A successful song usually has great lyrics that stick to a central theme or idea. “Layla” by Derek and the Dominos has a theme of an unrequited love, while “Fix You” by Coldplay is full of sympathy and comforting words. Great lyrics tell a story or create a mood, sucking the listener in with every successive word. But writing great lyrics can be easier said than done. If you don’t try to contain your thoughts to a particular theme, you… [Read More]

Posted on: August 22nd, 2010

Who doesn’t love a good rhyme? There’s really no way around it: if you’re going to be writing songs with lyrics, you’re going to end up coming up with rhymes. Rhymes help a song sound cohesive and consistent, poetic and memorable. Rhymes are usually part of the art of a song–it’s really just a poem set to music, and most poems rhyme. It’s true that your song doesn’t have to rhyme (I’ll touch on that below), but since most of… [Read More]

Posted on: August 13th, 2010

Did you ever wonder if your song has what it takes to win a songwriting competition? There are many contests out there to choose from, including the International Songwriting Competition and the John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Boasting celebrity judges and thousands of dollars worth in prizes, winning one of these competitions could not only help you financially, but it could potentially bring great exposure to your music. I used to think I should just send my songs to every competition… [Read More]

Posted on: August 5th, 2010