song writing

One of the reasons I started this particular blog was that I wanted to write about my songwriting. So far I have posted a few videos of my singing and playing the guitar, some of the songs have been self-penned ............. but have said little about the process of writing the songs. I have been browsing the internet for blogs and other sites that have a similar objective. And I have been disappointed. there is little on this theme that is not trying to sell a book or a DVD, etc with the magic way of turning out that special song. Well if it could be done like that, the authors would be writing those songs and becoming very, very rich.

Composing music is a skill that anyone can learn? The mechanics are easy, just learn the rules, but to give a song that extra factor which turns it into a real classic is not so easy. Ask the large number of highly capable musicians trying to earn a living at it. You need something extra. You have to be able to turn emotion into something audible.And the same is true of writing lyrics; just because you can string a few words together and make them "rhyme", doesn't mean that it will be something that people want to hear or even sing. You need passion. In this modern world you also need to be able to put across a simple idea in a new way. Cliches are not allowed anymore. Well that puts me down then!

I tried books and course in my younger days, but the best of my songs always came from "me", the emotional input was a clear winner when analysing why a particular song came out better than the rest. Of course none of my songs ever became well known, not even published but I could still analyse the structure of the music and the lyrics. A marvellous analyst, but not so good at writing. I am still intending however to put some of my thoughts across in this blog.

There are some sites where there are useful tips, both for lyric writing and for the music. The latter usually concerns the chord structures / harmonies that support the music but some do attempt to give tips about creating melodies. Many of the sites try to put across the thought that the business angle is of crucial importance and I would not disagree. It is not difficult to google these subjects and find "words of wisdom" in fact it is all too easy and some help in finding the most useful sites will be offered.


Talking of help; just try amazon there are inumerable books on the subject. I have not read any of these but browse some of these to see what is available.






























there are so many, I would not even pretend to be able to guide you in selecting one or even two for you and imagine that it would turn you into a great songwriter. But you may need to understand a few easy rules and it is sites which offer this help that I hope to be able to point out to you. Hope to see you again in the near furture to see how I do.