I didn't read all the comments.... so with that in mind.
This is the very advice that Jeff Steele gave to the folks in attendance at a songwriter's seminar that I had attended several years ago in LA. Write a song every day..... monday thru friday. At the end of a year you have approx 250 songs. At the end of 10 years you have 2500 songs. Somewhere in the middle, you're starting to get pretty good at writing.
He defined what it meant to write a song a day. It means a complete song. Music and lyrics and record it in some fashion so you don't forget it next week. It does not have to be a "swing for the bleachers" type of song. You need to sift through a lot of rocks to find the gems. Just complete the song from start to finish and with lyrics and music. When you write like this, you will absolutely become better.
In dog training, we say that a dog has to repeat something successfully 800 to 1000 times for it to grasp and master that something. It can be a sit or a search for a given odor in 10 acres of woodland. The same thing applies to us. We have to successfully repeat things to become good at them. It takes 10,000 hrs of practicing correctly to master something. Do the math.... that means 4 to 5 years of doing.
As a side, Steele said that after having done this (writing hit songs) for his whole life, he still has a rate of 1 in 10 songs that he writes is decent enough to consider demoing. Out of those, again maybe 1 in 10 of the demos get cut, and a small number of them hit the top 10 in the charts. At the time of the seminar, Steele had had 24 hit songs that were in the top 10 including #1.
Not many folks, including myself have the time to set and write a complete song, or anything for that matter, everyday. But that doesn't mean we can't write as much as we can and learn more about the process and the skills needed to improve.
No matter what your circumstances, try to improve. You owe it to yourself and that epitomizes the reason we take up a hobby or a pursuit in the first place.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
A song a day – how to improve your songwriting skills You may not copy Jonathan Mann and his commitment to the plan, but everyone needs to slow down some time. The first principle of one song per day is to do my essay as a short story on your song’s topic in order to minimize the basic word cluster, focus your lyrics and That helps a lot.
On the one hand, it helps with motivation I guess, but on the other hand - I'm not sure if it's the best method for everyone. Some songwriters prefer long pauses in writing after each song (that's totally about me).
The result of one song per day 120 days in a row in one video: 120 Days of Music - One Hundred and Twenty - Samuel Orson:
To those who say they prefer to avoid quantity and focus on quality, you have made an error in thought process and that is that you think these two words are mutually exclusive. That is not the case. Ask any person involved in learning any instrument or sport. Practice, and lots of it, results in improvement. There are very few home run hitters who take just one pitch per day, hoping for a home run from that one pitch
Hi Scott.
I've been pondering your comments since I first read them a couple of days ago.
While there's some truth in what you say, I'm not sure that songwriting is as straightforward as you make it sound.
For example, if I define a "song" as melody + chords + arrangement, then I could comfortably write a song a day. However, if I define a "song" as melody + chords + arrangement + lyrics, I would be unable to consistently write songs on a daily basis.
Lyrics for me are my slow point.
I can create a first draft of complete lyrics usually within a hour. That draft, though, is just a starting place. I then use dictionaries, rhyming dictionaries and thesauruses to modify words and dress-up phrases so that I have: (a) the best prosody possible; (b) the best syllable strength alignment with a note's rhythmical stress; (c) the most sonorous linking of words through rhymes, inner rhymes, assonance and consonance; (d) the best possible metaphors, similes and connotations. This all takes time. And with every change that I make, I need to let the words rest for a day or two so that I can come back to them with fresh ears and hear how they fit together.
In this regard, lyrics are like mixing for me. Aural fatigue sets in after a couple of hours and it's difficult to appreciate how well or not the lyrics flow.
Right now, I've been working on a single line of lyrics for three days. While I've certainly had a few 'adequate' lines that more-or-less work in those days, they have not grabbed me. This morning, my brain finally put a phrase together that says everything I want to say and the words flow with elegance. For me, lyric writing is more like the fermenting of beer. There's no way to hurry the process. The best I can do is to mix everything together, give it a good stir and then wait for the magic to happen as my brain works through various permutations and possibilities.
Just my two cents worth!
Regards, Noel
Interesting thread. I am like you Noel, I struggle with lyrics and it takes me a long time to craft a reasonable set of lyrics.
However, my time on FAWM has exposed me to ordinary people who are able to produce literally hundreds of sets of beautiful lyrics in the short month of February. It is amazing.
In turn they are amazed that I can put the lyrics to music and record the song (with the help of BIAB) in a couple of hours.
I believe Bob Dylan wrote Blowing in the Wind in a few minutes while Leonard Cohen took ages to write a song.
Maybe possible but why?? I have 50+ songs of my own....and have times when the muse (and time) come on and write several IDEAS....(later SONGS or not)...and perhaps if something pay for it....maybe think abouth it. Quality over quantity.....its important to me.
I think you can write a song a day if you want to end up with 365 crappy songs LOL I understand this may work for some but for me it's just a no-go. I'd rather spend my time trying to write from the quality perspective than the "quantity" perspective. To write a "complete" song to include music, lyrics, arrangement, background vocals, bridge, breaks, etc... is just too hard for me to complete in a day. I've heard these songwriter challenges songs before and 90% of the songs sound the same. No variety. Just 300 boring songs written as a ballad. A single soloist accompanied by a simple arrangement. If that's the goal then it's cool but I think it's because the songwriter gets stuck in a comfortable pattern and continues down that path not really experimenting or doing anything new. I actually do a lot of songwriting away from any instrument singing the melody into my Samsung then going back and figuring out how the music should sound or how the hook resonates. I will admit that there's no "right" answer. This is just my opinion.
Lyrics are always a pain in the neck and even though I've been writing poems the last 40 years or so - putting meaningful lyrics into songwriting is a totally different ball game.
You need to take rhythm and flow, also what words sounds good and stay away from the ones that make your vocal sound like you just swallowed a hot potato....and similar issues.
I use rhymezone.com a lot since my english vocabulary has it's limitation. Also I find quite a lot of inspiration just by observing human behavior - it tends to get my lyrics going. I also learned, that I regularly will change or rewrite 30-50% during the process from composing to recording.
When it comes to composing - I have a rule of thumb. I set the song up in BIAB or ScalerAudio2 -and then I leave it without writing down lyrics or creating a "humming" track. This to see if I still remember the song after 7-14 days - if I forgot it, well it wasn't good enough anyhow.
MacMini M1 - BIAB2021 - Logic Pro X - iZotope Music Production Suite - Scaler 2 - far too many Waves plugins and Line 6 Guitars and boards + a fantastic Yamaha THR10ll mini Amp - Avid MBOX Studio
Peters' Garage is available on all major streaming services
Update your Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows® Today!
If you’ve already purchased Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows®, great news—a new update is now available! This update introduces a handy new feature: a vertical cursor in the Tracks window that shows the current location across all tracks, and more.
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows®: Boot Camp: The AI Lyrics Generator
With Band-in-a-Box 2025® for Windows®, we've introduced an exciting new feature: the AI Lyrics Generator! In this video, Tobin guides you step-by-step on how to make the most of this new tool.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows®: Boot Camp: The AI Lyrics Generator video.
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows®: Using VST3 Plugins
Band-in-a-Box 2025® for Windows® now includes support for VST3 plugins, bringing even more creative possibilities to your music production. Join Simon as he guides you through the process in this easy-to-follow demonstration!
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows®: Using VST3 Plugins
Video: Band-in-a-Box 2025 for Windows: Using The BB Stem Splitter!
In this video, Tobin provides a crash course on using the new BB Stem Splitter feature included in Band-in-a-Box 2025® for Windows®. During this process he also uses the Audio Chord Wizard (ACW) and the new Equalize Tempo feature.
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows®: Using the BB Stem Splitter
Check out the forum post for some optional Tips & Tricks!
Congrats to Misha (Rustyspoon)…downloaded/installed a full Audiophile 2025!
Breaking News!
We’re thrilled to announce that Rustyspoon has made PG history as the very first person to successfully complete the download and install of the full Band-in-a-Box 2025 Windows Audiophile Edition (with FLAC files)—a whopping 610GB of data!
A big shoutout to Rustyspoon for stepping up to be our test "elf!"
With the launch of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows, we're adding new videos to our YouTube channel. We'll also share them here once they are published so you can easily find all the Band-in-a-Box® 2025 and new Add-on videos in one place!
Whether it's a summary of the new features, demonstrations of the 202 new RealTracks, new XPro Styles PAK 8, or Xtra Styles PAKs 18, information on the 2025 49-PAK, or detailed tutorials for other Band-in-a-Box® 2025 features, we have you covered!
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows is here, packed with major new features and an incredible collection of available new content! This includes 202 RealTracks (in Sets 449-467), plus 20 bonus Unreleased RealTracks in the 2025 49-PAK. There are new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 4, two new sets of “RealDrums Stems,” XPro Styles PAK 8, Xtra Styles PAK 19, and more!
Special Offers
Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2025 with savings of up to 50% on most upgrade packages during our special—available until December 31, 2024! Visit our Band-in-a-Box® packages page for all the purchase options available.
2025 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK Add-ons
We've packed our Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK with some incredible Add-ons! The Free Bonus PAK is automatically included with most Band-in-a-Box® for Windows 2025 packages, but for even more Add-ons (including 20 Unreleased RealTracks!) upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for only $49. You can see the full lists of items in each package, and listen to demos here.
If you have any questions, feel free to connect with us directly—we’re here to help!
One of our representatives will be happy to help you over the phone. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday, and 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST Saturday. We are closed Sunday. You can also send us your questions via email.
One of our representatives will be happy to help you on our Live Chat or by email. Our hours of operation are from
6:00AM to 6:00PM PST (GMT -8) Monday thru Friday; 8:00AM to 4:00PM PST (GMT -8) Saturday; Closed Sunday.
Dansk
Deutsch - Windows
Español
Français - Windows
Italiano - Windows
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Svenskt
русский
Japanese
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Korean