you enjoy? Then, try to articulate the mechanics behind what makes that part enjoyable to you. If you can identify and articulate what it is that you enjoy, this will enable you to then emulate it.

The next part of this is understanding that we all have something to contribute to a song, based on our own experiences and knowledge. You should try and develop the mental flexibility to listen to a song and ask how you could make it closer to what you’d imagine it to be. Not be judgmental and simply brushing it off as being a style that you’re not a fan of.

Conclusion: Songwriter Habit #6 – Thinking Like An Anthropologist

In conclusion, it’s important for us to develop a non-judgmental attitude when we listen to music. This way, we’ll be able to learn from songs and provide ourselves with a larger toolkit to draw from when songwriting. If we listen judgmentally, then we deny ourselves that chance to learn and grow as songwriters.

This is only one of seven habits of highly effective songwriters that we’ve listed out. Check out the full article for all 7 habits or watch the video here now.

Learn professional songwriting methods and discover strategies for collaborating with artists around the world: