Most of us have a love/hate relationship with holiday songs. Some of us tire of the constant drumming of holiday music no matter where we go - the post office, the grocery store, church, etc. On the other hand, there are some who love holiday songs because it reminds them of being kids and the many great holiday memories they have.

Holiday songs often fail to get the credit they deserve. From a technical standpoint many holiday songs stand as shining examples of writing memorable catchy melodies that stand the test of time.

First off …

Why would you want to write a holiday song?

There are many reasons, a few are:

For fun. If you only write songs as a hobby, maybe you want to start a family tradition of singing a unique holiday tune that can be passed down from generation to generation. How cool would that be?

For money. If you are a professional singer-songwriter, perhaps you want a seasonal BOOST. While a holiday song might not have a year round appeal, you are guaranteed a window of opportunity EVERY YEAR. Those are GREAT ODDS. If you can write a memorable song you can be guaranteed a couple of months of solid airplay and sales during that time. If you can get your holiday song on a holiday movie soundtrack, all the better.

For the challenge. As mentioned earlier, holiday songs are insanely memorable and catchy. However, the line is often very narrow between holiday song greatness and holiday tackiness.

What better way to work on your songwriting prowess?

The Holiday Song Landscape

Look at the holiday songs out there. For Christmas, there are tons of great holiday standards. There are some commonalities among the most popular:

Jingle Bells

Rudolph The Rednose Reindeer

Santa Clause is Coming to Town

Frosty the Snowman

Note in the above examples the lilting simple melodies and cheery, bouncing rhythm. Other tunes, like “Silent Night” and “Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire” have a slower, and more intimate feel. Yet in each case the songs still focus on positive ideas.

Don’t Think It Will Be Easy

Writing holiday tunes is a tricky affair. First, you run the risk of writing over-cliche mediocre tunes that already say what has been said a million times about the holidays. The fact that “holidays” is a narrow song topic makes this one of your biggest challenges. Second, you only get those couple of months per year where holiday songs are really lucrative from a monetary standpoint. So is it worth putting in the same effort as you would for a non-holiday album? Only you can answer that question.

That being said, there are a few guidelines that may help in crafting your own unique holiday standard:

Use simple chord progressions.
It is difficult enough being limited to one theme (i.e. Christmas, Easter, etc.) for your writing. The more complex the chord progression, the more limited you are in the number of notes you can use to construct your melody. Don’t allow yourself to be constrained melodically by a complicated progression of chords.

Think of a unique holiday situation.
Most holiday themes and situations have been exhausted. So, think outside the box! Perhaps you need to be as quirky as “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer” to stand out. Or, think of a funny or heartwarming holiday event in your family that can be made into a song. These personal situations - with a little tweaking - can easily become a universal holiday theme. Unique situations are important.

Major keys.
Stick with major chords which sound more happy than their minor counterparts. You’ll fail at spreading holiday cheer if your song sounds like a funeral dirge.

Can you rock a holiday song?
There have been a few great hard-rock Christmas songs that have become “pseudo-standards” in their own right. A popular one that STILL receives consistent airplay on rock stations today is AC/DC’s “Mistress for Christmas” (from the Razor’s Edge album). Not only is the title brilliant, but the lyrics are edgy and hilarious, the hook is catchy, and the guitar riffs (as always) are infectious. Check it out.

So, what are you waiting for? Let’s start writing some holiday songs with the songwriting tips we have just learned.

If you give it a shot, let Blogging Muses know and we’ll link to your creation.

If it’s the Holidays it must be time for musician gifts and other musical ideas.