Rhymes – Not As Important As You Think!

Working on an early draft of a song?  Don’t worry about rhyming too early. Forcing a rhyme can twist your song out of shape, making a line sound unnatural. Worse, it can make you say something you don’t mean. That’s when listeners start to tune out. Instead…

1st: Say what you want to say. Write a couple of lines that express the heart of your song. (Don’t think about rhyming.)

How to Rewrite Your Melody

Q:  I usually get stuck on the first melody that I think of but all my melodies are starting to sound the same. How can I rewrite my melody?

A: Most of use know how to rework a song lyric to make it stronger but melodies are often left out of the rewriting process. Try these tips to work on  your lead melody line:

1. Break up a series of similar lines into different lengths. Turn a long line into two shorter phrases or run two short phrases together by adding notes/words. 

Go Ahead – Collaborate on a Song

I regularly check through the top songs in the Rock, Country, AC, and Urban genres and, guess what… in all four genres a majority of the hits are collaborations. In the Country genre, in fact, ALL of the top songs are frequently collaborations!

Collaborating (co-writing a song with one or more other songwriters) has so many benefits that it’s worth putting some real effort into learning how to do it and finding compatible songwriting partners to work with. It may take some time, maybe a few false starts, but it can more than repay you in the long run.

REASONS TO COLLABORATE

  • A collaborator can offer new ideas and nudge you out of old habits.
  • If you fall in love with a line that isn’t working, a collaborator can point that out and keep the song moving forward.
  • Working with a collaborator gives you added motivation, energy, and goals to meet.
  • The cost of demoing your song can be half what it would be if you wrote it alone.
  • Chances are you’re stronger in one area (lyrics or music) than another; a collaborator can add strength where you’re weak.

7 Tips to a Great Vocal Performance

Should you sing your own songs? There’s no rule that says every songwriter must be a good singer. You don’t have to be Adele or Bruno Mars or Ed Sheeran. You can write hits for other artists.

But don’t underestimate your natural ability. As the writer of a song, you can bring emotional authenticity and insight that a hired vocalist might miss. Many times it’s more about phrasing, presence, and character than hitting the pitches perfectly. Still, you can give yourself some help when writing your song and recording your track with these tips.

1) Figure out the highest note that you sound good on. Then figure out the lowest note. Try to keep your melody between those two notes. If you sing your own song while you write it, you can identify those places where you’re getting too close to your top or bottom notes then hange the melody at that point.

2) Emphasize your strongest vocal notes in your melody. If your high notes are weak, use them as passing notes only; don’t try to sustain them or use them for important words.