Your Song Writing Career - Taking The Small Steps

© I.Woloshen

One question I get all the time from new songwriters is..."I want to be a hit songwriter (singer, star, etc.) What do I do?" Man! That's always a HUGE question!

If you decided to climb Mount Everest, would you go there without any plans, without any other thought, and just start climbing? Probably not! But the equivalent of that in songwriting/performing happens ALL THE TIME!! I just met a songwriter who, as an adult, decided to write some songs for the first time, and immediately after getting them demoed went straight to Nashville! It's admirable, of course, that someone would have SUCH determination so early, but he definitely learned a few things from that experience. Was it a waste of his time? Certainly not, but he realized how far he had to go before he was ready to pitch his songs.

If you're a hot-blooded songwriter, you have little time or patience for all of the rest of it, all you feel is the fire in your belly to write. You have to spend as much time as you can getting those gems out, but at some point you might start considering how you're going to get the rest of the world to hear them. Rather than take this from the perspective of an artist or performing songwriter, let's just consider the songwriter.

There are several ways to get your songs heard. One is to go to an open mic, where you can have the opportunity to play to an audience that doesn't have a vested interest in you :-) Open mics can often be found in the "what's happening" section of your daily newspaper. Sometimes pubs or bars or even coffeehouse-type venues will hold these events on slow nights just to get something happening. Folk clubs are another place where you might find the opportunity to play. Do some research and find an open mic venue in your area. This might be a HUGE step for some of you, so another "first step" to take is to join a songwriter's group of some kind.

You can be really grass-roots about it and put up a notice in a local music store looking for other songwriters who might like to get together once in awhile to listen to each others songs. Or you might also consider joining an organization such as NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Assoc. International) or SAC (Songwriters Assoc. of Canada) or any other organization in your area or country, where you will find a good support system and the opportunity to meet and play with other songwriters and even people in the music business. These organizations will go a long way to help educate you and to give you lots of information on the business of music.

An excellent source of information on the music industry is a book called "Songwriters Market" which comes out every year with a fresh crop of names and addresses of publishers, agents, record labels, and lots of useful articles on the subject of songwriting and the music business. Go to your local library or book store and look for a copy. It can also be ordered online from several places...one of my favourites is the Muse's Muse book ordering page. There are also some excellent books there on the subject of songwriting. I don't read songwriting books too much, but most of my songwriting pals swear by them...some that are frequently mentioned are "The Craft & Business of Songwriting" by John Braheny, "Tunesmith" by Jimmy Webb, and "Writing Better Lyrics" by Pat Pattison. All can be ordered from the Muse's Muse.

What is the point of doing all of these things? Why not go straight to a publisher and start pitching your songs? It amazes me how many people start mailing tapes off to publishers BEFORE THEY'RE READY! That's the point...are your songs ready? You might think they're perfect (which of course they ARE :-) but remember who your competition is! Every great songwriter with a hundred hits already under her/his belt who is still actively pitching their songs...that's your competition! Can your songs stand up to that?

It's REALLY important to expose your songs to other people in order to get an understanding of how they stand up. I don't mean your family, either :-) Other songwriters can and will help you with feedback, the organizations I mentioned above will do the same. Don't jump the gun, take those small steps and you'll start to build your confidence in your songwriting as you go.

This next point is a sticky one. So let's say you feel like you have a song or two that you've spent a lot of time crafting and it's ready to be demoed. Do it yourself? Well, before you do, consider a few things. If you're not a great singer, don't really know how to use the equipment and have no idea how to create arrangements, you could spend the next 10 years learning...or you could try to find a studio close to you that could do it for you. I know, I know...you're a do-it-yourself kind of person and how else are you going to learn these things? You're right, you won't learn unless you do it yourself, but take it from me, it's going to be a LONG time before you really learn enough to be able to present your songs adequately. Going into another studio is another way to learn about the recording process, and you'll meet other musicians and people who are trying to take the same path you are. I DO have an article for beginner recording if you INSIST on doing it yourself! But one thing that songwriters tend to do is to become pretty isolated...meeting other people is also a GREAT way to expose yourself and your music, and create a name for yourself! Okay, so now you've got a demo and had some positive feedback...time to send those songs off to the big name artists, right? Yikes! Unless you have some amazing contacts, it just ain't gonna happen that way. I know, I know, yours is the perfect song for *put BIG NAME ARTIST here*, but how about somebody you can actually talk to at a concert or on the phone? Local artists are ALWAYS looking for material to perform...not only that, but they're already OUT THERE playing all the time! Do some research, look for some local artists or a band who might be perfect for your song(s). Go to one of their performances, ask them if you can give them a tape. Be prepared. Look professional. Have a business card and mark your tape CLEARLY with all of your contact info. The first artist/group might not go for it...the second one might. Keep taking the small steps.

Now you're a little further down the road, you've been getting your songs demoed, a couple of local acts have been performing them, one group recorded a song of yours...do you know what this is called? It's called a "track record"! This is your background, your bio, your story. This is when you start pitching your songs to small publishers. The work you've done already gives you credibility, it shows you're hard working and serious and publishers are ALWAYS looking for that! The pitching process is a whole other process, I've written another article on it here.

This is what I mean by taking the small steps...if you take enough of them, they will inevitably lead to bigger ones. Don't run off to Nashville with your first three songs and become disheartened and disillusioned, just take the next step, and the next. And let me know when you get your first cut :-)

IJ

The Second Verse – How to Write the *%&!@ Thing!

 © I.Woloshen

Why is it that the hardest part of a lyric to write is so often the second verse? Ever had this problem? It’s almost as if you’ve already said it all in the first verse…so where do you go from there?

There are several schools of thought on this one…I’ll tell you mine! First of all, maybe you HAVE said it all in the first verse. Some stories are shorter than others, some jokes get to the punchline faster. But don’t give up yet! There are certainly some things you might try before scrunching up that paper and filing it under “G”. And instead of telling you “don’ts”, I’m going to try to keep it all in the “do” category :)

1. Here’s one idea: do you remember having to write an essay in school, or maybe an article? One of the things your teacher might have told you to do was to try the “5 W’s”…who, what, when, where, why. If you haven’t covered all of these in your first verse, that may help you to expand upon your lyric in the second.

2. Refer to your chorus (if you have one)! The chorus is supposed to be the whole point of the song…use that main theme to get more ideas about where to go with the rest of the song. Verses work well if they all relate somehow to each other, and all to the chorus. I call these threads because of the idea of all of the verses “tying” together. The chorus can sometimes give you a clue as to how to expand upon your first verse and tie that in with your second.

3. Think of using a timeline, past, present and future. This may actually change the verse you already have a little…maybe you need to adjust it to be in the past tense. Tenses have to be used carefully, you can’t move all over the place in time without confusing the listener somewhat…so use with caution!

4. How about this? Make your first verse your second! Then write another first verse :) The point is that sometimes it’s just a psychological rut you’ve gotten yourself into, and moving the first verse to another position might get you out of it.

5. Ultimately, maybe you have nothing more to say. Maybe there isn’t enough of an idea for a song lyric. It’s not inconceivable to just dump what you have and start on another track! Again, it’s possible that you’ve just got yourself into a lyrical rut and starting fresh might help.

Yes, for some reason, it always seems to be that second verse that trips us up. Remember the old song “Henry the 8th”? After the first verse, he yells “second verse, same as the first!” Well, you don’t have to resort to that just yet :) Getting another objective opinion might also help…read to someone what you have so far and ask them what it makes them think. You might have to give them a songwriting credit, but if it means finishing the *&#$/!! thing, well, why not? Good luck!

IJ

Self-Indulgence – Don’t Sound Like A Beginner!

 © I.Woloshen

Just to qualify what I’m about to say here: this applies to songwriters who are either performing or trying to pitch their songs, not necessarily to hobbyists!

After having listened to many, many songs, and critiquing lots of lyrics over the years, I can spot a “beginner” almost immediately! Don’t misunderstand, there is nothing BAD about beginner songwriters…we all have to start somewhere! As I’ve said before, it takes about 50 songs before you begin to find your songwriting “voice”, your individual style and content. But some songwriters take 100 songs to get there, and some never get there. Why? Well, it’s simple. It’s difficult to step outside of yourself and hear your song from another person’s point of view. And THAT is the whole key to writing songs that you want others to hear and love. Right?

What I’m going to discuss here ideally shouldn’t be implemented until AFTER your first draft…that’s because if you think too hard too soon, you’ll lose the connection with your creative self, and we can’t have that! So consider what I’m about to say once you’ve got the first version of your song in front of you.

The very first hurdle we have to overcome as writers is self-indulgence. Although “self” expression is probably why we started writing in the first place, it doesn’t have much weight when it comes to getting your material across to your listeners. Why do they want to hear all about you and your problems? You know what I mean? Self-indulgence happens when we get so enamored with a chord, or a line, the sound of a note or a repetitive phrase, that we can’t let it go. This is “no-no” number one. The second no-no is when a song meanders on and on without any seeming purpose. It is NOT EASY spotting your own self-indulgence however! Here are some things to consider:

Repetition – I refer to this later in another article, but here is where I want you to understand the difference between “good” repetition, and “bad”. Popular music especially relies on a certain amount of repetition in order for the listener to remember! Rhyme helps too, but a “hook” or repeating line or musical phrase creates the memorable part of the song that brings a listener back for more. But how much do you repeat? Just enough and not too much! I once had a writer send me lyrics in which EVERY LINE ended with the same word. It’s not hard to see how this would create a yawn in no time! That is an extreme example, but I understood that he thought he was reinforcing his theme and how can you ever do too much of that? Well, you sure can.

Lyrically, I try to stick to the “three’s plenty” rule. If I want to use a word or phrase as a hook, if you will, I won’t repeat it more than three times in a chorus, for instance. If I had a four line chorus, the fourth line would be the “twist” or the surprise, or something different. But the shorter the lines, the less likely I’m going to repeat too soon!

(I want to make one distinction here…there is a difference between repeating a word that is IMPORTANT to the song [like the hook] and a word that is repeated in error! Sometimes I find that when I’m first writing, I use the same word twice in a verse or song without realizing it and when I get to the second draft or beyond, I’ll usually replace one of them.)

Musically I use the same rule. It is rare that I will repeat a musical phrase or melody more than three times within a verse or chorus. Here’s an exersize you can do to reinforce this idea. Sit down and sing the same short line four or more times. Try to pay attention to when it sounds cool, and when it gets tedious. Again, the length of the line has a lot to do with when that happens!

Meandering – this is almost the opposite of repetition! Some songs can go on and on and on and never get anywhere! Imagine listening to a long and boring monologue, no jokes, no purpose, just a continuous drone. I’ve heard many beginner songwriters write one like that, and I’ve written a few of those myself. This type of song is in DESPERATE need of repetition. You might be afraid to repeat too much and end up going in the opposite direction. Sit down with your song and plot out how long it takes you to repeat a musical phrase. So much of this is instinctual, so I can’t tell you you need to repeat every 10.5 seconds, but you HAVE to learn to listen to your own songs with some objectivity. If you have really long verses, think about repeating musical lines within that verse, don’t make the whole verse one long musical line. Does this make sense? If your verse is relatively short, there isn’t as much need for repetition, is there? Because you’re going to move on to the next verse more quickly! A repeated chorus can also satisfy this need for repetition somewhat. If your song doesn’t have a chorus, you still need SOMETHING that a listener can hang on to. A refrain will do that job…think about Bob Dylan’s song “The Times They Are A Changin'”. That line is the refrain…he doesn’t have a “chorus” in the song, just verses with that line at the end of each one.

Lyrically, meandering can be a little different. Sometimes a songwriter will send me a lyric that starts out with an idea in the first verse, and then moves onto another unrelated idea in the next verse, and another one…there is very little that ties these ideas all together. I find myself telling songwriters to “focus” a lot! Focus in on what your song’s lyrical purpose is. Plotting out a kind of storyline helps you to focus…write out a phrase that represents each verse and chorus, like this:

Verse 1
I just don’t want to see you anymore

Verse 2
What happened to the way things were?

Chorus
There’s nothing left of us

So I’m plotting out where I’m going with this song without getting tangled up in rhymes and meter and all of that, stripping it down to it’s main purpose.

A listener is almost ALWAYS waiting for the repeated part. If you make them wait too long, you’ve lost them. If you never get there, you bore them. There are simple listeners and sophisticated ones…you won’t please all of them, but your job is to decide who you are writing for and figure out how to leave them wanting more!

IJ