General Songwriting Tips

Hi all, my name is Brady, and I make music (nothing shocking, I know)

I was wondering, could any of you give me any songwriting tips? Other than do it frequently, of course (I'm on the 10,000 hour rule right now).

Also, for general info, I write R&B stuff, contemporaries are:
The Weeknd
Bryson Tiller
Giveon
and Black Atlass

Read THE CRAFT OF LYRIC WRITING by Sheila Davis.

Hi,

My advice would be to write (lyrics and lead melody) outside your comfort zone for practice, because while current artists can be used for inspiration, you won't truly know your own unique talents until you find your own "voice."

To write lyrics well, you'll need to study other songwriters. This field is a process so don't get discouraged. Reading (non-fiction as well as fiction) can also help with a turn of phrase. To be a good wordsmith, your words don't always have to rhyme.

Above all be true to yourself. If your heart is in R&B that's fine. But R&B can have elements of Trap, POP or EDM. Write enough so that you have enough lyrics to pull from if you're asked to do a quick edit. There's nothing wrong with having files of songs or notebooks full of lyrics.

As for myself, the rule I use is that my lyrics/lead vocals have to be as strong as the music paired with it. Sometimes the lyrics come prior to vocals, and are edited a lot until I'm satisfied.

I wish you all the best.

I guy on here once said.. "hone your craft hone humanity".

that always stuck with me.

Truly you have to write, like every day consistently.
About anything, about everything, about nothing.
Just write don't worry about songs just write stuff daily
it will come.

Also I like this book Soundwriting without Boundaries - Pat Pattison.

There are no rules.

Make music that excites you.

There are many rules of music. Learn them all. Once you have mastered them, then and only then you can break them all. I (Merci, Dr. Linda Ardito: for teaching me that axiom back in 1990 in college.) learned this valuble lesson from a composer of serious music (Atonal) who was the wisest person musically I have ever encountered.

Sorry Steve, can't agree with you there. There are no rules to songwriting, that's what he was asking about. There are, however, rules to music and to how music works which is what I think you were referring to.

There are no rules as to how many verses, chorus, changes or even how many chords or notes there has to be while writing a song. One note can drone for 3 minutes and it could be considered a song as much as a beautifully written classical piece with complex arrangements. A song can just have a vocal track, sung, spoken or grunted. Any instrument can be put in any song. No rules needed at all for that.

I write songs with basically no arrangements half the time. I sit and play the guitar for 3 or 4 minutes making up changes as I go in a set chordal pattern. That's the musical part, rules to follow there. But once I've played that, I can now put 6 verses in a row and call it a song or take one verse and 3 chorus parts and make that a song. No rules apply as to how I can structure that song or produce it. None.

Rules only constrict and limit you when songwriting.

The best advice I can give you, is listen to music outside of your comfort zone. More than likely you’ll find key phrases or styles that you can emulate rather easily if you practice enough.

uhhh...I'm not sure Wayne, though I do get your point of view, because I'm the same, I don't write I just hit record and do what I feel. And most times that's all I feel like doing. And it works. I'm really not a serious anything, so it works for me. But when it comes to actually creating something of value that can not only be enjoyed but shared and re-created and dare I say may generate some type of income... that does take skill. Period.

I'm totally with Crucethus, you've got to learn the rules.
And really what doesn't have some type of rules (structure) for getting it done.. there's rules about crossing the street, baking a cake...hey even which way the tp goes on the roll.. :P

Like MurdocDKG us dinosaurs need to get out of our comfort zone... and that's all I have to say about that.