Songwriting Habits: Make Them Work For You

Habits: We all have them. Good habits, ones like exercising or flossing, can be a big plus, helping you improve your life without even thinking about it. Bad habits—well, we all know what those are and we’ve all got ’em. They can be a drag on your life and keep you from achieving  your goals.

As in life, so in songwriting. There are good songwriting habits that can help you achieve your goals faster, and bad habits that can cause you to write the same unsuccessful song over and over.

Have you ever noticed yourself falling into the same melody, chord, or lyric writing habits in song after song? This is songwriting by rote; doing the same things over and over without thinking about them. Often it means you’re writing the first thing that occurs to you. It could be a chord progression or melody style you heard in the music you grew up with. It became so ingrained that it now feels natural and spontaneous.

Sometimes we mistake this for our “authentic voice.” But it’s no more authentic than brushing your teeth he same way every day. It’s just what comes out of you first.