SONGWRITINGLESSONSONLINE.COM 7 Reasons Why Your Music ... · Idea A (main melody) Idea B (new...

SONGWRITINGLESSONSONLINE.COM

7 Reasons Why Your Music Doesn't Sound The Way You Want It

To

(And How To Fix It)

By Ryan Buckner

7 Reasons Why Your

Music Doesn’t Sound

The Way You Want It To

(And How To Fix It)

By Ryan Buckner

© Guitar Mastery Solutions, Inc. Page 2

Table Of Contents

Is There Really Such A Thing As “Wrong Notes” In Music? 3

Writing Songs With A Live Instrument Versus Virtual Instrument 6

Reason #1: Your Music Has No Sense Of Structure 7

Reason #2: The Music Is “Too Basic” 12

Reason #3: The Ideas In Your Song Are Too Complex 15

Reason #4: Your Melodies Are Arranged In An Awkward Manner 19

Reason #5: Your Chords Do Not Flow Well Together 23

Reason #6: You Lack Knowledge Of Different Instruments 29

Reason #7: Your Song Lyrics Lack Creativity 32


Is There Really Such A Thing As “Wrong

Notes” In Music?

Most likely, there have been times when you were

either writing a song or playing an instrument and

you used notes that did not sound good to you

within the context of the music. Upon doing this, it

is easy to label these notes as “wrong notes” and

move on. However, before getting into the main

points of this eBook, I would like to take a moment

to challenge this common way of thinking in order

to help you think a bit deeper. Although many

people commonly think of “bad sounding” notes as

wrong notes; there is also a common competing

idea that says “There are no wrong notes in music”.

Hmm well, which one is it!?

To add some clarity here, I’d like you from now on

to think less about the notes themselves and more

about your ‘intentions’ as a songwriter and

musician. There are certainly useful rules or

techniques for creating ideas that most of us agree

upon (basic example: using ‘major’ chords to

express being “happy”)…

Digression: There is a lot to be said about the universality of

these rules. In fact, this subject is much more deep than

you might expect, as its validity has been debated amongst

music theorists and philosophers alike. However, this

conversation is outside of the context of this eBook.

…For the purposes of this eBook (and your growth

as a songwriter), focusing on expressing ideas first

will help you grow much faster as a songwriter. In

the end, the purpose of writing music is to express


ideas, so it only makes sense to begin thinking

about what you want to express first rather than

what notes sound “wrong” (since wrong is based on

context).

In any given situation, what are your intentions

with the music you are creating? What are you

trying to express? How accurately does your choice

of notes express your thoughts in your music?

What note choices are the best for expressing what

you want to express? These are all important

questions to ask yourself.

Consider the music of avant-garde pianist, Leo

Ornstein. Popular for his highly experimental piano

music, Ornstein wrote highly abstract piano pieces

consisting entirely of what most people would call

“wrong notes”. That said, Ornstein was no

amateur; being highly versed in music theory, he

wrote complex, virtuosic pieces with involved

rhythmic themes (for examples, search for

“Impressions of the Thames” and “Arabesques”).

Although most people would listen to his music and

become turned off due its atonal nature, it could

hardly be said that he did not write his music with

any degree of intentionality. He was certainly

aware of the different emotions he was creating

with his music and could scarcely be compared to a

beginning songwriter who was simply playing

random notes in hopes of making something

“good”. With this in mind, Ornstein could be

considered a great (though perhaps extreme)

example of why “there are no wrong notes in

music”.


By writing music with the goal of achieving your

intentions rather than “avoiding bad sounding

notes”, you will not only open the doors for higher

levels of musical expression; but you will also open

your mind to improving your songwriting skills ‘in

the moment’. The more you are thinking in the

moment, the faster and more effectively you will be

able to learn from your mistakes and achieve your

desired goals in songwriting.

Consider this as you read through the remainder of

this eBook. The truth is, any of the ‘mistakes’

mentioned in this eBook could actually be done on

purpose in a way that sounds very good to many

people. The crucial idea to understand is: If you are

writing music and something does not sound as

you intended it and/or you have not even

considered your intentions, ‘this’ is the sign that

you may have used the “wrong notes”. I encourage

you to work hard to increase your understanding of

how music works together with self expression so

that you can both create music that you love and

enjoy putting your ideas out into the world.

With that said, in each of the 7 “reasons that your

music doesn’t sound how you want it to” covered in

this eBook you will be given several ideas to

consider in order to help you write your music the

way you intend it to sound. By applying the ideas in

this guide, you will be able to quickly problem-solve

different songwriting situations and improve your

ability to more accurately express yourself in

music.


Writing Songs With A Live Instrument Versus

Virtual Instrument

With the accessibility of music songwriting

software, it is not uncommon for many songwriters

to write a lot of their music entirely on their

computer. This can be very useful when you are

not skilled on a particular instrument(s) and/or

when you want to use sounds that cannot be easily

recreated without a computer. Both real

instruments and virtual instruments are great tools

of musical expression. That said, both approaches

inspire different methods for songwriting. For

example, you are much more likely to program a

pattern into a virtual instrument without knowing

how it sounds first. On the other hand, you are

more likely to improvise a pattern on an instrument

that you can play first before deciding to use it in a

song. Keep this in mind as you read this eBook and

think about how the different ideas discussed apply

to your own songwriting method.


Reason #1:

Your Music Has No Sense Of Structure

If you are unsure about how to piece together a

song so that all the parts within it work together in

a coherent manner; you will likely end up with this

problem.

Things you might be thinking to yourself if you are

having this problem in your songwriting:

• “…this song feels unbalanced.”

• “…this song doesn’t flow together very well as

a whole.”

• “…part of this song seems to take up a lot

more space than the other parts.”

Why does this happen?

If you are having this issue, it’s likely that you have

not invested enough time into determining a

direction for your song to go in. This situation

commonly occurs when a songwriter takes various

ideas (that may be totally unrelated) and simply

places them one after the other without any clear

reason for doing so. This results in a continuous

stream of melodies or chords one after the other

that vary in length and feel more like separate

“blocks” of ideas rather than smooth, flowing

music. This method is frequently used when a

songwriter feels as if he/she is lacking in ideas, has

little experience writing for a specific style of music

(or in general), or does not know how to put a song

together in a balanced manner with any kind of

understandable form.


How can you avoid this issue?

Don’t worry so much about the specific melodies,

chords or other aspects of your music just yet.

Instead, begin your song by thinking of the way

you will put it together. For this approach, you

want to think about ‘what’ you want to express

specifically and combine it together with a balanced

structure that will make up the foundation of your

song. By thinking of a structure first, you will not

have to worry about becoming frustrated later on

when you realize that your song “isn’t going

anywhere” or “has too many new ideas”.

Here are a few examples of different song

structures that are organized in different ways to

give you an idea of how you can prepare your ideas

in advance and give your song direction:

Music with vocals/lyrics:

1. A very common an effective song structure used

in nearly all styles of music:

Chorus

Verse

Chorus

Bridge

Chorus

2. A song structure with added depth; a pre-chorus

to prepare the chorus and a solo section; a bridge

to present new ideas; a break to setup the solo

section:


Intro

Verse

Chorus

Verse

Pre-Chorus

Chorus

Bridge

Break

Solo Section

Chorus

3. Here is a basic example of connecting the ideas

you want to the structure of a song:

Chorus (Main idea you want to get across in song)

Verse (thoughts that lead you to the main idea)

Chorus

Bridge (some alternate thoughts you had toward main idea)

Chorus

Outro/New Section (A new idea/changed your mind about the

main idea)

The following are song structures for instrumental

music. When no lyrics are involved or there are

many sections in your song, letters are an effective

way to keep your ideas organized:

4. Since no vocals are involved, melodies or other

noteworthy musical ideas are what define the main

idea of a particular section. A number may be

placed by the letter to denote that there is

something significantly different in the section, yet

the section still contains the main ideas it is

recognized for (such as a specific melody or series

of chords):


Idea A (main melody)

Idea B (new melody)

Idea A2 (played with harmonized notes in main melody)

Idea C

Idea B (melody played over the rhythm section of idea A)

Idea A

5. This example gives basic detail on how you

might organize your ideas along with the structure:

A (upbeat/fast, melody 1)

B (upbeat/fast, melody 2)

A2 (upbeat/fast, melody 1, new rhythm section)

C (slow section, melody 3)

D (slow, solo section)

C (slow section, melody 3)

A (upbeat/fast, melody 1)

Additionally, work on finding ways to smoothly

transition from one section to the next. This can be

done by using similar musical ideas that the current

section you are working on has in common with the

next section. Here are some examples of things

you can do to transition from one section to

another:

1. Use a similar rhythm section (parts played by

drums or chords played under the main

melody)

2. Write both sections with musical ideas that

contain similar note rhythms.

3. Use similar lyrical content.

4. Keep both sections in the same key/use the

same chords (in the same order or

rearranged).


5. Speed up the notes of one section just before

the next one begins to create a sense of

“departure and arrival”.

As a final comment, the idea of structure can be

applied both to your song as a whole as well as on

a smaller scale to things such as melodies. While

writing with song structure, remember: you do not

need to always write everything with perfect

symmetry; experiment also with structure that is a

bit ‘unbalanced’ and see how it feels.


Reason #2:

The Music Is “Too Basic” And Lacks Creative

Ideas

You will certainly come up with many songwriting

ideas that you don’t like in your process of

becoming a better songwriter. However, the more

you practice, the better you will get at expressing

your thoughts clearly through music.



• “…this music sounds really boring/lame”

• “…this musical idea doesn’t express anything

interesting”

• “…I can’t think of anything to write.”


One of the leading causes of “boring” music that is

“too simple” is a lack of variation. This normally

occurs in situations where songwriters try too hard

to make their song melodies exactly even in length,

write music using scales in a “non-musical” manner

or otherwise follow plain/conventional songwriting

patterns. As with any of the points mentioned in

this eBook, this commonly occurs for total

beginners due to a lack of experience or a lack of

having anything to actually express musically.


In order to avoid writing music that is too simple,

conventional or just plain boring; you will need to


think outside of the box and focus on getting the

most out of each note you use in your music.

Here are some potential solutions to use if your

music feels too basic:

- If you find yourself applying a generic pattern, do

something to tweak it a little. For example, if you

are using your instrument to write a melody and

you find yourself simply running up and down the C

major scale; try removing one or two notes from

the scale or focusing on the rhythm of your notes

by holding the 4th note you play longer…then

holding the 7th longer, 10th, etc. (create your own

pattern). Also, experiment with emphasizing

specific notes while using other notes to “fill in”

between them.

- Do your melodies sound more like exercises than

actual melodies? If this is the case, try focusing on

rhythm (as mentioned above) while mixing

together different sequences of notes. For

example: A sequence of 4 notes could be A B C D,

B C D E , C D E F, G F# G# A, etc. Additionally,

focus more on ‘how’ the notes are being played by

utilizing techniques specific to your instrument such

as vibrato (for stringed instruments). Think more

about what it is that you want to express, then try

to use your instrument as a medium to express it.

Regardless of your skill level, the result will be

more expressive than if you were simply playing

through a scale or programming a pattern into a

sequencer.


- Think of all the musical elements as you write.

How can you use loudness and softness to enhance

your music? How does rhythm affect the expression

of what you are writing? Can you add in more

instruments or harmony to add some interest to

your melody? Can the chords you are using be

arranged in a different order for a different overall

feel? If you are writing a melody, can you get a

better sound by writing it with two almost identical

halves (a question and an answer), two halves with

separate musical ideas, three parts or more, a

combination of all of the above? etc.

The more you focus on “expressing” an idea

through music rather than simply plugging in

exercises you play on your instrument,

conventional songwriting chord formulas and so

forth; the easier it will be to come up with ideas

that are more creative and leave you with the

feeling that you have created something unique.


Reason #3:

The Ideas In Your Song Are Too Complex For

Their Own Good

As a songwriter, it is easy to get caught up in the

excitement of self expression. This can lead you to

trying new ideas you haven’t explored fully yet

(which is good). However, until you understand

how to integrate songwriting techniques (or the

music you play on your primary instrument)

together with the ideas and emotions you want to

express, the result may be a mess of technical, yet

uninspiring musical ideas.



• “…this musical idea doesn’t express anything

interesting.”

• “…I want this song to sound complex and

interesting, but I’m not sure how.”

• “…I can’t think of anything to write.”

• “…this music lacks a good melody.”


A big motivational factor for many musicians is to

have the appearance of being highly skilled and

technical. When it comes to songwriting, this desire

can be observed through songs that contain

elements such as complex rhythms, advanced

harmony, articulate lyrics or technical instrumental

passages. However, the desire to write intricate

and complex music can often result in a


complicated mess if you have not yet mastered the

songwriting concepts you are trying to use. In just

about all cases, songwriters who are unsatisfied

with their music because it is “too complex” need

to focus more on expressing an idea rather than

utilizing a bunch of technical ideas with the goal of

winning the approval of others. The truth is, the

more expressive and emotional your music is, the

more you (and others) will enjoy it. Your music

does not ‘have’ to be complex in order to achieve

this goal.


If you are skilled at the instrument you play,

understand advanced music theory concepts or can

write thought provoking lyrics, you may have a

strong desire to showcase your abilities. This is

totally understandable (and fun ☺); however, if you

are want to use your skills to write songs that

sound the way you want them to, consider the

following points:

1. How can you use your playing skills to enhance

musical expression in the song you are writing?

If you are a highly technical instrumental player,

begin first by thinking of an idea or emotion that

you want to express in your music. Then think of

how you can use your specific technical skills to

achieve it. Next, play your instrument to create the

part in your music. If you notice that you are not

accurately expressing your idea with your playing,

stop for a moment and try to pinpoint the reasons

why. Chances are, you are focusing on the goal of


impressing others rather than expressing your

desired idea.

2. Do the complex parts you have written add

anything to the music that a less complex part

wouldn’t add? If so, what do they add? If not, how

can you alter your music (or compromise) to make

it more accessible while still retaining the

expressive intention you originally desired?

For example, you could be writing a solo section for

an instrument that uses fast, technical passages.

Let’s say you listen to it and decide that you like

the speed, but the solo lacks direction as a whole

because it never slows down to emphasize any

specific notes. You could change focus by trying to

cut back a little on the speed of the solo in order to

focus more heavily on giving it a clear direction

with more recognizable/sing-able melodies.

3. Are you trying to say too much at once?

For example, a lot of songwriters try to use their

knowledge of music theory in their music.

Unfortunately, they have not learned how to

connect the abstract “theory” aspect with emotion.

This gives them the ability to write chords with

complicated harmony; however their music does

not accomplish much because they do not

understand how to express themselves with it. One

way to avoid this is to continually associate specific

emotions with chords and other musical ideas as

you use them. To quickly be able to express your

specific emotions with music, create a list or chart

that contains the different musical ideas you have


used to make music. Over time, this list will build

and you will start to notice familiar characteristics

in different ideas. Additionally, by simply writing

this down, you will greatly increase your ability to

retain them in your conscious mind. This will enable

you to write more expressively off the top of your

head, giving you less moments of “writer’s block”.

‘


Reason #4:

Your Melodies Are Arranged In An

Awkward Manner

One of the first things that musicians write in a

song is a melody. A great melody can be one of the

most memorable aspects in a song, and as such

holds a lot of value in the eyes of a songwriter.

That said, if the melody you are creating in your

music does not quite sound how you want it to, you

may be making one of several common songwriting

missteps.



• “…this doesn’t sound right.”

• “…the melody feels rushed”

• “…the melody feels unbalanced”


Although there are several musical causes to why

your melodies may not sound how you want them

to, your choice of ‘how’ you write songs can also

have a major affect on your results. For instance,

awkwardly phrased melodies are a common

occurrence if:

a) You have not gained at least a decent

understanding of how notes, scales, chords,

instruments or rhythms will sound (and feel) in any

given context ‘before’ they are played.


b) You use a songwriting program or sequencer as

one of your primary songwriting tools.

Musicians who use this method to create songs are

in the habit of programming in note

rhythms/scales/chords first, and then listening to

them to see if they sound good. When combined

with other songwriting strategies, this method is

not a ‘bad’ method at all. In fact, it is quite useful

as a learning exercise if you do not know how the

rhythm (eighth notes, triplets, etc) or pitch of the

notes will sound ahead of time (this is the case for

many songwriters). It is also great for

experimenting with new virtual instruments to get

a feel for them…


…With the above paragraphs in mind, this approach

often leads to awkward combinations of rhythms

and pitch that can have a very “unresolved” feeling

to them. The truth is, any rhythm or pitch can be

creatively made to sound interesting and engaging

if you make enough effort. However, most

songwriters who program notes into software or

sequencers with hopes that something good will

‘pop out’ at them, do not know what they ‘want’ to

hear yet. As a result, they may end up writing

melodies with some of the following characteristics:

1. Lack of balance due to one part of the melody

being much longer than the other. This is a matter

of lack of an understanding of structure (as

described earlier in this eBook). Most melodies

have a balance in terms of length. Consider how


many measures long you want your melody to be

ahead of time and whether or not you want it to be

made of a basic question and answer structure –

The first half of melody ends in a way that feels like

it needs to be resolved and the second half ends in

a way that feels resolved - or perhaps a melody

that builds continuously to a climax (or any

combination of the two types).

2. “Rushed” feeling rhythm because the most

important parts of the melody end abruptly on a

weak beat (or in between beats) or are not held out

long enough to give the idea a nice melodic feel.

This can also create an awkward transition between

two different musical ideas/melodies. To help

remedy this, work on giving your melodies a “sing-

able” melody. To do this, sing the melody you want

to make out loud (or in your head at least) ahead

of time, and try to recreate it in your songwriting.

3. Notes that sound “wrong”. This usually happens

when notes are used from a different scale/key.

However, the root problem for “wrong” sounding

notes is that they are not resolved to “good”

sounding notes and are used in isolation without

any identifiable purpose. In other words, it sounds

more like you didn’t know what you were doing

than you were trying to make the music sound

unique or tense. Any time you use notes in a

melody that are from a different scale/key when

compared to the rest of the music (or chords being

played below the melody), keep in mind how you

will resolve the notes to balance out a feeling of

tension and relaxation. Look for notes in the key or


scale you are using for your song that are close by

the out of key (chromatic) notes you are using.

Also consider how you are emphasizing these notes

based on how long they are being held out and if

they are on a strong beat or a weak beat.

A lot of times, musicians write music mostly at

random by simply selecting a single note rhythm

(such as continuous eighth notes) and entering in a

scale pattern or sequence. Although you can still

get good ideas from this, consider using a

combination of songwriting strategies to improve

your results. For example, try writing ‘some’ of

your melody with your instrument or by singing it

and ‘some’ of it by programming it into your music

software. By playing your instrument or singing to

write a melody, you will naturally come up with

different ideas based on certain patterns you are

used to. When combined with the more “random”

approach used in sequencing/programming, you

can get the best of both worlds.


Reason #5:

Your Chords Do Not Flow Well Together

If you are having trouble specifically with getting

the chords in your song to sound good together,

you are likely inexperienced in terms of connecting

notes/chords to ideas or are unaware of several

methods that great composers have used over the

centuries to give their chords smooth and flowing

qualities.



• “…these chords don’t sound right together.”

• “…these chords don’t feel smooth when they

transition to one another.”

• “…this chord doesn’t feel how I want it to.”


There are generally two things that cause the

chords in your music to sound out of place or

awkward:

1. A misunderstanding of what chords really ‘are’ in

the context of writing good music.

2. Little or no understanding for how chords work

together to express ideas and emotions.


If you lack understanding for how chords work, you

probably think with the mindset that chords are

merely chunks of notes that you can plug in here


and there to make music. This mindset is severely

limiting for both your musical expression and your

ability to write high quality music. Instead of using

this mindset, focus on treating every note in the

chords you choose as its own separate melody. By

zooming into a detailed level and following the

‘melody’ created by each note, you gain much

more control over the direction of your music as a

whole. Additionally, you will benefit from learning

how to smoothly lead one note to the next.

Generally speaking, learning how to smoothly move

from one chord to the next is considered to be the

sign of “good” songwriting ability. This topic is

expansive, but here are a few basic ideas that you

can use whenever you write chords:

1. Focus on moving from one note to the next by

either a half step or whole step whenever possible.

Whenever different musical lines make large

“leaps” (moving by more than a step) from note to

note, it can sometimes sound erratic and

undesirable to our ears. Moving by short distances

from note to note has the affect of a smooth

transition when we listen to it and is more pleasing

(in general). As you are writing, think of how each

single note in your current chord moves to a closer

note in the next chord. This will put you into the

mindset of treating notes in your chords as

individual melodies.

2. If two chords contain some of the same notes,

repeat those notes whenever switching between

these chords. For example, if you are playing an A

minor chord (notes = A C E) followed by an E minor


chord (notes = E G B), find the E note that is being

played and repeat it in both chords. So if you are

playing a piano part in your song that contains an A

minor chord followed by an E minor chord, find the

exact “E” note (white key) that is shared between

the two chords and repeat it for both.

3. Don’t use only chords in root position, use a

combination of root position chords and

“inversions” to add depth to your music and allow

for smoother transitions between chords. For

example, rather than writing a series of chords that

goes like this…

C – Am – F – C

…you could use inversions (also “slash chords”) to

keep the same lowest note throughout and give

continuity to the music:

C – Am/C (C is lowest note played) – F/C – C.

In order to make your chords both smooth and

highly expressive, you will need to also understand

the emotions that different chords and chord

combinations create. Most people would simply say

that you must “learn about music theory” in order

to do this; the truth is you learn a lot on this

matter without even cracking open a single

textbook! You see, there are a lot of musicians who

learn all about music theory but still cannot write

great songs because they only understand the

abstract “theory” of music. This is useful

information to know, but you can really only take

advantage of it if you understand how to integrate


it together with the “non-theoretical” emotional

aspect of music. Surely, there have been a lot of

great songwriters who have written incredible

music in spite of the fact that they did not go to

university for music nor study music theory. (…I

would still highly recommend that you learn about

music theory as it is a vital tool for anyone who

wants to improve the quality of their music.)

That said, a very basic but effective way to improve

your ability to write chords that express the ideas

and emotions you want them to is to take note of

how different combinations feel. Here is an exercise

you can use to do this:

1. Choose one major key and one minor key of the

same name (example A minor and A major, E

minor and E major, etc.)

2. Observe the order of the chords in each scale.

Example:

A minor =

Am (1st chord in key)

Bdim (2nd chord in key)

C (3rd chord in key)

Dm (4th chord in key)

Em (5th chord in key)

F (6th chord in key)

G (7th chord in key)


Next, take 3 - 5 chords from each scale and

arrange these chords into 5 groups with 5 different

variations, like this:

Selected chords from key of ‘A minor’: Am CM Em

FM

Group one: Am Em C F

Group two: Am C Em F

Group three: C F Em Am

Group four: Em Am Em F Em Am

Group five: F C Am Em Am

(…repeat for major key)

Observe which number that goes with the chords

you chose. Example: Chord 1 in A minor is Am,

chord 2 is Bdim, chord 3 is C, etc. Match up each

number to each chord.

3. Finally, play each individual group several times

to get a feel for the emotional qualities that each

chord conveys when moving from one to another

and as a whole with the group. Before moving on

to play the next group of chords, write down the

emotional qualities you noticed. As you do this,

also pay attention to the number from the previous

step. By doing this, you can quickly identify how

any combination of chords will sound in a basic

major or minor key by simply understanding how

“chord 1” feels, how “chord 1” moving to “chord 6”

feels, and so forth.


4. To add more interest to the chords in this

exercise, add in a chord from a different key to

your groups. For example, in A minor you could

add in the chord “Bb major”. In this case, you can

refer to it as a b2 chord in A minor since you

lowered the note of the 2nd chord. Songwriters

often use notes from different keys to add ‘flavor’

to their music, and you can greatly expand your

music by experimenting with notes from “outside”

of the key. Also, as you do this, make sure to keep

track of whether the new chord is higher or lower

than another chord in the key (as mentioned

above). This way you will have a solid system for

remembering how different chord combinations

sound. The more you take time to connect chords

with emotions, the easier it will be to quickly find

the chords you want to use for your songs in any

given situation.


Reason #6:

You Lack Knowledge Of How Different

Instruments Are Used

In order to become a complete songwriter, you will

need to learn how to write for not just your own

primary instrument, but for many others. Until you

gain an understanding of how various instruments

are (intended to be) played, you will be very

limited while trying to write music for them.



• “…how do I write music for X instrument?”

• “…I don’t know how instrument X is supposed

to be played.”


If you are accustomed to writing music for only one

instrument (likely the instrument you play well),

you might have a hard time writing music for other

instruments. This can be due to not understanding

the different techniques available to other

instruments, the general way they are used or how

to get the best sound out of the natural structure of

the instrument. This leads to music that may

contain good ideas, but ultimately is not as good as

it could be because it lacks the depth needed to

make each instrument stand out on its own using

high quality songwriting. A great example of this

could be guitar players who have great guitar skills,

but when they sit down to make a song, it contains


very bland drum or bass parts that function mostly

as “filler” parts in the song rather than well-written

ideas that increase the quality of the music as a

whole.


If you are unsure about how to write great music

with a certain instrument, it will highly beneficial

for you to listen to songs that contain that

instrument and analyze how the musicians use it.

You will often notice many nuances that you didn’t

notice before while focusing intently on a specific

instrument/part in a song. It’s easy to feel like your

songs are “good enough” by simply plugging in

instruments to play parts in a very general

manner; however, the more you focus on bringing

out the unique qualities of the instrument, the

more it will stand out on its own (rather than

simply being a part of the background or filler) and

make your music better as a whole unit.

One common songwriting mistake is to write parts

for an instrument in a way that doesn’t make sense

in terms of how the instrument is actually used. For

instance, consider how it would feel if you wrote a

vocal part for a singer with a ‘bass’ singing range

that consisted of all high notes. It might sound

strange (even unintentionally funny); and by doing

this, you are not taking advantage of the natural

build of the instrument (in this case the singers

vocal cords). If you want your music to be of high

quality, take the time to research ‘how’ the

instruments you are writing for are used in order to


get the most out of the way they are naturally

built. That said, make it your focus to learn the

subtleties of every instrument that you want to

write songs with. For example, if you want to write

rock music, research the techniques and styles of

musicians who excel on each of the typical “rock

instruments”: drums, guitar, bass, vocals,

keyboard, etc.

To do this, make a list of 5 different musicians for

each instrument, listen to how they play (while

listening, focus ONLY on their parts and not the

other parts in the music), and write down

everything you notice. As you are doing this, keep

in mind the different musical elements and how

they are being used effectively by these musicians.

A couple of questions you might ask yourself while

listening/studying these musicians are: “What

techniques do they use that are specific to their

instrument (may require a bit of extra research)?”

And “How do they use these techniques to build

and release tension or otherwise make the music

more interesting?” In addition, contact

accomplished musicians you know (or find forums

online) and ask them about their instrument, and

its appropriate use in songwriting. By doing this,

you will surely get some useful advice to consider.


Reason #7:

Your Song Lyrics Lack Creativity

If you do not have a lot of experience writing lyrics

for songs, you might struggle at first when trying to

think of ideas that accurately express your

thoughts.



• “…these lyrics don’t make any sense.”

• “…I don’t like the way these lyrics sound.”

• “…My lyrics sound cheesy”


If you are a songwriter who has more experience

as a musician rather than a lyrics writer, may have

a lot of excitement for writing songs… yet dread the

process of lyric writing because you are not

accustomed to writing out your ideas in the form of

written words or poetry. This lack of experience

and the anxiety around it frequently leads

songwriters to procrastinate on lyric writing. This

slows down their progress for becoming more

complete songwriters and often slows down the

process of completing an entire song. As a result,

some people resort to using short cut clichés and

end up feeling unsatisfied or embarrassed with the

lyrics they write. Some people may even be too

embarrassed to write lyrics because they are not

used to expressing themselves so openly in this

manner.



The topic of writing better song lyrics is vast (and

could take up a book on its own), but here are a

few easy and basic solutions you can use to

improve the quality of your lyrics:

1. You feel like your lyrics are too cliché or lack

creativity.

Like with any ‘wrong’ notes in music, you can make

any lyric work well to express your thoughts if you

put enough effort into it. The key to using cliché

lyrics or lyrics that are ‘less conventional’ is to

make it work with who you are as a person.

Consider the things that are most important to you,

things you talk about to others, ‘how’ you talk to

others in everyday speech and the general

vocabulary you use when trying to get a point

across. If you feel that the lyrics you are writing

are congruent with who you are, you will be much

more satisfied with them in the end. If the lyrics

you write don’t match up with the idea of how you

would like to express yourself, look for 3 – 5

alternate ways to express the same idea and try it

out. You will find that there are so many variations

in speech, that your options for expressing specific

ideas are nearly endless.

2. Is it the content or the delivery?

The reason you don’t like your lyrics currently may

not be due to the lyrics themselves, but the way

you are writing them. A common example of this is

when people write lyrics by using an excessive


amount of rhyme. Under some circumstances,

rhyme is a very effective rhythmic tool for lyrics

writing; under other circumstances, it can feel as if

the songwriter is “trying too hard”. The best way to

approach this is to balance out your use of rhyme

with passages that do not include rhyming lyrics,

and instead rely more on the ‘musical’ aspects of

the song to emphasize rhythm.

3. You don’t feel like you have much to say/don’t

know what to say.

A lot of songwriters frequently feel a sense of

writer’s block when it comes to lyrics (or music for

that matter). The truth is, there is always

something to write about depending on how closely

you examine your life, experiences and emotions.

For example, consider two contrasting songwriters:

Songwriter A says to himself “I feel angry and I

want to write a song about it!”, and stops on that

point. Songwriter B says “I feel angry amd I want

to write a song about it! Someone lied to me. Why

do I feel angry? Why did they lie? What in

particular did they lie about? What would it be like

if I reacted to that person in a variety of different

ways? What causes people to lie in general? How

does lying affect relationships? How can I describe

this situation using a metaphor? etc.” In this case,

it is obvious that songwriter B when compared to

songwriter A has many more options that he can

use for the foundational basis of a song. Whenever

you are looking to write lyrics, keep this in mind

and try to keep asking yourself as many questions

as possible in order to give yourself more options.


Additionally, the more you try to gain new

experiences and learn, the more you have to write

about. Although you can become very inspired to

write lyrics based on your emotions alone; your

ability both create emotion and write structured

and articulate lyrics that express interesting ideas

is what will make your music truly great. Don’t

allow yourself to be satisfied with living a mundane

life of that consists only of television, video games,

internet, working, etc. If you want to write great

music/lyrics you need to continuously inspire

yourself by learning new things and gaining new

experiences. This simple, yet effective advice will

be the cornerstone of your ability to write inspiring

music. Think about it, who is going to come up with

better song lyrics, someone who is continually

learning, meeting new people, traveling and

gaining new skills or someone who stays at home

and does the same routine every day? Go out and

do new things you’ve never done before… question

the way you think now… focus on looking at your

life from different perspectives… As a general rule,

if at any point you feel uncomfortable trying

something new in your life, that’s good because it

means you are making progress!

As a final note, I encourage you to use a journal

(yes, actual write down your thoughts!). By

journaling on a consistent basis, you will sky rocket

your ability to express your ideas and emotions

through words. This will translate into an ability to

write better and more expressive song lyrics and

music in general.


So you’ve finished reading this eBook? Here is

the next step to take right now…

Learn how to transform all of your thoughts, ideas

and emotions into music that expresses your own

unique songwriting style with this powerful

songwriting course.

This e-book is under international copyright protection. It cannot be copied, sold, rented, loaned, or distributed in any way whatsoever, without written

consent of Guitar Mastery Solutions, Inc.

http://songwritinglessonsonline.com/howtoovercomewritersblock

SONGWRITINGLESSONSONLINE.COM 7 Reasons Why Your Music ... · Idea A (main melody) Idea B (new...

Documents

Transcript of SONGWRITINGLESSONSONLINE.COM 7 Reasons Why Your Music ... · Idea A (main melody) Idea B (new...