The question that I’m asked most often is:

“How do you actually write your music?”

The answer is, that Songwriting can be a harsh mistress, and you have to know how to approach her, to turn the mistress into a muse.

Anybody can write a song.
Many people can write good songs.
But how do you write a great song?

Here are some of the Best Things I Know about charming the music that bewitches us all:

1) Don’t Judge the Faucet
Creativity tends to pour out of you, but not in the same way every time…sometimes it trickles out, sometimes it’s a steady stream, sometimes it runs hard, and sometimes it just overflows.

The key is not to judge it as it’s coming out.

Write your ideas down, sing them into a digital voice recorder, notate them; but whatever you do, let them out, just as they are, and let them live awhile.

2) Have a Checklist
When you do try to organize your ideas, have a checklist that you run them through; for example, check your melody for shape and length, check your arrangement for structural soundness, etc; don’t try to remember off the top of your head what to do.

3) Don’t Write for Other People
That’s probably the most cliche saying of all, but it’s so true until it’s beyond incredulousness.
You can trust yourself; you wouldn’t have the gift inside of you if wasn’t meant to be let out the way that it was given to you.
Eventually people that write for others run out of new things to say…but if you just tell the story of your life in song, every day is a new verse.

Following these three simple rules has helped me to successfully write blues, country, gospel, pop, and rock.

When you next talk to your muse, tell her DT said hi.

About The Author

David Taylor has a Bachelor’s in Business from U of I, a Bachelor’s in Music from Trinity. He also has a MIW Certificate in Record Production as well as a MIW Certificate in Music Business

His recent work includes National commercial work for McDonald’s & Disney. David has also co-written the music for a life changing, revolutionary Civil Rights play called “Eye of the Storm” mounting in February 2009, as well as being the Musical Accompanist for the Steppenwolf Production of “Harriet Jacobs” mounting in February 2008.