This brings to mind some great advice Warner/Chappell vice-president Ellen Moraskie gave me once upon seeing I wanted to write a song every day. Ellen stressed quality over quantity, and these are words I have lived by in songwriting as well as every aspect of my life.
To make sure you stay in the "quality" zone, I recommend you try to write a song a week whether you're collaborating or writing it yourself. Now, this is a guideline, and you can be currently working on three songs.
One of the biggest questions songwriters consistently ask is, "How often should I write a song?" Although the answer to this question is subjective, know that the average pro songwriter writes or co-writes 15-30 complete songs a year.
If you're writing and rewriting your songs to their greatest potential, just know that throughout the course of the year, you should shoot for 40-52 songs a year and be happy if you end up with 15-30.
The quickest and most efficient way to write a song is to use Rhymezone as a springboard for your songwriting ideas. Rhymezone will help you get the most out of your songwriting time by providing words you would never have thought of on your own, thus expanding your word list for each song tremendously.
To get the most out of each songwriting session use these steps when you write a song:
1. Pick out a title for your song. If you pick out a song title first, you will have a clear vision when you write a song, and song ideas will come to you quickly.
2. Find related words using Rhymezone and build a worksheet.
3. Take time to look at your worksheet and try to match words in order to come up with several phrases when you write a song. For example, take a noun, a verb, and "other" word and see if you can come up with an original phrase which matches your song's idea. You'll find you're able to come up with quite a few, even if you only match two words at a time.
4. Start getting a feel for the song by writing down one good opening line.
5. Sing the opening line in your head or while playing an instrument. Write the next line and soon the floodgates should open, enabling you to pour out your ideas into a first draft of your song in no time.
If the first line doesn't allow you to do this, pick out another first line and repeat the process. Don't be afraid to experiment with the opening line until you've got it right when you write a song. Once you have a title and a strong opening line, songwriting ideas become much easier.
6. Experiment with all parts of the song for a while and even sleep on what you created after either committing it to memory or tape recording your idea.
7. When you're happy and satisfied with your first draft and you know it's roughly how you want the song to be in the end, start rewriting your song by weeding out unnecessary words, changing phrases here and there, etc.
Caution: Although history has informed us through songwriter interviews that several successful songs have been finished on the first try (first draft) because the "words and music simply poured out", though not impossible, it's still hard to believe at least one or two words weren't changed here or there.
You have a better chance of winning a million dollar lottery than putting out a first draft when you write a song and having it be successful.
Using these tips as a guideline can help you write a song much more quickly than you ever thought possible.
Always take advantage of technology and information when it becomes available if it means you can become more productive. See Lyricist
To write a song with quality every week, use Rhymezone to give you an edge in expanding your song ideas.
