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Songwriter Theory — Music
Songwriter Theory

A show for singer-songwriters who are tired of “almost great.” Each week I’ll equip you with practical, proven methods to turn promising ideas into complete, timeless songs you’re proud to release.
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Latest Episodes:

Find Your Writing Places Jul 15, 2019

Show notes

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/

If you want more visits from the muse or to increase your productivity, you need to find the places that are conducive to writing productivity

Often want a place away from distractions
1. Don’t do it in front of the TV
2. If people in a coffee shop distract you, don’t do it there
3. If people in your house distract you, find a place away from everyone
4. Distractions can be in the form of context - sometimes trying to write at the same computer you play video games could be a distraction
Want a place that is conducive to creativity
Try to find the right time conducive to creativity

How To Figure Out Your Vocal Range Jul 08, 2019

Show notes

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/

Find Range:

Start in comfort zone, go down until you hit bottom

Start in comfort zone, go up until you hit top- belting

Consistent {

Comfort Range

Lower Range

Upper Range

Head Voice Range

}

Deviant Lower Range

Deviant Upper Range

Intro To Iterative Lyric Writing Jul 01, 2019

Show notes

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/

Iteration is defined as the act or process of repeating. For example, iteration can include repetition of a sequence of operations in order to get ever closer to a desired result.

To-do List app:

Start with basic to-do’s

Next iteration, add priority levels 1-3

Priority levels don’t work right, so fix them for next iteration, and add levels 4 and 5

Find out users don’t want priority levels, but due dates, so replace priority with due date

The datepicker for due date is garbage, because it takes too long to select a date one year from now, so make that quicker and easier

Making Yard Nicer:

Mow grass one day

Next day do weed whacking - grass looking good

Next day water grass + trim bushes

Next day put new mulch down

Next day do some gardening- cut back some plants, plant new ones

Section level - Verses, Choruses

Line level - lines

Word level

I know the pain of a lonely heart

That cheers itself with song

And I hear your melody

You think you don’t belong

I know the pain of a lonely heart

That cheers itself with song

I know how hard it is

To always stay so strong

I know the pain of a lonely heart

That cheers itself with song

Living in a silent world

Where burdens don’t last long

I know the pain of a lonely heart

That cheers itself with song

Living in a busy world

Where burdens don’t last long

I know the pain of a lonely heart

That cheers itself with song

Living in an absent world

Where burdens don’t last long

I know the pain of a lonely heart

That cheers itself with song

Living in a restless world

Where burdens don’t last long

I know the ache/grief of a lonely heart

That cheers itself with song

Living in a restless world

Where burdens don’t last long

I know the ache of a lonely heart

That cheers itself with song

Clinging to a restless world

Where burdens don’t last long

Deliver At Every Part Of Your Song Jun 24, 2019

Show notes

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/

You have to deliver at every part of your song. The intro needs to deliver. So does the first lyric you sing. The first chorus can’t disappoint. And no one likes an anticlimactic bridge or finale.

You have to deliver at every part of your song.

Deliver Lyrically

You need to deliver lyrically at every part of the song. Areas to concentrate on are certainly the first and last lines of the song as well as the entire chorus, but you need to nail it everywhere.

You can’t just have a clever lyric here and there. It needs to all be good. Better yet, great.

You always want at least one “tattoo lyric” per song. But why stop at one?

The most common offender of thrown together lyrics is the second verse. The second verse is often more like the “second string verse” behind the “starter” that is the first verse.

We don’t want that. The second verse shouldn’t be clearly worse than the first. It shouldn’t feel like it’s the “second best verse”.

You need to deliver at every part of your song. That includes verse 2.

The best way to slowly, incrementally get your lyrics where they need to be is to level them up iteratively.

The basic idea here is to be satisfied with slowly but surely increasing the quality of the song. Maybe just looking for some synonyms and “upgrading” a single word you use. Or maybe a part of a line. Even just upgrading one line in a mini writing session can be a huge win.

Don’t pressure yourself to get it right the first time. And don’t pressure yourself to restart the whole section or line if it isn’t quite right. Try to keep making each word, line, and section better piece by piece.

Hey, at least your first line is probably better than this one. Seriously though. What is on Joey’s head?

Deliver Melodically

You want a good verse melody. But the chorus can’t be a disappointment.

You don’t want the response to your song to take a negative turn once you get to the chorus.

A song can survive and even thrive with only a good chorus. Not many songs can survive without a great chorus- no matter how great the rest of the song is.

That being said, we don’t want to just deliver for that first chorus.

The transition to the second verse can’t be disappointing. The listener can’t roll their eyes with “again?” for the second chorus.

And, please, don’t cop out on the bridge. The bridge is not an obligation you need to get through. It is an opportunity to make a good song a great one. Don’t make me think “Just get back to the chorus already” during the bridge.

So how do you deliver melodically at every part of your song?

First, simply have a good melody in each part of your song. What does that mean? It means the melody should be memorable or catchy and it should emote what the lyrics are saying. It should match the song and be something people either want to sing along with or be silent to enjoy.

Second, find ways to change it up. Often, the chorus utilizes a higher vocal range. This is partly because this is one of the easiest and best ways to add excitement and to sound “bigger”.

Changing how long notes are held is another common way to add interest to different melodies throughout the song. Normally, verses have shorter-held notes and more lyrics, while the chorus lyrics are simpler with longer-held notes.

A great way to really make a chorus stand out is to have large leaps in the notes of the melody or have the most catchy vocal hooks be in the chorus.

Find a way to make sure the melodies stay interesting.

Continue Reading here...

How to Get Out of Your Creative Box Jun 17, 2019

Show notes

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/

I can always use some tips to get out of my creative box. So I’m going to bet you can use some tips on how to get out of your creative box too. I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll share some tips here, and you can give me some tips you have in the comments.

I’m glad you agreed to this deal. May it be ever fruitful in a long-lasting, mutual-benefit relationship.

Change Starter Instrument

Sometimes I sit at the piano and nothing comes. Then I sit at the guitar and I finally get some inspiration. Or at least come up with something I won’t throw out.

Sometimes the opposite happens.

Other times it can be helpful to start with something totally different.

If you play different instruments, try writing with all of them, not just the one you’re most comfortable with. Often, different instruments will inspire you differently. Acoustic guitar usually inspires me more rhythmically, while piano is a more consistent melody starter.

Maybe for you it’s piano and flute. Or violin and bass. Whatever instruments you play, try to change it up. Don’t just stay dedicated to whatever instrument you’re best at.

Don’t be afraid to pick up an instrument you can’t really play well either. Even if you aren’t a pianist in any sense, no harm can come from sitting at a piano and plugging away at notes. It still plays very differently than your violin, and you may write something a little outside your ordinary.

Use Different Instrument Sounds

You don’t even need to change physical instruments to get out of your creative box. Many instruments can be used to generate some different sounds.

This will be most true of the piano and the guitar, but you can certainly find ways to alter the sound of any instrument, whether digitally or physically.

Just switching from acoustic to electric or the other way around can make a huge difference. Then tack on guitar pedals and other effects, and the sounds are nearly endless. You’ll tend to play and write some very different styles when you have some heavy distortion vs when you have the guitar clean with some heavy delays.

I’m a piano purist. I will never understand those monsters who see a perfectly good, in tune piano and are like “yeah, I’ll just use the keyboard”. That being said, I have one of those great $350ish Yamaha keyboards that are super portable, with 88 weighted keys.

Not exactly meant to be a synth of any kind.

But, between the capabilities to plug into my computer via midi and use it like a synth, and even the 3 alternate sounds I can choose on the keyboard, it gives me nearly unlimited sound options.

Sometimes I need to get away from that “Singer-songwriter writing a song at the piano” thing. A way I can do that? Change it to that crappy honky tonk setting on my keyboard. Or maybe the strings. I love to plug it into my computer via a midi cable and try some different synths too.

And, when I have a deep, heavy synth sound from playing the keyboard vs the sound of a piano, I just tend to write a bit differently.

Start With A Drum Beat

This one is actually new to me. And it blew my mind how simple and obvious it is. And, as to not take the credit, I learned this from the immensely talented Felix Weber.

I tried it about as soon as I got home from meeting with him. Mind blown.

This is especially helpful to write in different styles than you normally would. Say you like a jazz vibe, but never really think in jazz. Bring up a jazz-style drum loop on your computer and problem solved.

Maybe you’re more of a singer-songwriter/rock person like me. But, also like me, have some interest to dabble in some electronic or EDM stuff. A drum beat will definitely help you along the path.

It amazed me how quickly I could shift into very different feels and genres that I had never written in -or even ever really played- by utilizing this trick.

Try out some different sites like here and here for some drum loops....

Read more on our blog: songwritertheory.com

Be Open To Learning Jun 10, 2019

Show notes

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/

Stop thinking some knowledge or skill you have is “good enough”. Be open to learning.

How can you strive for success, while also telling yourself that you’re “good enough” at what you do?

Don’t seek validation for where you are. Sure, it feels good for someone to validate you. But what you really want is insight into how to improve.

You aren’t so arrogant as to believe you can’t improve, right? By nature, we all can improve on literally everything. There isn’t really a peak to reach where we can’t go one step further.

I play piano. I play piano more than well enough to do the music I write. I can play piano and sing at the same time. But you know what? I can and should absolutely get better.

Maybe I can do even cooler piano stuff. Maybe I can play some advanced composition during live shows to mix it up. Maybe I can just get better because I’m a musician, so why not?

Don’t seek validation for where you are. Be open to learning.

Seek mentorship on how to get to the next step.

What is your weakness? Lyric writing? Melodies? Chord progressions? Music theory in general?

Whatever it is, go try to get better! Don’t just tell yourself (and others) how “you don’t need music theory to write great songs!”

You also can cut your grass without a lawn mower. You can be a professional athlete without eating healthy. Finally, you can live past 100 years old having smoked for 90 years.

But you’ll cut the grass a lot better and faster with a nice ride-on lawn mower. You would probably be an even BETTER athlete who gets closer to the peak of what they were capable of if you put down the skittles. And your chances of not getting lung cancer is quite a bit higher if you don’t smoke.

So stop pretending that “some great songs were written by people who knew nothing about theory!” even remotely implies that music theory would not significantly improve your songwriting toolbox.

Be open to learning. Stop seeking validation for your current state. Stop telling yourself that you don’t need to improve. We all need to improve. Do you think the greatest guitarist on earth got to be the greatest and then was like “eh, I’m the best now, no more practicing for me!”

Let me answer that for you. No. The answer is no.

I’m learning every day. I want to learn at a faster rate every day. I hope you’re doing the same.

Music Arrangement Theory Jun 03, 2019

Show notes

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/

Music arrangement theory is so important, and yet it’s hardly discussed. Even when talking about songwriting or music theory, the theory of arrangement is something that is often left out.

This is odd because basically every song ever recorded had an arrangement. Do you hear more than one instrument? Ok, then the song was arranged.

I’m going to break down how I look at an arrangement. This will guide you to understand what parts you have already and what parts you need. It will also give some insight into the purpose or job of each part. It’s my music arrangement theory.

Body, Main, Leads, Filler, Atmospheres

How to Get Over Destructive Perfectionism May 27, 2019

Show notes

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/

It’s great to have high standards. We want to achieve greatness at our craft, not adequacy.

But sometimes high standards can morph into destructive perfectionism. Sometimes destructive perfectionism is masquerading around as high standards.

Either way, we can (and probably at some point, will) fall victim to it.

So what is destructive perfectionism?

It’s when your perfectionism begins to become a hindrance to your creativity.

If you aren’t making much progress on your songs because you feel the need to write it perfectly the first time, you have fallen victim to destructive perfectionism.

If you refuse to move on to another song or another part of a song while writing or recording, you have fallen victim to destructive perfectionism.

Let’s talk about how to combat this if we’re going through it and habits to form to ensure we don’t fall victim to it easily in the future.

Getting It Right The First Time

The first step is accepting you won’t get it right the first time.

Once in a great while, a miracle happens. Milk and honey rain from the sky (Chocolate milk obviously), everyone admires you as a person and an artist, and the Patriots lose the superbowl.

But, for every other day, you won’t get it right the first time.

I’m a software developer by day, and we always joke about how rare it is that something we develop works right the first time. Sure, by time the user sees it for the first time, it probably mostly works.

But, behind closed doors, that was after the developer worked out the kinks in his code for a while. Maybe coming up with several non-functional or non-ideal versions before getting something they like. And then the QA has to test it. They will inevitably find an issue and then the dev needs to work out those bugs.

Eventually it gets through. But it’s pretty rare that something works perfectly the first time.

Songwriting should be seen the same way. We shouldn’t even expect to ever get it right the first time. Sure, we should try to get it right, but we shouldn’t be putting on unnecessary pressure.

A great way to solve this issue is to use something else prevalent in the world of software- an iterative process.

Basically, you keep making passes over the same thing, making it a bit better each time.

You don’t try to write the whole song perfectly the first time. The first time you just write. Write 20 terrible verses you will never use. Write a bunch of terrible piano riffs. Write a bunch of yawn-inducing chord progressions. Don’t even worry about it. Just let the creativity flow.

Next time you go over the song, figure out what parts had potential and which parts are just junk. Maybe write some more. Or maybe refine some parts that have potential.

Eventually you’ll have a chorus, a couple verses, and a bridge (or whatever your song structure becomes). But maybe you aren’t happy with your second verse still. A line or two just doesn’t seem quite right. So you keep working at that verse, making a bit better each time you touch it.

Eventually you will get there.

There are SO many benefits to this iterative process. One is the huge pressure release. There is something so freeing about just writing whatever comes to mind. If you aren’t worried about getting it perfect the first time, you can write so much. And there will be good stuff in there.

Another benefit is that you get to refine over time. This allows you patience with your process and allows you to make constant progress. Instead of staring at a page, thinking of the perfect verse, you change a couple words or lines at a time, making it 1% better at each pass-through.

Constant progress is important for the obvious reason of progress being good as well as the psychological win it provides. It’s super demoralizing to sit down to write and write NOTHING for an hour.

But making a couple lines just a bit better or writing a bunch of crappy lyrics still gives you a psychological win. Progress inspires you to keep going.

Refuse To Move On Until You Get Something Perfect

Let’s say you look in the mirror and decide it’s time to start working out. You don’t want to be single any more and those biceps aren’t impressing the ladies.

So what do you do?

Do you do bicep workouts every day for 3 months until they are looking good? And then do 3 months of just triceps and pecs to get them tight-t-shirt-ready?

No....

Don't Wait For The Muse May 20, 2019

Show notes

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/

I always thought the phrase “strike gold” was a bit weird. Or at least how it’s often used is. People use the phrase as if the person just happened across something super valuable.

It’s always used as if, in the gold rush, people were just hiking along, and happened to see a full bar of gold.

“Honey, I found the gold. We can retire now”

But that’s not how it worked then nor is it how it works now.

They had to travel across the country when it would take months. And there wasn’t exactly a highway system with McDonalds waiting at every exit.

Then they had to be resourceful and find the right spot.

Finally, they had to pan for the gold. And pan some more. And then keep panning. By the end of this, most of them still hadn’t become rich.

What is the point here? “Striking gold” isn’t just a stroke of luck. It requires a ton of work in the hopes that you may strike gold.

So you can’t just wait around for inspiration to strike. You have to write. You have to work at your craft on good days and bad days. Don’t wait for the Muse.

Success isn’t found by happening across it as you float through life.

It’s working at it, learning from mistakes and then working more. If you wait to write until you get a visit from the muse, it may never come.

Rely On Skills vs. Rely On Luck

Do you want your future success to lie on the shoulders of skills or luck?

Hopefully your answer was skills. That was the correct answer.

If you wait around for the muse, that’s putting your success on the shoulders of luck. The muse visits when it desires. Sometimes it will come every day for a week. Sometimes it will disappear for a year.

You can’t rely on the muse. Don’t wait for the muse.

We want our fate to rely on our skill at our craft. Because this is something we can work on and improve every day. This results in our work being worth it, as it is building our skill up every single time we work at it.

When you have worked on and developed your craft and the muse pays you a visit? That is when you have struck gold.

I’ll give you an example here. Let’s say you are in a drawing to get an autographed guitar. You have 5 entries into the drawing. So, you have a shot to win.

But the person next to you has 200 entries into the drawing.

How good do you feel about your chances now? I bet you’re thinking “aw man, how am I going to win when they have literally 40 times more tickets than I do?”

Now, it’s still possible that you’ll win.

But the chances aren’t great.

Waiting for the muse is like being the person with 5 entries. You don’t write when inspiration isn’t raining on you from heaven above, so you don’t write that many songs.

But the person with 200 tickets is the one who is working for it. They write every day. They write when they’re inspired and they write when they aren’t inspired. Sometimes they write until they feel inspired and then write some more. Not only do they have 40x more songs than you, giving them 40x more chances at success, but they probably have more muse-inspired songs than you.

Because, while you were too busy watching Netflix, hoping the muse would come in and say “hey, you haven’t been spending any time with me lately”, they were writing and the muse came over because they were working for it.

Be the person with 200 entries, not the one with 5.

The Power of Dyads and What You Don't Hear May 13, 2019

Show notes

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/

It’s pretty common to assume any chord is a triad. And, I get it, triads are fundamental to chords and music theory. A minor, C major, and Db diminished are all triads. Most chords we talk about are triads.

We almost begin to believe that all chords have 3 notes.

But there is so much beauty and power in the dyad.

A dyad is a set of 2 notes. Depending on perspective, one could consider a dyad a chord or an implication of a chord. We’re not going to dive into that discussion with this post, but what we’re going to talk about revolves around that beautiful word “implication”.

There is Beauty and Power in What is Implied

Some of the great thriller/horror movies can shine some light on this. What is so terrifying about Jaws? It’s not the shark. It’s the implication of the shark. When you hear that iconic minor second interval, you know what’s coming.

And it strikes fear into your heart.

Honestly, once you see the shark, you probably think “oh, it’s just some animatronic? Hmm, still looks pretty good for the 70’s, good on you Spielberg.”

Often, a monster or character becomes far less terrifying once they are shown. But the implication of them can be horrifying.

Similarly, a dyad is an extremely effective tool to simply imply a common chord. C, E, and G form a C major chord. But what is C and G?

It could be a C major chord. But is also could be a C minor chord. It might not even be a C chord. It might be a G add 4, depending on arrangement.

The dyad doesn’t have to be a 5th apart either. Playing around with 3rds, 4ths, and 6ths can give you so many options.

More Melodic and Arrangement Options

One of my favorite things about dyads is how much more creative room it leaves for the rest of the song. There are realistically only so many notes you can play with at once. A chord with more than 4 different notes starts to get messy pretty fast.

Just try playing C, D, E, F, G, and A at the same time.

“But they’re all in the key of C!” you might say.

Doesn’t matter. There is only so much room for different notes at any given time. There’s a reason the C major key has 7 notes, but a C major chord has only 3.

When you utilize a dyad, your chord is so vague, and so few notes are used, that your melodic options are basically anything at all within the key.

If you know how to improvise with the piano, try this experiment. Play the 1st and 5th of the I chord in whatever key you want. Then, one octave above, play different melodies, holding on all different notes.

Now try the same thing with the 1st, 3rd, and 5th.

Note: Simple version would be to try this with C and G in the bass and then playing a melody in C major, then C, E, and G in the bass while playing a melody in C major.

It’s just going to sound a bitoff. If you added a whole instrumentation around it, it would only sound even more off.

Your melody is what will stick in people’s minds and make them instantly recognize a song from a simple hummed tune.

Anything that equips you to write a better melody is a good thing.

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