Here’s 10 ways for songwriters to be more crafty:
- Test of Time: Will the song you are writing stand up to the music in 100 years from now? Will anyone be singing it, playing it or re-interpreting it? Will the themes still be relevant? Will they be figuring out how cool your bridge is?
- Test of Wits: Does anything in the song really make you turn your head?
- Follow the Rules: Write a song that with the parts that are well-known: verse, chorus, bridge, intros and outros, pre-chorus, etc.
- Shun the Rules: Write a song that absolutely doesn’t have any of those sections, and the song just happens naturally and organically, or terrifically and tragically unexpectedly. Hmmmm.
- Don’t settle for less than perfection. It’s not OK to be good enough for Soundcloud. We want this good enough for grandma’s wedding and the Grammys.
- Find your inner narcissist. Don’t be a people pleaser, stop trying to please the audience, or the imaginary listener.
- Capture an era. Songs are moments, but somehow capture much more. Is your song larger than life?
- Research or brainstorm: then approach songwriting like you’ve never approached it before. This is especially for the details.
- Divide and conquer: break up the song to be completed over 5 days, or 4 hours; work in sections.
- Don’t let anyone, especially a blog writer, tell you what to do.
Great advice
And so true on the 10 tips–especially 4 and 6.
SR Bastien