Artist Feature: Sanjay Yadav   Sanjay Singh Yadav is an India-based songwriter notable for his affectionate and fun-loving composition ‘Never Love a Woman’ (http://www.songbay.co//view-lyric/1794/). The lyric grabbed the semi-final slot in the prestigious  UK Songwriting Contest 2013. The following year, 2014, Yadav again hit the semi-final spot, this time with the lyric ‘To None Ever Bound’. The UK Songwriting Contest draws participants from all around the world. Its panel of judges consists of leading names in the international music industry. Songwriters are often associated with the archetypal ‘Bohemian’ lifestyle, Continue

Introduction While there isn’t an official songwriting rulebook, there are quite a few tried and true songwriting conventions that over time have essentially become rules. In almost all instances, these “rules” are there because they tend to make songs more commercial or catchy or both. That being said, breaking these rules can be a very effective tool assuming it’s done with the full understanding that you are doing so. In other words breaking the rules by accident doesn’t count and Continue

Posted by Jessica Brandon on Tue, Feb 10, 2015 @ 01:44 PM REPETITION, REPETITION, REPETITIONby Harriet SchockEdna St. Vincent Millay once said “Life is not one damned thing after another; it’s the same damned thing over and over.” In songwriting, it may seem as if the same damned thing over and over is not only permissible but called for these days. However when it gets to the point of torture, it might be best to change the melodic phrase. And maybe Continue

Posted by Jessica Brandon on Wed, Apr 23, 2014 @ 11:26 AM Tools For The Songwriter: Audio In The Land Of The FreeBy Eleanor Goldfield Get your songwriting rig started for nothingThere may be no such thing as a free lunch, but believe it or not, there is such a thing as free audio software. For those of you looking to get into demoing, writing, or simply laying down ideas in your own studio setup, this land of the free has some Continue

  If you look at some of pop music’s greatest melodies — and by “pop” I mean the broader definition of anything written in the past century that was meant to appeal to the masses — you’ll find that repetition of ideas appears to be the most important feature. When repetition is rampant within a melody, we might call it an earworm melody – something that gets in our heads and stays there, repeating itself in (often) an annoying sort Continue

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Welcome back to several more things songwriters can do when their songs are finished… 3. Schedule A Demo Speaking of bringing your song to the next level, it’s time to decide if your song is worth a further investment of your time and financial resources. If we’re honest with ourselves as songwriters, we have to admit that not every song we write is demo-worthy. However, if you believe that this particular song is genuinely ready for prime time, then you Continue

Posted by Jessica Brandon on Thu, Oct 09, 2014 @ 07:01 AM LYRICS AND POETRYby Harriet SchockI’ve noticed a lot of people confuse poetry and lyrics. I think reading poetry can make you a better lyricist because good poets do the following things that lyricists should also do:1) Say a lot in a few words. I call it emotional shorthand2) Write visually or show don’t tell3) Use irony4) Use conversational language, especially found in modern poetry.I have all my students read Continue