The 30-Minute Songwriting Workout

Songwriters, do you find yourself sitting on the couch watching TV when you should be writing? Does it seem like too much effort to workout in your home studio? Haven’t got the time to lift your guitar, do a few reps on the piano, or stretch those vocal cords at the mic?

Well, I’ve got the perfect life hack for you!

In just 30 MINUTES A DAY you can have the creative muscles you’ve always wanted. Wishing won’t make it happen. But if you’ve got a half hour a day to dedicate to your creative life, you can get your songwriting in the best shape ever!

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8 Ways to Add Character to Your Songs

Have you ever started reading a novel or watching a movie and instantly found the characters so intriguing that you couldn’t stop? While we wouldn’t dream of reading a novel that didn’t have interesting characters in it, we don’t often think about the characters in our songs. Yet a character is often the first thing that a listener reacts to. Do they like your characters? Identify with a character? If so, they’ll stick around and listen to your song, maybe more than once.

So let’s take a deeper look at how you can create characters that capture the listener’s interest.

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Alternate Versions of Your Songs

I’m often asked if it’s a good idea to record and mix multiple or alternate versions of a song. The short answer is YES! Because…

  1. There are versions of your song that you’ll need to have.
  2. There are optional versions that can be useful to have.
  3. There are versions that you make just because you’re dying to hear what they sound like.

For the long answer, let’s take a look at a variety of alternate versions and how they can help you in a whole lot of important ways.

MUST-HAVE VERSIONS

THE MAIN VERSION

If you’re an artist, the main version of your song is the one you’ll release as your single. It’s the definitive version, the one you’ll promote first, and the one you want people to hear.

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PLAYLISTS: A Film & TV Songwriter’s Secret Weapon!

When I asked successful music supervisors how they manage to find the song they’re looking for among the thousands of song links, mp3s, and CDs they collect every year, they all told me they keep “song playlists.”

Music supes have to find songs quickly. When a film director or TV series producer shouts “Get me a quirky, upbeat love song!” the music supe has to scramble to find three to four songs that fit that description ASAP. A playlist of “Quirky, Upbeat Love Songs” will be just what’s needed. If they don’t have that, the chances of uncovering the right song in a few short hours will be next to zero.

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Writing Songs for Film & TV

Movie Slate

Thousands of songs are used in TV shows, films, and commercials each year. For every song that’s placed, many are auditioned—often hundreds—but only one is chosen. And you want that song to be yours.

The song that will get the job is the one that enhances the emotion and memorability of the scene for the viewers. Is a character discovering real love for the first time? The song needs to evoke that feeling of innocence, yearning, and wonder for the audience. Is the film set in a small town in the 1950s? The song needs to make us feel that we’ve traveled back to another time and place.  And the right song can bring the whole thing to life!

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