Archive for the ‘Songwriting Basics’ Category

Songwriting Tip: How to write song lyrics

By Don • Jan 24th, 2007 • Category: Inspiration, Songwriting Advice, Songwriting Articles, Songwriting Basics, Songwriting Tips

Contributed by: Dainis W. Michel
Are you curious about how to write song lyrics? I’ve put together a few tips that might help you. Be sure to go through the free music composition lesson on [the] site [listed below] to gather further information on what will help you grow as a songwriter.
There are many, many approaches […]



Songwriting For Beginners Roundup

By Don • Aug 22nd, 2006 • Category: Inspiration, Songwriting Advice, Songwriting Basics, Songwriting Tips, Songwriting Tools

(This is the final article in the series “Songwriting For Beginners”. We are filing the series under the Songwriting Basics category.)
Last week we ran a series on Songwriting For Beginners that was remarkably successful. We hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for all the kind comments and thanks to Jeff Oxenford for contributing such a great […]



Songwriting For Beginners: ‘Just Enough’ Music Theory

By Jeff Oxenford • Aug 21st, 2006 • Category: Songwriting Articles, Songwriting Basics, Songwriting Contests, Songwriting Tools

(This is an article in the series “Songwriting For Beginners”. We are filing the series under the Songwriting Basics category.)
Question: How do you stop a guitarist from playing?
Answer: Put music in front of him.

That’s me. I can’t read music and I doubt I ever will. However, over the last three years, I’ve learned just enough […]



Songwriting For Beginners: Making Your Song Stand Out

By Jeff Oxenford • Aug 18th, 2006 • Category: Songwriting Articles, Songwriting Basics

(This is an article in the series “Songwriting For Beginners”. We are filing the series under the Songwriting Basics category.)
Great beginning and great ending
One of the first things I learned was the importance of focusing on the beginning and ending of the song. A great beginning will get folks wanting more; a great ending will […]



Songwriting For Beginners: Song Structure

By Jeff Oxenford • Aug 17th, 2006 • Category: Songwriting Articles, Songwriting Basics

(This is an article in the series “Songwriting For Beginners”. We are filing the series under the Songwriting Basics category.)
The great thing about music is that there are so many different possibile structures. The structure I focus on is American folk music. Within this category, the possibilities are still endless, but hopefully I can give […]



Songwriting For Beginners: Coming Up With Song Ideas

By Jeff Oxenford • Aug 16th, 2006 • Category: Songwriting Articles, Songwriting Basics

(This is an article in the series “Songwriting For Beginners”. We are filing the series under the Songwriting Basics category.)
There are many approaches to getting ideas for songs. Below are some that I use and recommend. The basic idea, in almost all of these approaches, is the free capture of ideas rather than starting by […]



Songwriting For Beginners: Your first song.

By Jeff Oxenford • Aug 15th, 2006 • Category: Songwriting Articles, Songwriting Basics

(This is an article in the series “Songwriting For Beginners”. You can find more beginning articles here.)
I’ve heard so many people say, “I’ve always wanted to write a song, but never have.”
To this I say, “everyone is a songwriter, it’s just the degree of artistry that sets songwriters apart.” At age six, my daughter […]



Songwriting For Beginners: Series Introduction

By Don • Aug 13th, 2006 • Category: Songwriting Articles, Songwriting Basics

This week we will kick we will kick off a major series called “Songwriting For Beginners”. This series will help the beginning songwriter get started and wrap their minds around some basic concepts of songwriting.
If you are new to songwriting this series will definitely benefit you. If you are an experienced songwriter, perhaps it will […]