How To Write Songs

Tag: creative process

  • Here’s the Solution to the Enormous Lie Beginner Songwriters Believe

    “Lyrics or music?”…Wrong question. If you’ve ever asked, “Should I start with lyrics or music?” you’ve bumped into the biggest beginner lie: that there’s a single right way to start a song—and a bunch of wrong ones that will “ruin” your idea. Today’s tutorial flips that. You’ll see how experienced writers actually begin: not with fear of doing…

  • What’s Your Song’s Focus? Find Out with The Campfire Test!

    What’s Your Song’s Focus? Find Out with The Campfire Test! Imagine you’re sitting around a campfire with a bunch of your friends. The sun is setting, and someone hands you a guitar. As you go through your list of songs trying to choose something to play, you’re also asking yourself the question “Which one of…

  • Here’s 2 Simple Ways to Erase Music Theory Confusion Forever

    Here’s 2 Simple Ways to Erase Music Theory Confusion Forever If you’ve ever found music theory overwhelming, you’re not alone. Many songwriters feel frustrated —bogged down by dense terminology and abstract concepts that seem far removed from the creative process. But what if you could unlock a world of musical understanding with just two simple…

  • Stuck? This One Change Made Me Write 20 Songs in a Year

    A few weeks ago, I asked some songwriters here what was stopping them from writing more.Here are just a few of the painfully familiar responses: “It’s not my job. Other things constantly get higher on my to-do list.”“When I finally have time, I’m too knackered to do anything decent.”“I have 10,000 lyric snippets… and 0…

  • Lacking Motivation? Here’s How to Reignite Your Passion for Songwriting

    Lacking Motivation? Here’s How to Reignite Your Passion for Songwriting For many songwriters, a big question they ask themselves on a daily basis is “Should I even write songs if no one hears my work?” This common dilemma can lead to self-doubt, perfectionism, and ultimately, creative burnout.  Inspired by the transformative ideas in the book…

  • When “Do What You Love” Fails You

    One question I’ve been asking songwriters who feel stuck is “what gets in the way of you writing regularly?” Of the hundreds of responses I’ve gotten in the past few months, there is a persistent theme. Recognise any of these in your life? “I have a full time job, and take care of my family, home,…

  • Songwriting is “Easy” According to John Lennon

    Songwriting is “Easy” According to John Lennon In a 1983 interview with Molly Meldrum, David Bowie talked about how much he admired John Lennon’s songwriting capabilities. He recalled a time when Lennon said to him, “It’s very easy…all you have to do is say what you mean, make it rhyme, and put a backbeat to…

  • 5 Strategies to Ensure You’ll Never Have Another Unfinished Song

    5 Strategies to Ensure You’ll Never Have Another Unfinished Song If you’ve ever been stumped when trying to finish a song, understand that you’re not alone. You may feel that it’s because of a lack of inspiration. However, inspiration is only one part of the equation when it comes to finishing songs. In this article,…

  • The Secrets to Noel Gallagher’s Songwriting Success

    The Secrets to Noel Gallagher’s Songwriting Success Known to many as the primary songwriter, guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of British Rock band Oasis,  it’s undeniable that Noel Gallagher is one of the most prolific songwriters of his generation. As songwriters ourselves, it’s important that we take a step back to figure out the thought process…

  • 4 Exercises for Writing Unique and Creative Lyrics

    4 Exercises for Writing Unique and Creative Lyrics Many songwriters find themselves in a rut when it comes to lyric writing. Often, the issue is that the lyrics they write don’t match up with the lyrics they admire. This might be because they perceive their lyrics as boring, overly literal or too stale. To help…

  • 5 Steps to Turn a Good Song Great

    5 Steps to Turn a Good Song Great We previously wrote a first draft of a song in this video “How to Write a Great Song in Under an Hour”. In this article, we go through the steps we’ve taken in order to turn that song draft into a great song! It’s to be noted…

  • Analysing Sting’s Songwriting Process

    Analysing Sting’s Songwriting Process Studying the songwriting process of established songwriters is a great way to get an insight into other ways of thinking artistically. This in turn broadens our pool of creative knowledge to draw from. In this article, we take a close look at 17-time Grammy Award Winner Sting and discover some of…

  • System #3 to Help You Always Make Time for Songwriting – Seeking Accountability

    System #3 to Help You Always Make Time for Songwriting – Seeking Accountability In a world where time is a precious commodity, finding ways to make time for songwriting can be a constant struggle. Plenty of songwriters have told us how they lack the discipline to stick to a schedule. In this article, we’ll discuss…

  • 5 Books that Are Songwriter Must-Reads

    5 Books that Are Songwriter Must-Reads As professional songwriters, we have collectively read hundreds of books on the art of songwriting. What we want to do in this article is discuss 5 of the most influential and transformative books that we personally keep coming back to as songwriters. Some of these books aren’t specifically about…

  • System #2 to Help You Make Time for Songwriting – Collecting and Organising Ideas

    System #2 to Help You Make Time for Songwriting – Collecting and Organising Ideas Songwriting is a fun process. However, it becomes frustrating when you try to sit down to write and nothing comes to mind. This can cause you eventually stop making time for songwriting. In this article, we’ll discuss how you can ensure…

  • System #1 to Help You Make Time for Songwriting – Practice Daily

    System #1 to Help You Make Time for Songwriting – Practice Daily We received loads of responses from a survey we sent out to our subscribers asking “What’s your biggest challenge with songwriting?”. One of the most common responses was that it’s difficult to make time to get any songwriting done. In this article, we’ll…

  • 3 Simple Systems to Help You Make Time for Songwriting

    3 Simple Systems to Help You Make Time for Songwriting After emailing the over 12,000 people on my mailing list and asking them the question “What is your biggest challenge with songwriting?”, one response from a subscriber by the name of Jesse particularly stood out to me. She commented on how she now has so…

  • The MAP Method – Finish Your Songs

    The MAP Method – Finish Your Songs Recently, I emailed the over 12,000 people on my email list, and asked them the question “What is your number one biggest challenge as a songwriter?”. After receiving hundreds of replies, we found that the most common problem songwriters have is finishing songs. In this article, we’ll discuss…

  • Step #7 of Writing Great Melodies – Write More Melodies

    Step #7 of Writing Great Melodies – Write More Melodies The process of composing melodies for your songs doesn’t stop just because you’ve managed to develop one long melodic phrase. If we consider the first long melodic section we created as a verse, then we would still need to come up with melodies for the…

  • Step #6 of Writing Great Melodies – Introduce Some Variation

    Step #6 of Writing Great Melodies – Introduce Some Variation Once we have the framework of our melody set up, a question that often next comes to mind is “Where do I go from here?”. In this blog post, we’ll talk about how introducing variation can help differentiate sections. We’ll also discuss methods you could…

Weekend Songwriting Intensive - January 4-5

Ignite 2025 with an immersive weekend of songwriting, led by Keppie and Benny.