The 7 most popular EpicSongWriting articles of 2018 and the songwriting lessons I learned from analyzing why these articles were hits…
Creating popular articles, just like songs, isn’t always predictable. Take time to figure out why your best songs are better, instead of blindly forging ahead…
7. Create Your Own Songwriting Practice Routine
How to practice songwriting, create your songwriting practice routine to focus your efforts and maximize your songwriting results.
Create your customized songwriting practice routine to focus your efforts and maximize your songwriting results. A comprehensive guide to crafting your own songwriting practice to capitalize on your strengths and improve areas where you need to develop.
I expected this article to chart higher, but perhaps the harsh truth that songwriting takes long term effort instead of being a quick route to fame and fortune might not have been to everyone’s liking.
Songwriting Lesson: substance and an honest message is important, but make it accessible to your target audience! What’s that song about a spoonful of sugar and medicine?
6. Brainstorming
Get more songwriting ideas than you need… find song title ideas and song lyric ideas without struggling ever again! Solve this common songwriting problem!
Brainstorming is my go-to songwriting technique, you can quickly create more songwriting ideas than you need. Use brainstorming to find song title ideas and song lyric ideas without ever struggling again! A simple solution that solves one of the most common songwriting problems
Songwriting Lesson: Make it easy for people to enjoy your songs… one reason this article charted so high was because it was a video lesson. People tend to prefer video to the written word, and most would rather watch a music video than listen to it.
5. Create Your Musical Elevator Pitch
Learn how to introduce yourself and get new people interested in your music before they even hear you, in 30 words or less….
This article from 2016 was more popular than most of the articles from 2018. I didn’t promote it or even think about it. Basic SEO, Google and a topic that interested songwriters got more attention than many articles I actively promoted!
Songwriting Lesson: There are always outliers and surprises that don’t fit your expectations. If a song is well written and resonates with your audience it can still be a hit without active promotion. Bet it would have done even better if I had worked for it!
4. Professionally Recording Your Songs
Ready to professionally record your songs? Are you ready to take your songs to a professional Sound recording studio? Learn from Ian Sherwood’s story, recording his CD in a Professional recording studio, choosing the songs, a Music producer, mixing & Audio mastering to finished CDs
I wrote this to help songwriters who were dreaming of recording their music in a professional studio. Ian Sherwood laid out the entire process in an interview, talking me through every step he took for his 5th studio album “Bring the Light”… from choosing the songs to receiving the first shipment of CDs from the manufacturer.
Songwriting Lesson: Learn from others who are further along in their songwriting journey. Figuring it out for yourself isn’t the fastest way… ask someone who has done it more than once!
Songwriting Lesson 2: Co-write songs… you share the joy and fun of songwriting and get access too your co-writer’s reach, through both professional contacts and social media presence. Many people read this article because of Ian Sherwood’s songwriting reputation and the social sharing he did for the article.
3. Songwriting Sprint – Ian Sherwood
Why songwriter Ian Sherwood spent 3 weeks to write more songs in a songwriting sprint when he already had 40 songs ready to record, and how you can create your own songwriting sprint.
Songwriting Lesson: Co-writing again… sometimes you need to hear something more than once!
Songwriting Lesson 2: Nothing beats a good story… this article attracted more readers than How to Professionally Record Your Songs because of an interesting story. People were attracted to it because they wanted to know why Ian spent three weeks writing more songs for his upcoming album when he already had more ready to record than he needed… and because he shared how he wrote so many songs in a songwriting sprint.
Songwriting Lesson 3: Both articles came from the same interview. I got Ian going and came up with material for two articles… when you’re on a roll, write as much as you can!
2. The Fastest Way to Memorize Songs
The Fastest Way to Learn Songs… how to learn and memorize songs so you can perform them or transcribe and analyze songs. I explain the entire process and then transcribe “Dig That Hole” by Ian Sherwood live on video
Songwriting Lesson: This is another video lesson… I would much rather write an article or song than create a video. It’s good to get outside of your comfort zone, especially if it gives people what they want.
Songwriting Lesson 2: This article appeals to both songwriters and performers… a niche is comfortable but you should also create art than is interesting to other audiences….
1. 25 Five Minute Songwriting Exercises
25 five minute songwriting exercises to sharpen your songwriting skills and inspire your songwriting sessions.
If you’re going to create, go big time! Instead of a few exercises, I put 25 in the same article. Then I made sure it was still manageable by emphasizing that each could be done in as little as five minutes.
Songwriting Lesson: Stretch yourself and your audience, playing safe is boring. You grow more outside your comfort zone than if you play it safe. Listen to new music, try new ideas. I intentionally write songs that are difficult for me to perform, so I stretch my skills and improve as a songwriter and as a performer.
Bonus Songwriting Lesson:
There were other articles that I thought were better or more interesting or more fun to write than some of these articles, but when it comes to art… your audience gets to decide what resonates with them.<
