Songwriter's Toolbox

I always knew that a song title was important. I just didn't realize how massively important! In this podcast, I share one of the most astonishing things I've learned about songwriting ever.
If you're interested in checking out the title categories (and maybe suggesting some of your own), I've posted this list on our website, artofthesong.org on the "Forum" page.

Here's a great tool to streamline the process of writing a powerful chorus. Bruce Springsteen uses it and so can you.

What makes a compelling song? Sometimes, it's the same thing that makes a compelling story: clearly defined characters who face obstacles that block their goals and the journey to overcome that opposition. Invariably, there's some lessons learned, too. It's a classic model for a story and a great way to write a song, too.

One of the most effective ways to make your songs stay fresh, keep listeners interested and really build drama is contrast. One of my favorite songwriting teachers, Jai Josefs, makes this point all the time.
Contrast is a fundamental tool great songwriters use. They make sure that the sections of their songs - verse, chorus, bridge, etc. - each sound different. How do you create in your songs? This is where a deep understanding of lyrics and music theory really pays off. As Pat Pattison, at Berklee, likes to say, just ask "What do you got?" and then ask "What's different?" The more you know about lyric writing and music theory, the more you'll understand what you've got and what would be different. But we all have lots of experience listening to music - and we know intuitively when things sound different. So, whether by ear or by training, you can play around with making your song sections sound different from one another.
To illustrate this point with melodies, let's check out the Eagles' song "Take it Easy."
Happy songwriting!
BTW: If you'd like to hear some of the music I've written, you can go to my music website: www.ChocolateStrawberryStudios.com
Please comment if you'd like to. I look forward to hearing what you think!

Where do songwriters find things to write songs about? For Janis Ian, a great source was the newspaper.
You can check out Janis Ian's music and more at www.janisian.com. Janis is a legendary and extraordinary songwriter. She's also written a lot of great articles about songwriting and being a singer-songwriter including a column in Performing Songwriter magazine. (You can read many of these article on her website - click on "Prose".) In fact, she's written about lots of things - she's very smart, compassionate and interested in almost everything. (She'd probably say that these are qualities that help in her songwriting too.)
And you can hear some of the music I've written at my music website: www.ChocolateStrawberryStudios.com
Thanks again for listening. And please comment - I look forward to hearing what you think!