<![CDATA[SongCity - song coaching, songcraft, workshops, courses, tuition

<![CDATA[SongCity - song coaching, songcraft, workshops, courses, tuition - Blog]]>Mon, 31 Jan 2011 01:37:06 +1000Weebly<![CDATA[Free Spirits Allowed But Don't Let The Fumes Go To Your Head]]>Thu, 09 Dec 2010 12:30:44 +1000http://www.songcity.com.au/1/post/2010/12/free-spirits-allowed-but-dont-let-the-fumes-go-to-your-head.html

I spent many years intoxicated. Not by alcohol but by words and melodies swimming through my private moments of inspiration. I began to believe that reworking the initial inspiration would somehow break the spell, reducing my writing to the everyday. No, I needed to remain a free spirit moving with the flow, pleasantly whimsical and averse to all structure and order.

There's a danger believing that artistic people by default are disorganised and that's how the magic happens! There are no special powers or forces that are summoned through habitual disorganisation and spontaneity. Quite the opposite in fact. It requires great discipline to organise all those amazing moments of inspiration in order to capitalise on work already undertaken, blood already sweated and tears cried. It takes a true understanding of the sometimes complex creative process to complete what began as a good work and make it great.

So embrace the creative process which begins with the often inexplicable inspiration but ends triumphantly after a process of diligence, culling, cropping and pushing through the painful barriers of rebirthing. It's called rewriting and all great songwriters do it.

]]><![CDATA[How To Lose Listeners In Under 60 Seconds]]>Sat, 31 Jul 2010 23:51:16 +1000http://www.songcity.com.au/1/post/2010/07/how-to-lose-listeners-in-under-60-seconds.html

Here are my Top 5 ways to lose a listener in under 60 Seconds, as posted to Twitter.
Rule #5 - Employ a complicated melody using big interval jumps and awkward phrasing.
Rule #4 - State lots of facts about yourself one after the other. Ask no questions, make no commands.
Rule #3 - Be sure you don't include repeatable phrases but if you do, definitely do not repeat them!
Rule #2 - Go on, use a cliche in the opening line of your first verse.

Click 'read more' for the number one way to ensure your listener switches off.

Rule #1 - Create a long intro that does not pull listener into the song, then repeat.

Want some more practical songwriting tips? Download our free resources here.

]]><![CDATA[Five Secrets To Avoiding Writers Block]]>Wed, 21 Jul 2010 11:29:42 +1000http://www.songcity.com.au/1/post/2010/07/five-secrets-to-avoiding-writers-block.html

The kettle is boiled, our pen is inked and we have plenty of blank pages to fill in our brand new notepad. We've even cleared our schedule for a couple of hours. 'The world is our oyster', we muse as we stare at a list of possible song titles and wait for inspiration. Inspiration that never comes. Panic slowly seeps in subversively replacing our excitement with dread. 'Is this what writers' block feels like?', we wonder.

Does this scenario sound familiar? There are many and varied ways in which we might become afflicted with an inability to write. It happens from time to time. Often we're simply distracted by life's pressures. However, there is always something that we can do to either counteract or avoid times of barrenness and despair.

Practice Object Writing - The daily discipline of writing for ten minutes in the morning using sensory bound imagery will keep your writing in good shape. It's a work out for your creative muscle. Pat Pattison has a lot to say about this subject and I highly recommend his book Writing Better Lyrics. At the very least, if you find yourself drawing a blank on a lyric you can very quickly do a few object writes to loosen up. You may not get the perfect line, after all, it's an exercise in creative writing but at least you will be writing and pushing your boundaries. VisitObject Writing for this weeks words.
Write With Others - Co-writing is fun and you'll learn a lot from the process. Don't worry about someone ripping off your ideas. Meet for coffee first, chat about life and writing, explore some possibilities and if you think it's worth a shot then organise your cowrite session. Just be sure to sign an agreement before you get started. The more you co-write the sooner you can look for opportunities to write 'up', meaning to write with someone higher up the food chain than yourself. Visit your local NSAI Chapter, scope out local songwriting groups, talk to musos at gigs and start collaborating. Surround yourself with like minded people. Find your strengths and discover where others strengths are. Sometimes the sum of many parts is mightier than the individual.
Write on a Non-Prefered Instrument - A quick way to get out of old habits is to write on an instrument that you're not totally comfortable on. Perhaps it's time to ditch the old acoustic for a while and write to a drum beat. Virtuosity is not a pre-requisite for songwriters! So don't worry if you're not well versed on a jaw harp or glockenspiel, the point is to present your musical imagination with a new point of reference, a surprising new sound, a fresh perspective. Are you tired of the old 1st position chords? Try something new. Trick your fingers, deny your ears their guilty Minor7 pleasures and carelessly throw your talents at an unsuspecting Casio or drum machine!
Attend a Songwriting Workshop - Experience has shown me that songwriting workshops can often be a bit hit-and-miss. Word of mouth will save you from disappointment. The wider your network of songwriting buddies, the greater your chance of attending truly worthwhile seminars and workshops. Learn from the experience of others.Recommendations give you some kind of surety that your investment will be worth it. And it is an investment, and one which will pay dividends as your ears and eyes are opened to the craft of writing great songs. Become a student of songwriting, soak it up and enjoy the journey. Learn something new. There will be many great days of writing ahead.
Revisit your old recordings/lyrics/demos/scratch tapes. - This achieves two things; 1) You may find some gems of inspiration. That's generally what you will have captured 'on tape' - the initial inspiration & 2) You'll quickly discover just how far you've come since your early attempts to navigate songwriting. If you're still having trouble joining the dots on an idea consider submitting it for evaluation. Reviews will prove invaluable as you resurrect songs that deserve a second chance. Rewriting is vital in the song creation process. Professional evaluations are surprisingly affordable and may become your best friend as you tweak and polish your songs.

]]><![CDATA[Good Things Still Take Time]]>Tue, 25 May 2010 18:00:00 +1000http://www.songcity.com.au/1/post/2010/05/first-post.html

How often do we want to see results straight away? I've learnt something while putting this website together. Good things take time. Truthfully, it's a lesson I've learnt one hundred times over at least, yet here I was learning it again! If good things take time then the question needs to be asked, 'When do we find the time to create all the good stuff?'
I've tried finding time before but it always runs away from me. And fast!

I'm lucky. I have some successful, highly motivated friends who are much wiser than myself. According to their wisdom there's a big difference between finding time and making time. It's the 'making' of time that we should be focussing on.

So how do we make time? How does an artistic, spontaneous, highly distracted and slightly disorganised person effectively create more hours in the day?

In theory it's easy. Simply make appointments with yourself. Value your dreams and ambitions enough to mark them in the diary, or the iPhone and you're away. Actually, in practise it's a little more difficult. And guess what it takes to develop a habit? You guessed it, time. Six to twelve weeks in fact. Once again, good things take time. Ouch!

So start valuing your 'me' time. Make appointments with yourself. Learn to say 'no' to distractions and 'yes' to your dreams. In fact there will be times when you need to say 'no' to good things too. They're not wrong, it might be the timing is wrong. So knowing what to say no to is as important as saying 'no'. And go easy on yourself, remember it takes 'time' to develop your new habit.

Good luck and keep writing!

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