Songwriting can be an essential part of expressing yourself in music. Learning how to put your thoughts and feelings into the right words and setting them to music takes time and, more often than not, experimentation with the right motifs. Some people are born with a knack for writing songs, but mostly, it takes a lot of work. Below are some tips to help you express yourself through songwriting.
Don’t get discouraged
Writing often isn’t just one sit-down session where you bang out a whole masterpiece. It takes time to learn how to figure out how to accurately write down what you’re trying to say. Don’t get discouraged when it takes a while! Be sure you always have somewhere to write your ideas, as they might come up at any time during the day. Whether that’s your phone or a small notebook, make sure you always know what you’re talking about. The last thing you want is to write something down and not know what you meant later.
Always remember to listen
Learning different genres of music is one of the best ways to enhance your writing ability. Try to find how the different genres can relate to each other, as good musicianship can piece together different types of music like a puzzle. Analyze the structures of the music and how exactly they’re written. Maybe you like a specific word, metaphor, or motif used in a song. See how that can relate to your song!
Think outside the box
New musicians are always on the lookout for the “right” way to write or compose a song, not knowing that a specific way doesn’t exist. There’s no correct way to create a good banger. More often than not, it’s okay to break the rules when looking at songs. Thinking outside of the box can actually make you become more valuable as a musician because people will see your talent. Ingenuity is key in music– no one wants to listen to the same sort of music over and over again.
Feedback is your friend
Feedback in a creative sense will save your musical life. You need to take the feedback given to you and implement it into your songs as you see fit because every piece has merit. Don’t feel pressure to create a Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame level song on the first try. The feedback can be a bit ruthless, so a thick skin is needed to make sure that you can withstand it. Changing your work through feedback is important because it can make you a better musician.