Try This Before You Give Up on Songwriting
Songwriting seems like it should be easy… so, many people try to figure out songwriting on their own, leading to a struggle, either you figure out songwriting or you quit.
Try these solutions before you give up on songwriting because there is always another choice!
Below the video lesson is a transcript and bonus links to extra solutions I couldn’t fit into the video…
Begin Video Transcript
Here are the Reasons Why You Want to Quit Songwriting and How To Fix Them.
Try This Before You Give Up on Songwriting.
Let me guess…
You can play songs, so writing songs seemed like it would be simple.
Now you feel stuck because:
1. Songwriting should be easy…
2. but it’s not!
Songwriting is more complicated than you thought it would be…
For example, your lyrics need to tell a story and make sense, and touch people’s emotions.
Melodies have to fit the lyrics and fit into the chords. Melodies need to sound interesting and memorable while still being easy enough to sing.
The chords have to work with the lyrics and melody but the chords need to sound like they belong together on their own. They can’t sound boring or completely random.
Your arrangement, the notes you play, needs to fit the mood and style of the song, and be interesting and be memorable and still be playable.
Everything is connected in a song and has to fit together.
When it doesn’t, the song starts to unravel and you feel like tossing it out.
Now,if you’re guessing your way through songwriting you’ll end up feeling lost….
So how do you fix this hopeless feeling?
Songwriting Solution #1: Set Realistic Expectations
Lower your expectations from “Not Humanly Possible” to “something you can actually do…” so you can actually write something.
Your first songs might be total garbage. Finish them anyway, learn from them, then write better songs. This happens to every songwriter ever… most of us just don’t talk about it. You’re okay, you’ll write better songs soon.
Songwriting Solution #2: Develop Your Songwriting Process
Develop your songwriting process, that is: how do you get from “what do I write about?” to a finished song?
There’s no single answer that fits everyone. You need to work it out for yourself. Is it better for you to write lyrics first? Music first? Start with the easy stuff first or start with your struggle stuff?
It’s different for everyone, and that’s okay. It can even change for you from one song to the next.
Unfortunately, you have to actually write some songs to figure out your songwriting process. The catch is you have to write a song before you can figure out how to write a song… so, what do you do?
Songwriting Solution #3: Get Songwriting Training
Get some training… you can watch YouTube songwriting tips videos forever, or you can learn faster from an awesome songwriting teacher who knows how to break everything down into strategies and steps that make sense to you.
Check the description for a link to a free training you can subscribe to. It’s “How to write a song chorus” a songwriting process to write the lyrics, melody, chords and arrangement to a song chorus.
If you’re already confident with songwriting, this is your next best step…
https://epicsongwriting.com/songwriting-courses/
Songwriting Solution #4: Practice Writing (and Finishing) Songs!
Most importantly, you have to write songs… start, write, finish and repeat. Even the best training in the world only works if you use it to practice and finish the songs you’re writing.
INSERT PHOTO Summary (All 4 points)
Songwriting Solutions: Summary
Don’t get discouraged, don’t quit. If you’re having trouble:
1. Check your expectations
2. Develop your songwriting process
3. Get songwriting training and help, and
4. Write songs, practice and improve just like you did when you learned how to play an instrument.
Thanks for watching, like this video (article) if you liked it and try this playlist for more songwriting videos. I’m Trevor Dimoff, I transform musicians into songwriters at EpicSongWriting.com. Now it’s time to go practice your songwriting so you can improve…
