21 Songwriting Hacks Introduced

As a new feature to this weblog, I'm hoping to share some advice I've picked up along the way as a musician, particularly as it pertains to songwriting. I call this advice "hacks", even though that's probably not the proper use of the term, simply because we're on the Internet here and it seems appropriate. Please know that I'm kind of playing jazz here - this list will probably change over time as I continue to write more about it. So consider this to be a starting point. Feel free to let me know what you think about it.
I'll start with a basic list of the "21 Songwriting Hacks", with a brief explanation of each. Then, over the next several weeks, I'll elaborate on each. Here goes nothing:

1. Start a blog - Seriously. This is rapidly becoming a premier networking tool. And networking is at the heart of songwriing, which is why I list this first. Let others know what you're up to, and post lyrics for immediate feedback. And if you're tech-savvy enough, you can post mp3's, too.
2. Dream big, but keep it to yourself - A common mistake of many beginning songwriters is that they go around telling other people that they are a songwriter. Dorothea Brande has great advice for this in Becoming a Writer (I'll elaborate later). Hugh Hewitt says that whatever our area of expertise is, we should be aiming for the Super Bowl of that field. That's a great goal, but don't go around telling people this. You could easily sabotage yourself.
3. Listen - Yes, there are many excellent books out there about song structure. But the best education on songwriting is in listening to the best songs ever written. Don't just passively listen. Listen for the different sections of the song (verse, channel or prechorus, chorus, bridge, solo) and ask yourself why this structure makes the song work.
4. Write 100 songs - Legend has it that when Lennon and McCartney started writing together, they wrote over 100 songs in a very short period of time. And many collegiate songwriting programs undergo this same gruelling process. Go through step 4 and you may not get to step 5 (i.e. you may find that songwriting isn't for you). This may take several months, or longer. But by the end of this process, you will know how to write a song.
5. Ev'ry day - like Billy Crystal said in Throw Momma From the Train, a writer writes - always.
6. Raw material (i.e. keep a journal) - This is the best way to avoid sitting down to a blank sheet of paper. Keeping a journal provides you with a parking place for scraps of lyrics or song titles that you can pull out at just the right time.
7. Finish what you start - There's nothing that will slow down the creative process than having a bunch of unfinished songs lying around. Often the act of finishing a song will reveal another idea waiting to be worked on.
8. Read all about it - Even though hacks 2 and 3 are superior, you can learn a lot from reading books about songwriting. I would recommend finding ONE and only one book which intrigues you and reading it. The key here is to be actively writing songs, not reading about writing songs!
9. Read all about it, part deux - Books, particularly fiction, can be a well-spring of potential song ideas.
10. Learn to play the piano - Even if you mainly plan to be a lyricist, you should know enough piano to plunk out a simple melody. If you mainly play guitar, playing piano will keep you from getting in a rut.
11. Learn to play the guitar - Same as #10 only geared towards piano types.
12. Listen, part deux (reference material) - You are kidding yourself if you desire to write country music or Christian music (whatever the genre) and you don't know what that radio format sounds like at the moment. You've got to know what sound artists are looking for and what you're going for.
13. Just enough about the music business - Again, you don't need to go to college to be a songwriter, but you do need to know enough about the workings of the business so you can protect yourself.
14. Don't keep it to yourself - This applies to song ideas, particularly in cowriting situations - it's easy to get in the bad habit of hording ideas and not sharing them with others. This also applies to your career as a whole - don't just hang out in your bedroom working on music. Play your songs at church. Play at a writers night. Sharing music with others - that's why you want to do this, right?
15. Begin with the end in mind (know what you're writing for). - As you write more and more songs, you will quickly find that there are just some kinds of songs that work better than others. You can save a lot of time and be much more productive by focusing on these kinds of songs.
16. It's a competition. Or is it? (I'll explain later, don't you fret)
17. Just enough theory - You don't need a music degree or anything (you don't even need to read music!), but you need to know enough about chords and keys and rhythm. to communicate with other musicians.
18. Be where the action is. Hugh Hewitt, in talking about influence, says that you should live in L.A., NY or D.C. if you want to be taken seriously. I guess you can add Nashville (and subtract D.C.) if you're talking about the music industry. Should you move there? Not right away, and maybe never. But you should plan on travelling to one of these places regularly if you want your stuff heard by the people who can help you.
19. Mentor and be mentored - Find others who have already done what you want to do and learn from them. Also, be willing to share what you already know with others.
20. To demo or not to demo? - This is a tough one that I'll tackle later. This probably depends on the individual situation.
21. Friends in unexpected places - The more you are actively pursuing songwriting and doing it well, the more you will start to find people who are on your team. Contrary to popular belief, the music industry exists to find and nurture talent.

Comments

[Kara]

Depends. You never know what parents will do with the stuff you show them. Strangers? They aren't biased like mom's and dad's are towards your work. ;)

[Corrine]

My 14 year old, Asher, has been writing songs all this year. I'm amazed at how many of these things he's doing by instinct. I've shown him the list so he can see he's on the right track, and so he can know whatelse he needs to do.

We got him a four track recorder for Christmas and he's been recording his songs. I've seen some of his lyrics, laying around in his room. They were very good (Mom-type prejudice notwithstanding). I told him I liked the song, and he was embarrassed and hasn't let me see anymore of them. But he does have some demos on PureVolume, and he is sharing them, just not with his parents. Shouldn't you be more embarrassed about sharing with strangers than your parents?

[Sara Edwards]

Mark, Thanks for the great info! I think I'm going to have to try writing 100 songs now. Thanks for challenging me toward a new goal!

[Angela]

good points Mark. i'll definitely be looking back. as pam said, i've seen some of them with poetry.

[Pamster]

Sorry Traci, just the pauses in weird places kinda make me crabby. LOL I am sure Shatner is a really nice guy...in writing LOL ;)

[Traci]

Careful, Pamster. Let's not go picking on Shatner. ;)

[Kara]

Hmm, I know I've been told some of those before... Or maybe it was just "known" and I picked that up when I was in my choir days... *ends rambling*

I do highly agree with the journaling and blogging ideas. And ditto on the piano/guitar thing. I learned just enough theory from 2 years of piano lessons to help out greatly when I got into jazz my senior year. Perfect pitch doesn't help much either *laughs* but the theory is sooooooo important! :)

I have one to add: learn 12 bar blues in Bb or Eb. If you can scat or atleast make up some funky sounds to go with 12 bar, I think you can find a sweet harmony to the song you're writing. (Atleast that's what I do.) And sing in public restrooms! More often than not someone's gonna ask what the heck you're doing. And presto, an audience is born. (Plus the accoustics are neat.)

[Pamster]

Mark, you could be a college professor. Seriously, my poetry professor suggested quite a few of your suggestions (only geared towards poetry and/or writing ~ but they are pretty close to one in the same). Only I have heard you speak and you don't talk like William Shatner, so I think I would enjoy listening to you in class more ;).

[Pat Callahan]

Great stuff, Mark. Found your site at Randy's and have been enjoying your stuff. This post is especially great and I am going to turn our guys on to it.

Thanks again.