There is one unfortunate event that is all but certain to happen to any songwriter: the dreaded writer’s block. The nuisance of writer’s block, a helpless frustration that can last days or even weeks on end, will leave you staring at your blank notebook or computer screen wanting to pull your hair out. So what causes writer’s block? Well, this inability to tap into your creative drive isn’t likely due to one specific thing, but rather a culmination of number Continue
Songwriting thought of the Day
Uneven Lyric Length
Have you thought about your lyric phrase lengths? The Golden rule- Keep things EVEN. Ninety percent of mainstream commercial pop music is written with four beats to each bar (4/4) time, meaning the music is divisible by 4. This needs to be considered when writing commercial pop lyrics. If you write consistent song sections-verses, chorus, bridges, etc, that are grouped into 4 or 8 lines, you are on the right track. If you write lyrics with sections containing odd phrase lengths, e.g., 3 lines, 5 lines, 7 lines, or phrases with notable uneven syllable lengths, etc, they will not work well rhythmically, and will almost always be overlooked by composers looking for lyrics. Here is a great article on this very subject >>
5 Songwriting Virtues That Are Older Than the English Language By Nicholas Tozier One of the toughest things about writing songs is knowing how to judge your own work. How do you know when you’ve written a good song? How do you know when a song needs rewriting? The answers are never simple. Any given song has dozens of moving parts: melody, rhyme scheme, song structure, chord progressions, lyric content—it goes on and on. There are dozens of different ways to Continue
Four Useful Ways To Be Original Introduction A career in songwriting is a long road where the actual big “payoff” moments – if you’re fortunate enough to have some – are few and far between for even the most successful writers. This is all the more reason to take the time and challenge yourself to find what’s unique about your own songwriting. The more original your songs are the greater the likelihood that you’ll get the right attention but, more Continue
Hello from Songbay HQ! Our upgrade is now in full swing. Users will already notice many improvements to our functionality. The first stage of our upgrade will be finished by the end of Febuary 2014 with the second stage completing May 2014 Here’s a few upgrade examples: Improved search functions so that buyers can more easily find suitable songs or lyrics The removal of any broken play links. Expanded social networking quick links to users material, including embedding options Continue
Score4all Songwriting competition Congratulations to Elliot Harrison Beese -Winner of the Score4All Songwriting competition 2013 sponsored by Songbay Well Done to runner up Tom Benson Special commendation to finalists Peter Stokoe and Josh Sercombe The Competition Was organised by a team of music degree students from Gateshead College. As part of their BA (Hons) course in music, the team devised an on-line music writing competition for songwriters. Participants were required to compose a piece of original music to accompany a short promotional video for a local Continue
