Note to beginners: write with the mind, not the hands.
Where do your songs come from? Do they begin with a piano or guitar part you start singing along with? Are they written in your head before you even sit down with an instrument? Are they inspired by an event in your life? Do they come to you in a dream?
If you asked these questions to the great songwriters of our time, they would probably answer “all of the above.” One of the writers of the great Holland Dozier Holland team said all his melodies came from noodling on the piano. This works fine except for when you get stuck, when you paint yourself into a corner, where do you go? A solution may be to stop playing and let the melody come to you. Find the notes on the instrument and build the chords around it.
It works the same with lyrics. Sometimes you get headed in a direction where you can’t get the lines or the rhyme to work no matter what you do. Try walking away from it, take a drive, let it fester, and often the line will come to you.
If it doesn’t, try back tracking. Rework the third act so that the butler takes the bullet. Above all, think of what you want to say and then try to make it rhyme, rather than thinking of a rhyme and force fitting in to your story line.
Songwriter's Tip Jar 