Here are useful Songwriting Tips & Ideas to keep your creative juices flowing, and to add some freshness in your writing.
If you have been writing songs for some time now, I’m sure you would be looking for tips on how to write more, and at the same time keep the content fresh and not look repetitive.
This is one challenge that every wannabe faces, and the tips provided here should give you more ideas on how to overcome that challenge.
So feel free to implement these songwriting tips right away.
Love Songs Work
Write what you feel. Love songs work, and you should go with it, especially if you are not sure what you should write.
Write Your Experiences
This is also the comparatively easier to write, writing about your own experiences. You however need to think how to give it a global appeal.
Keep the Audience in Mind
This may change from song to song but you should keep the intended audience in mind. Besides, you should keep things simple, which actually the audience will appreciate.
Use Catchy Phrases
You need to stay in tune with the times, so that you can use some of the phrases that people use every-day. For certain songs, you will need to write the lyrics the way people speak.
Hook Your Listener
This one comes through experience and also by analyzing other works. The hook is what stays with the listener, and gets repeated over and over. So work on your hooks.
You also need to learn how to make a good first impression with the first line of your song. Read more on how to structure a song.
Listen More
Listen and analyze the hit songs, what are the things that make it so special? Try to incorporate the good things in your writing.
Read More
Only then will you get more ideas. And it is not just newspapers; you also need to read some good song-writing books for more songwriting tips and ideas.
Write More
That is the only way to improve, and also to make sure you have a good repository of songs ready with you.
Rewrite your Songs
Every few months you should checkout your existing songs and try to rewrite or polish it further. With more experience, you can make these better. More tips here on how to write good lyrics.
Keep a Recorder Handy
I’m sure you have thought of this; you just need to take action. Get one if you don’t have one already. You may wake up with a brilliant, million dollar idea but could lose it if you don’t record it.
Also Carry a Notebook
You need to note down all the ideas that you come across, and which you have decided to work on further. Some of the greatest hits have come out of a simple idea.
Experiment
Otherwise things will get boring, and this is the best way to learn what works and what doesn’t. Using the same song-writing formula over and over could suffer from over-kill!
Learn from Others
Why should you learn only from your mistakes and even successes? You can also learn from the success and failure of other songwriters & musicians.
Feel Enthusiastic
Try to feel enthusiastic, start with an open mind, and get into a child-like frame of mind, before you write any song. As per most psychologists, it fuels your creativity.
Don’t Worry About Money
Though it is important, focus on writing good songs and eventually the money will follow.
Have fun
It is always better to look at the bigger picture and not get bogged down by pressures and failures. Besides, many musicians and songwriters work under stress. But then you are doing this because you love it right? So enjoy what you do!
More Songwriting Ideas
If you are new to writing songs, on many occasions you may just run out of ideas. Here are some more ideas that will ensure your creative juices keeps on flowing.
Avoid forcing yourself to come up with ideas; it could turn out to be uninteresting. A better approach is to write whatever comes to your mind, and edit it later, or probably just take a break.
Try playing a musical instrument when short of ideas, it can spark some inspiration. If you can’t play; it’s probably worth learning one.
Useful Cues for Writing: In case you are stuck and are unable to think of any idea, run through these steps and you’ll soon have enough ideas to write about.
- Your life experiences
- Write on Love; very popular theme
- Tell a story, based on some event, news, movie or even a book
- Use Metaphors as it makes your song more interesting
- Play a music instrument for some time, and let it spark an idea
- Listen to Music for more ideas
Useful Links
To Conclude
The tips mentioned here should help you come up with ideas when you are stuck. It is also a good idea to copyright your songs, if you’re really serious about your music. So start using these Songwriting Tips / Ideas right away.
KeytarHQ editorial team includes musicians who write and review products for pianists, keyboardists, guitarists & other musicians. KeytarHQ is the best online resource for information on keyboards, pianos, synths, keytars, guitars and music gear for musicians of all abilities, ages and interests.
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