Category: WHAT’S ON THE SITE

Can You Pitch a Home Recording?

Q: Do you think it’s okay to pitch a home recorded version of a song or should I have the song professionally recorded?

…The answer is: t will depend on how elaborate your demo needs to be. You can record a simple acoustic guitar and vocal or piano and vocal with a minimum of gear. A couple of microphones may be all you need for a Singer-Songwriter demo. If your song is good, your playing is confident and steady, and your vocal performance is emotionally authentic, you’re well on your way to having a song that might work for the Film & Television market or streaming for fans of acoustic music.

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Song Starter: Write a song about a place.

There have been many successful songs written about places: New York, Paris, San Francisco, Chicago, and foggy London town.  In these songs, the big city often provides a backdrop for a love affair or nostalgic memories.

But small towns and rural locales can also be inspiring. Jason Aldean’s “Tattoos on This Town” is a great example of a vivid lyric about growing up in a small town. Classics like “Blue Bayou” and “Rocky Mountain High” evoke the feeling of a place.

LYRIC STARTER: Think of a place that holds emotions or memories for you and write a song about it. Paint a picture so your listener can see and feel the place as you do. What is it you remember? What stands out? Why do you feel the way you do?

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Video #6: Find the Melody in Your Lyric

A memorable melody will bring listeners back to your song over and over. But where do you start? The natural melody of speech will give you the raw material for a song that’s focused and original! Learn how to look for the melody in your lyrics and begin building an unforgettable chorus.

Video #5: Images Bring Your Lyric to Life

To listen to the song examples in this video, be sure to turn on Youtube “Annotations.” Click on the square speech bubble at the bottom of the video screen. Or you can listen on Spotify, Rdio, or any stream-on-demand music website.

Tip: Stockpile Ideas for Songs

Problem: You don’t have big chunks of time to spend on your songwriting. (Not many of us do.)  So when you finally do get an afternoon to work on your songs – or at least a couple of uninterrupted hours – you need to get the most  from it. You don’t need to be spending the first hour or two just trying to find an idea you want to work on.

Here are three BIG songwriting tips that can help you avoid wasting hours!

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