Your Songwriting Ingredients, Part One Of Four

• 1 cup flour

• 2 eggs

-Wait, wrong recipe. I'm here today to talk to you about the ingredients that you will need to begin successfully writing songs.

I'd like to focus on one ingredient in particular. What is it? Well, let's first look at some of the things used to make a song.

• Chords
• Melody
• Rhythm
• Lyrics
• Guitar
• Bass
• Drums
• Keyboards
• etc.

(Note: Some of you will say that lyrics are unnecessary for a song. Yes, I am aware that instrumental songs exist. But when was the last time that you saw an instrumental song crack the Billboard top 100? It is very rare. So for the sake of the argument, let's assume you are going to write lyrics.)

Now, all of these ingredients are necessary for a hit song, but something is missing. What is it?

Consider this: Does a piano write the melody of a song? Does a pen and piece of paper create the lyrics? Of course not. You do all of that!

The missing ingredient in writing a hit is you. No guitar will ever write a song on its own No turntable will ever be a DJ by itself. Play a strat? You are playing it. Your keyboard? Same thing.

All of your instruments, software, and other songwriting tool are just tools. You are the missing ingredient.

All the great writers of history had access to the same tools that you have access to. In many cases, they had far less than you do now.

Except for their final album, the Beatles recorded on a 4-track. That's it. Today, professional studios have access to hundreds of tracks. They have hundreds of guitars, effects, and tools at their disposal. Does that mean that these studios are making better music than the Beatles did? Most people would say no. So what is it that makes a great song?

I'll give you a hint: It is the same thing that has achieved every great accomplishment throughout human history. It is the human mind. The human mind has written, and will write, every great song in existence.

That is good news! You don't have to be able to afford a multi-million dollar studio to write great songs. You just need your mind. If you can get online and read this, then you obviously have a mind.

"But I don't have a mind like Mozart or Bob Dylan!"

Wrong. Your brain is the same size as any other timeless songwriter. Songwriting is a skill. It can be learned. You see, a large part of songwriting depends on your mental attitude, or mindset. Your songwriting mindset is what will separate you from the thousands of musicians who suck because they have the wrong mindset.

Tomorrow I will post Your Songwriting Ingredients, Part Two. I will get into specifics, and I will explain just what kind of mindset you will need in order to make a hit.

What you can learn about Songwriting from Darth Vader

For my first songwriting lesson, I'd like to talk about Darth Vader, and what he can teach you about writing hit songs.

"But wait a minute! Star Wars has nothing to do with making music!" (I can hear your protests even as I type this)

I know this doesn't make any sense yet, but follow me for just one minute, because Star Wars can help you with songwriting. What I am saying is that there are certain lessons you can learn from the Sith Lord that will apply to your songwriting career.

What are they?

1. Have a burning Desire

The first step in doing anything great in life is to have a burning hot desire to see it done.

Darth Vader really had that burning desire. Think back to Episode III. Anakin felt betrayed by the entire Jedi Order. He used that emotion to become Emperor Palpatine's right-hand man and rule over the entire galaxy.

Maybe you just want to write a catchy chorus, not rule the galaxy. That's fine. It just means less competition for me ;-)

Whatever your goals are, desire is the first step in achieving them. So what's the next one?


2. Belief


You need to have a strong belief that you can become a songwriting genius before you can become one.

Think about it. Did Darth Vader ever doubt that he was the baddest dude in the galaxy? No! He just went right on ahead with whatever he wanted to do. Darth Vader never said to himself "Golly Gee, I sure hope this works" before he choked the life out of some poor guy. He just did it and knew it would work. As a songwriter, you need to be the same way (with less choking, of course).

So we have desire and belief. Good. You are well on your way to becoming a Dark Sith Lord, er, Songwriter. So now what?


3. A Game Plan


You don't think Darth Vader just randomly hacked and slashed at everything, do you? He had a solid game plan for what he wanted to do. Without a game plan, Vader never could have frozen Han Solo in carbonite, or conquered Hoth in Episode V.

Likewise, you need to have a solid game plan. Set goals for yourself, like writing a new song every week, or collaborating with another musician once a month.

So what do you do once you have a game plan?


4. Persistence


Picture this: You are Darth Vader. You are just sitting there, minding your own business, when some punk Rebels come out of nowhere and blow up your brand new Death Star! It still had that new-Death-Star-smell and everything! Seriously, you haven't even put 1,000 light-years on its odometer, and now it is totaled. I don't know about you, but I'd be pretty pissed. So what does Darth Vader do? He just shrugs it off and builds another Death Star!

That is persistence. That is the kind of persistence that you need to have in order to be a successful songwriter. Remember your game plan? Keep working at it. I won't lie to you and say that the music business is easy. It's not. But other people have made a living from writing great songs, and you can too. Persistence will cut through all obstacles, which brings me to my last point.


5. Lightsabers!


Let's face it. Any business, including the music business, is much easier when you have lightsabers. Believe me, when you have a lightsaber, people will listen to your songs.

That covers it for today. Don't worry if you didn't get any of the Star Wars references. It just means you have more of a life than I do :-P

Next time I will discuss why your mental attitude is the most important ingredient in developing your writing skills.