When you start working on a new song don’t think about what you’re doing intellectually, just go with the creative flow and have fun, urges Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman. She calls it “creative flow songwriting”.
Beth recently told PRS for Music’s ‘M’ magazine: “The creative flow is just like oxygen flowing everywhere and people absorb different amounts of it depending on their capacity. I believe it’s where the best stuff comes through.
“One of the things I do when I teach a songwriting workshop is to encourage everybody to become more of a sponge for that creative flow.”
It’s an approach that has certainly worked well for Beth. She has written hits for artists such as Elton John, Neil Diamond, Emmylou Harris, Bette Midler, Bonnie Raitt, Trisha Yearwood, Roberta Flack, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. Her songs have also been featured in countless movies and TV shows.
“Of course it’s important to learn all of the technical skills of how to tighten up a song and how to recognize when a song could be better,” she told ‘M’, “but when I’m writing – especially when I’m starting the process of writing – I’m not looking at it intellectually. On the front end, I don’t want my brain driving the car.”
She added: ”I follow that creative flow blindly until something pops through, and it’s so much fun. I’ve learnt to trust it and I think that’s how the greatest songs are written.”
Here’s Beth Nielsen Chapman’s full interview with ‘M’ magazine…
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“How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success” is available from Amazon as a US paperback, UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store, Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music) and Barnes & Noble’s Nook store.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA), HERE (UK), HERE (Australia) and HERE (Canada).
It’s the age old ‘chicken and egg’ songwriting question: Which should come first, the words or the music?
For nine times Grammy Award winner John Legend, it’s the music that leads the way every time.
“I have a structured songwriting process,” says the 34-year-old US singer-songwriter. “I start with the music and try to come up with musical ideas, then the melody, then the hook, and the lyrics come last.
“Some people start with the lyrics first because they know what they want to talk about and they just write a whole bunch of lyrical ideas, but for me the music tells me what to talk about.”
In recent months, Legend has been busy putting his songwriting approach into action and is about to release his first new album for nearly five years. Titled Love in the Future (executive produced by Kanye West and Dave Tozer), the new album follows Get Lifted (2004), Once Again (2006) and Evolver (2008).
The first official single from Love in the Future – a collaboration with Rick Ross called ‘Who Do We Think We Are’ – will be released later this month.
In the meantime, you can listen to a beautiful new song from the album, ‘The Beginning’, HERE…
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“How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success” is now available from Amazon’s Kindle Store for only US$7.22 or GB£4.78.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA) and HERE (UK).
Also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music).
Music publishers and A&R executives sometimes reject perfectly good songs by new writers because the songs lack that ‘special something’ that makes them stand out from the crowd.
The answer, according to US singer-songwriter Bruno Mars, is to try to “shock” people by writing a song that is so different and groundbreaking that it becomes “an event”. But he admits that writing this kind of “big” song is “one of the hardest things to ever do”.
Bruno recently revealed that Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is his favourite song. “That song’s an event,” he told GQ magazine. “And that’s what I want to do. I’m sure that song shocked the world.”
He also lists songs like Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean’ and Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ as “events”. “Kurt Cobain put everything he got into that song, and he meant it. It’s that unexplainable high…That feeling that you keep on chasing and chasing. Because it’s nothing, man. It’s taking the air and turning it into something. That’s the feeling.”
Bruno Mars hit the music scene in 2010 with his first album Doo-Wops & Hooligans which included the worldwide number-one singles ‘Just the Way You Are’ and ‘Grenade’.
His second album, Unorthodox Jukebox, features the hit single ‘Locked Out of Heaven’ which some people felt was blasphemous. Bruno denies this and says it was “just poetry”. However, he concedes that some of his songs – such as ‘Grenade’, ‘Liquor Store Blues’, and ‘Talking to the Moon’ – do address darker subjects like self-destructive behaviour.
“I don’t ever want to come out with something safe,” he said.
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“How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success” is now available from Amazon’s Kindle Store for only US$7.22 or GB£4.78.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA) and HERE (UK).
Also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music).
Taylor Swift advises new songwriters to use their past relationships to inspire great song ideas.
The six times Grammy award winner always tries to draw on emotions she has actually experienced, she says, because she believes people can relate to songs more if they are based on real personal experiences.
But it seems 23-year-old Taylor’s ‘true life’ approach to songwriting is making life hell for One Direction’s Harry Styles, her former boyfriend.
Harry is said to be worried about what her next songwriting move is going to be. She has already written the hit song ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’ about the break-up of their relationship, and she has reportedly aimed another jab at Harry in the promotional video for her new song ‘22’. The poor guy apparently doesn’t know what to expect next!
The 19-year-old One Direction star is reported to have told friends that he now regrets dating her because she keeps mocking him in her music. For Taylor, though, it’s all good material for her songs.
Different kinds of experiences inspire different kinds of songs, she says. “That’s why emotions are so beautiful to write about because they all sound so different to me.”
Taylor explains that real feelings can result in several types of songs – from ‘missing-him’ songs and ‘frustrated-and-confused, don’t-know-why-it-ended’ songs … to ‘I know we can’t be together but I miss you right now’ songs.
She says personal experiences can also inspire sad songs ‘tinged with anger’, guilt-laded songs, and sad songs that contain ‘a little bit of hope that he’ll come back’.
“I think songwriting is the ultimate form of being able to make anything that happens in your life productive,” Taylor insists. “If you get out of a bad relationship that was a complete waste of time, you can write about it and it can become a benefit to your career. How sweet is that?”
You can watch Taylor’s video for ‘22’ HERE…
The video for ‘I Knew You Were Trouble’ can be seen HERE…
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“How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success” is available from Amazon as a US paperback, UK paperback and as an eBook from Amazon’s Kindle Store, Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music), Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, and from KoboBooks.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA), HERE (UK), HERE (Australia) and HERE (Canada).
This week’s 2013 BRIT Awards event proved to be a nerve-wracking time for UK singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran – and not just because the winners were being announced.
The 22-year-old found that his mobile phone containing the only recording of his new, unreleased album went missing before the show.
Sheeran – whose hit single ‘The A Team’ was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2013 Grammy Awards – confessed to “freaking out a little” on realizing that he had misplaced his phone.
He also admitted that it wasn’t the first time he had lost a phone containing new material. “I lost the MP3 that everything was on in Ibiza,” he said. “But the album hasn’t come out yet so that’s good.”
Fears that his new material may be leaked were eventually allayed, however. The phone turned up in the back of the car that had transported Sheeran to the BRIT Awards venue … but not before the award-winning writer had learnt how important it is to keep a safety copy of new songs!
Unfortunately, being well-organized is often a significant weak spot for many songwriters. If you’re a new writer, it’s a failing that could affect your chances of success – especially if the only recording of that potential hit song you’ve just written goes missing…
You can watch the Official Video for Ed Sheeran’s ‘You Need Me, I Don’t Need You’ HERE…
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“How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success” is now available from Amazon’s Kindle Store for only US$7.22 or GB£4.78.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA) and HERE (UK).
Also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music).
“You have to be honest and true about what you’re writing,” says BRIT Award winner Emeli Sandé (pictured), “and then that way it resonates with people.”
The Scottish singer-songwriter’s heartfelt songs have certainly resonated with lots of people over the past 12 months. At this week’s 2013 BRIT Awards ceremony in London, she won the coveted Best Album prize for Our Version of Events.
The 25-year-old, who received a major boost by appearing at the 2012 Olympics opening and closing ceremonies, also picked up the Best British Female award. She had gone into the event with four nominations in total, including two in the Best Single category.
“I think I’m a very unlikely pop star,” an emotional Sandé said in a humble acceptance speech after receiving the Best Album prize. “This is an album I wrote because I didn’t have the confidence to say these things in person.
“For me, that so many people have connected with this album and found strength in these words makes me feel incredible and it doesn’t make me feel as lonely.”
She capped her success at the BRIT Awards by closing the ceremony with a medley of her singles ‘Clown’ and ‘Next to Me’.
Backstage, she added that she felt her decision to leave medical school to pursue music had finally “paid off”.
“I was an underdog,” she said, “Nobody wanted to sign me.
“When people don’t believe in you, you want to prove them wrong. I want to encourage any underdog to achieve their dreams.”
Emeli Sandé’s success should certainly be an inspiration to all struggling singer-songwriters who are determined to make it. In a pointed remark, she once said: “My song ‘Clown’ was written when I couldn’t find anyone who believed in me as an artist. Maybe those labels will think twice next time a young songwriter comes along.”
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‘How (Not) To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success’ is now available from Amazon’s Kindle Store for only US$7.22 or GB£4.78.
Read a sample of the book HERE (USA) and HERE (UK and Europe).
Also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music).
Finding the ideal writing place at home where you can focus and be creative can substantially increase your productivity as a songwriter. But it needs to be a clutter-free zone where you feel comfortable and have no distractions.
It should be a special place where you can close the door, turn off your phone, and give your mind the focused time it needs to get your creative juices flowing.
British singer-songwriter Dido – ASCAP’s Songwriter of The Year in 2007 – says she gets easily distracted by mess around her. So she always makes sure she completes her household chores before sitting down to write new songs.
Although inspiration often strikes the ‘White Flag’ writer when she’s busy doing the cleaning, she admits she can’t concentrate on new material until she has finished all of her tasks.
“I find it quite hard to write if I haven’t tidied up,” she recently told Britain’s Hello! magazine. “It’s so annoying. I wish I could forget that I need to empty the dishwasher but I can’t. Having said that, I have a lot of ideas when I’m cleaning, doing something domestic.”
Dido attained international success with her debut album No Angel in 1999. The album sold over of 21 million copies worldwide and won several awards – including the MTV Europe Music Award for Best New Act, two NRJ Awards for Best New Act and Best Album, and two Brit Awards for Best British Female and Best Album.
Her next album Life for Rent (2003) continued her success with the hit singles ‘White Flag’ and ‘Life for Rent’. And her third studio album, Safe Trip Home (2008), received critical acclaim – including an Academy Award nomination for the song ‘If I Rise’.
No Angel and Life for Rent are among the best-selling albums in UK chart history.
Dido’s new album, Girl Who Got Away, is released on March 4 in Europe and March 26 in America.
You can watch a video for ‘No Freedom’, the first single from the new album, HERE…
# # # #
“How [Not] To Write A Hit Song! – 101 Common Mistakes To Avoid If You Want Songwriting Success” is now available from Amazon’s Kindle Store for only US$7.22 or GB£4.78.
Read a FREE sample of the book HERE (USA) and HERE (UK).
Also available from Apple’s iTunes Store (Books/Arts & Entertainment/Music).
SONGWRITING: THE HIT FORMULA 