Songwriting Exercise: Write For An Artist
This songwriting exercise focuses on writing for an artist. You’ll work through some simple steps to: (1) find an artist that works with your style of writing, and (2)…
intermediate
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Storytelling: Tell Songs Like A Movie
Storytelling can get pretty messy pretty quick. And, in a song, you only have three to four minutes. So, how do you make sure you’re telling a great story…
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Melody: 5 Essential Books
Melody is the messaging highway of your song. It helps maintain the interest of your listener much like scenery along the route. They can give your lyrics either a…
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Effective Similes In Songs
Creating effective similes in songs can take a ho-hum lyric and turn it into a “wow!” lyric. The magic of a simile is that it allows you to use a direct…
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Joni Mitchell ‘The Magdalene Laundries’
On her 1994 album Turbulent Indigo Joni Mitchell has one of the most descriptive, powerful songs you’ll ever hear. She crafts a first person story about a young girl incarcerated in one…
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Creating Better Melodies
Melodies can be tricky to find, invent and build – especially when we keep hearing the same thing in our head. So, how do you break the pattern? Melody…
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How Melody And Lyrics Work Together
Melody and lyrics play a key part in: (1) differentiating your song, (2) communicating your message, and (3) creating a compelling, memorable moment for a listener. So how can…
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Verb Power
Verbs are power in a song. So, mastering your verb power will make your songs more memorable because there is more emotion and motion in your songs. Verbs will…
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Organize A Hook Book
Organize your hook book! It’s one of the best things you can do to make sure you’ve got ideas and lines at your fingertips when you’re working toward your…
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Kacey Musgraves ‘Merry Go Round’
Kacey Musgraves, along with Josh Osborne and Shane McAnally, uses the play on words in ‘Merry Go Round’ bring the images and the story of “a life” from a…
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Rhyme Patterns
Understanding rhyme patterns is one of the best ways to increase your songwriting ability. What Are Rhyme Patterns To me, rhyme is one of the fundamental building blocks, or…
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When To Stop Finishing Songs
Don’t get me wrong. Finishing songs is important. But, not every song deserves endless revisions! I believe there are some songs that come out and flow down the page…
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Keeping Your Spare Song Parts
You’ve heard of a spare parts for a car – so why not have spare song parts? One of the best ways to give yourself permission to write songs…
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Understanding Perspective
Perspective is the voice of the speaker, informed by their beliefs, upbringing, cultural heritage and most importantly for a song, how they’re taking in the situation. Are they thinking…
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Switch Point Of View Exercise
One of the easiest ways to increase your understanding of point of view (POV) is to take a song you’ve completed and switch the point of view. Changing up your point…
