Songwriting for Beginners

Songwriting for BeginnersRecently we’ve been profiling some great guitar playing songwriters like Bob Dylan, Neil Young and George Harrison. The combined work of these artists over the past fifty years is impressive. But it doesn’t need to be daunting. Songwriting can be incredibly accessible and fun even for beginners. This month we are going to take a closer look at some of the songwriting resources on our site.

If you are ready to jump in, don’t miss The Sunday Songwriters Group. The Sunday Songwriters club is a stretching exercise for your mind. Arpeggios for the brain cells, so to speak. After all, writing is like playing – to get better, you have to practice.

You’ll also want to head over to The Guitar Noise Songwriting Club. Get help writing songs, find composers for your lyrics or set up songwriting exchanges. You can post messages here to find songwriting partners or post your lyrics and get feedback. Questions about copyright? They go here too.

Both groups are located on our forums and are free and easy to join.

songwriting

Best-Kept Secret

What do you do with original music you’ve written? Here is an option for both performers and non-performers alike.

Where Do I Go From Here?

What should you do with the songs you’ve written? There are three avenues you can take. This article examines the first two options available to you.

Arrangements

There are lots of songwriters who have difficulty arranging their own songs. This article discusses finding others to arrange your songs for you.

Finding The Right Words

Every songwriter is going to have their own unique spin. It’s what makes people want to listen to what you have to say.

Home On Your Range – Theory/Songwriting Workshop 2

This is the second part of our theory and songwriting workshop. In this article we’ll come up with a simple way of figuring out a singer’s vocal range.

Putting Things Together – Theory/Songwriting Workshop 1

This is the first in a series that looks at how melodies and chords work together. It includes specific examples from some well known songs.

À la Bowie

Experimentation and songwriting are nothing new. We’ve put together a little writing exercise inspired by methods David Bowie used in the early seventies.

Networking

To become a successful musician or songwriter you will have to network with other people in the music business. Here are a few starter tips.

Writing Emotions

When you write a song with emotion you need to remember that everyone is going to react to it differently. Let’s look at how emotion is tied to songwriting.

Repetition Repetition Repetition Repetition

The chorus is the part of a song that repeats the most. It can become very annoying if the songwriter doesn’t know what they’re doing.

What is Melody?

Two songs can use the same chords and same strumming pattern yet still be different. Melody is what will distinguish the two songs and make them different.

More Questions and Answers

Here are some more answers to common questions about songwriting and a life in music.

Name That (Part of the) Tune

For anyone who isn’t sure, let’s take a look at the different parts of a song. While every song is different, the structure of songs is pretty consistent.

Questions and Answers

This article answers some of the common songwriting and recording questions that we have received.

Back from the Future

What effects did the industrial revolution have on music and songwriting? Some of the effects were very profound so here is a brief overview of them.

The Main Event

Picking up where the last lesson left off, we’re going to explore songwriting as storytelling a little further.

Storytelling

Once upon a time, songs were meant to tell stories. Rarely are they of this nature now. Let’s take a look back at where it all started.

Piecing The Puzzle

We’ve already looked at hit songs, songwriting vocabulary, hooks and gimmicks. Now let’s to put all these things into perspective.

The Gimmick

Over the years many artists have relied on gimmicks. We’re going to look at a few of these, namely: Kiss, Alice Cooper, Ozzy and Marilyn Manson.

The Hook

An important skill for songwriters is being able to come up with hooks. A Hook is what sells a song. It is what makes people sing it and like it.

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