In today’s music industry, songwriting is definitely the key to your musical future. I tell my students that the three things you need most are: a great voice, a great look, and songwriting ability, in order to break into the business.
Many people have the idea that if they write some words to a “beat” provided by someone else, that constitutes songwriting. But songwriting is so much more than that. There are many spokes to the songwriting wheel. Songs are comprised of words (lyrics), chords (harmony), tune (melody), rhythm (beat), and song structure (how you deal with verses, choruses, bridges, etc). All of these are equally important in learning to become a good songwriter.
There are a few rules about songwriting that can really improve the quality of your writing. For example: choruses should differ from verses in every way- melodically, harmonically and lyrically. Another important element to good songwriting is song structure- where you put the chorus, verse, and bridge of your song. What is popular as far as song structure changes over time- you have to stay current with the trends that are happening now instead of trying to imitate what was popular from the trends of the past.
Learning how to write great “hooks” and where to use them can also make a huge difference as to whether your song becomes commercially successful or not.
At Sing Like a Star, we will teach you how to address every aspect of songwriting- how to “drive home the hook”, how to write great titles, how to play and accompany yourself and create chord progressions that go with your melodies, how to improve your lyric writing and polish your song so it will be competitive in today’s market.
Songwriting is very fulfilling and creative, and it is something that is almost a requirement in today’s music world. Very few artists today are signed on their voices alone- those who are getting record label interest bring much more to the table in terms of being able to write their own songs.
Even if you have never played an instrument you can learn to write your own songs at Sing Like a Star!
In today’s music world, singers who have the ability to write their own songs have a much greater chance of success. If you are a singer who does not write, you will always be dependent upon someone else to provide you with material, and you will always be searching for writers who can express things the way you would like to. If you are a singer who also writes, you will command a much larger income than a singer who does not write. And you will be in much greater control of your own destiny too!
Becoming a skilled songwriter is an endeavor that encompasses many different elements, all of which are equally important. Writing great words (lyrics) is a completely different kind of skill set than understanding how to write interesting drum beats. You also need to understand chords and chord progressions, which are the harmony of the song. And then you need to be able to write great melodies over your harmonic progression.
All of these things are skills that can be learned and practiced.
Let me say again, that buying or downloading “beats” and writing some words over someone else’s “music” (if you can call it that) is really not songwriting at all. Most of the beats are just endless repetitions of the same chord or a few chords over and over. Therefore there is no differentiation between verses and choruses of a song. Boring! Real songwriting is a whole lot more than that! Learn to write your own rhythms and be creative instead of borrowing someone else’s work. If you are simply putting words to someone else’s beat, you are a lyricist, not a songwriter. It’s a lot more challenging to learn to create your own beats, harmony, melody, and lyrics, but you can truthfully only call yourself a songwriter if you can do all these things for yourself.
The key to your musical future is songwriting- and we can teach you those skills at Sing Like a Star studios!
For professional songwriting lessons in the Atlanta, Marietta and Alpharetta GA area, or to register for songwriting lessons online by skype, facetime, or speakerphone, please visit the website at www.singlikeastar.com, and click on the GET STARTED tab to register for a professional songwiting evaluation and consultation.
