Songwriting Secrets Every Songwriter Should Know

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I have a gift for you at the bottom of this article. But first, let me tell you a secret.

Even though I write the “Vocal Tips” newsletter, some of you don’t know that my strongest area of expertise is actually teaching people how to write songs. And I do get questions about songwriting from readers every now and again. So I decided to write this article (and give the gift below) in case you are one of those who is interested in learning to write great songs.

WHY I TELL EVERY SINGER TO START WRITING

When I advise singers about their careers, one of the first things I tell them is…START WRITING YOUR OWN SONGS. There are GREAT reasons for this.

1. The EASIEST way to distinguish yourself as a musical artist is through
original songs.

One of the quickest things that get sized up about any singer is whether or not they are unique. We listen to see if we like a singer’s voice, but at the same time, we are always asking, “Is this something new and exciting?” Imagine turning on the radio one day and you hear a song you recognize that belongs to one of your favorite artists. But something doesn’t sound quite right. It hits you: THIS SINGER IS SOMEBODY ELSE. Same song, same arrangement…new singer. 

The announcer comes on cheerfully afterward and says, “That’s Joe Smith singing Coldplay’s song, ‘The Scientist’…Next we’ll hear new artist, Sue Johnson singing One Republic’s arrangement of ‘Apologize.’” What would you think about that?

Do you think you’d welcome some new singer trying to be one of your favorite artists? Would you have warm feelings toward Joe Smith or Sue Johnson for re-singing your favorite songs? I DON’T THINK SO. You’d be thinking, “Get your OWN darn songs!” And so my advice is “WRITE your own darn songs.”

2. It really IS about the song.

Give me a bad singer with a good song any day, rather than a great singer with a ho-hum song. Listeners are looking to FEEL something and that depends largely on the song! (Much more than the identity, or the image, or the clothing of the singer.)

It’s really about the song. Does this song mean something to me? Does the song take me somewhere? Does it touch me? If you are a singer starting out who doesn’t write songs, you have LESS POWER in the scheme of things than the singer who DOES write songs.

3. This is the ONLY career path I know where the doors swing open for you! 

I strongly advise you to write songs because THAT’S THE CAREER PATH THAT GAVE ME SUCCESS. I found out early that if I was going to grab listeners and launch a successful career, it would be with strong, original songs. And it worked!

BUT I DON’T KNOW HOW TO WRITE SONGS 

I never wrote a complete song until my later college years. I was a singer who was tired of being just a “Joe Smith.” So I started writing the best I could… learning as I went. I attended a songwriter’s conference, met some other great writers, and read the Songwriting books available at the time. Within 6 months of graduating college, I was a published songwriter! My first conclusion is that this must NOT be rocket science, since I did well at it fairly quickly. 

But early on, I learned a few important (simple) things about writing. And those are what gave me the success I gained. I eventually had several #1 national radio songs (in the Contemporary Christian music genre.) I am so passionate about this that I’m finally doing what my friends have told me to do for years…I’m writing my own songwriting “how-to” book. It’s not quite ready yet.

So I want to GIVE you a free songwriting primer I’ve written called, “Unforgettable! How to Write Songs That Stick!” It should get you started writing your own songs. This e-course will show you what I did to make my songs get noticed by the industry so quickly…so enjoy! Here is the link: 

Get “Unforgettable! How To Write Songs That Stick!“