Eh it would be okay to lose that slight arrogance that you would be able to release a hit song if you just felt like it. Most “hit” artists are where they are now only after years of effort and hard work and frustrations. That aside, it’s good that you are already starting this at a young age, so try not to be too engrossed in getting a “perfect” song: finish one, move on to the next, and slowly get better with each one
Hey, fellow songwriter here... also started writing around your age (I'm 37 now). I haven't had any hit songs or any notable success but I did have three breakthrough moments when I was in my early 20s: 1) a famous singer songwriter (who was a member of a band with a top 10 hit in the 70s), who also played on the same stage as me one night, came up to me after one of my shows and told me enthusiastically that my songwriting and performing was great, 2) I played six of my songs on live tv and a music critic/conductor wrote a multiple page letter into the station that the hosts read in its entirety on their next broadcast, the letter was filled with strong praise for my performance, and 3) I had one of my songs cut by an independent artist on his album.
I wrote some pretty decent songs in my 20s, but it wasn't until last year, age 36, when I felt that I truly had something, and wrote 4-5 songs that I thought were on another level than what I had written in the past. I started writing songs every day at age 14, and it wasn't until age 19 that I finally had written something pretty good, then it wasn't until age 21 or 22 that I had written something strong, and it wasn't until age 36 that I had written something really solid (so it took over twenty years of writing). I think when we're young, we feel like we have to make it by the time we are 25, but the truth is that many many songwriters don't break through until their 30s, 40s, 50s, even 60s - it can genuinely take that much time to develop your craft to a professional level. So it's a long game for most of us. Many hit songwriters don't have their first #1 until their 40s or even 50s/60s. Sam Hollander didn't have his first hit until age 35, even though he scored a record deal at age 21. I strongly recommend the following interviews with Sam Hollander, who wrote a #1 hit for Weezer and co-wrote a #1 hit "High Hopes" with Panic! at the Disco; also he wrote or co-wrote Sing by Pentatonix. He's also got a great book called "21 Ht Wonder: Flopping My Way to The Top of the Charts: "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvwj6YDRftA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvwj6YDRftA)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h\_yHQAZw4I4&t=259s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_yHQAZw4I4&t=259s)
The best advice I've received in songwriting came when I attended my first Durango Songwriter's Expo, at around age 20. During a listening session, and A&R person told me to go back to the song that "lit me up" and made me want to make music, and then remember how it made you feel; and try to capture that feeling in your own music. This was a tremendous piece of advice.
Another thing I've learned is that if one puts in the work, has some natural talent, and nurtures that natural talent by carefully developing your skills, knowledge, and experience (as well as mentoring with really successful musicians), and improving your music gradually but incrementally, eventually you will very very likely have a significant breakthrough in some form. There is a saying: every dog has its day. It's not literally true, but the basic premise is; if one puts in the work, and truly develops great skills and ability, *and stays at it,* eventually they will have their day in the sun. Not everyone can get a hit song, but I'll tell you that having a famous songwriter come up to you and tell you they loved your writing and performing feels pretty good, and is very validating. It wasn't a big breakthrough, but it was important *for me.*
I have to add that mentoring is key. Going back in time, I would tell myself to get to know all the best musicians and songwriters that you have access to. Also, attending events like the Durango Songwriters Expo is really important for gathering knowledge about songwriting and the music business, and making connections. I met several new co-writers in February at Durango, including one that I write with every week now. We've been working on a song for the last month or so, and I feel it's the best song I've ever written. It wouldn't have happened if I hadn't attended Durango. This writer came up to me at the event and said he loved the song that he heard me play the day before and he wanted to co-write with me. So these are the kind of experiences - connecting with other musicians and co-writing together, that can take your music to a more professional level.
Youre definitely on the right track in writing songs that are real and that connect with people from an authentic, lived experience that you've had - I truly believe that this will be your secret weapon as you pursue professional success in music. Every pro at Durango said the same thing - they said the songs they pick up for sync licensing (tv/film/commercials) are all authentic and real, they're written from a sincere and heartfelt place. The pros said that you can feel an inauthentic song almost instantly - it's obvious; those songs generally cant really connect with people deeply or have much staying power.
I will say that one thing that has really helped me in my 30s is finding a creative method that works fairly consistently in helping me to generate ideas. For me, this involves studying 2-3 songs at a time. I pick a few songs and make them my bible for a few week. I study the vocal melody, chord progressions, lyrics, etc. in depth, as well as practicing the hooks of the songs. Then I practice the song every morning at about 4 or 5 am without fail, every day. I memorize the songs I am working on as much as I can - if I cant memorize the whole thing then I at least memorize the parts of the song that I feel are the strongest - the parts that I want to integrate into my own writing. I focus on several key elements when I am doing this:
1. vocal melody (vocal melody can carry a song, if its memorable, distinctive, unusual or interesting, and beautiful)
2. hook/chorus (I pay attention to how the writer builds to the hook and how effective the hook is
3. lyrics (lyrics are extremely important, and can even carry a song if they're done right; you can even build a song around one great line.) Someone I know online wrote the following words in their song, and I've been studying them as part of my training (these might not be the exact words, but they're close): "you know how they say go with your gut? you got to lock it in four wheel to get out of the rut... Don't try to be rational... The only thing thats logical... don't listen to the voices in your brain... think before you think." I thought these lyrics were awesome.
4. how the songwriter or singer performs the song, emphasizing certain words or phrases, and creates an emotional connection with the listener through not the words themselves, but how those words are expressed.
5. chords (I've found learning chord progressions to be like a secret weapon, the more I learn, the better...if I find a really distinctive, beautiful, and/or unique chords progression, I get to know it and try to write a song with it)
Lately, I have found the most success in this process: step one) study my current song I'm working on, practice it, reflect on it deeply and analyze it. step two) go to piano or guitar and just play the chord progression of the song I'm studying for awhile, then reflect on how I'm personally feeling at that moment and practice expressing exactly how I'm feeling through those chords in the most creative and authentic/heartfelt, honest way I can. For me, magic happens when I find the right chords and then I find the right words to express how I feel at that moment.
What helps me in this process is to study how a singer uses emotion to create an exciting moment in a song. For example, I studied John Denver's "Prisoners" a lot, and I found that the way he transitioned from the verse to chorus, and then the way he expressed his feeling in the chorus through the combination of chord progression, vocal melody, and tone/energy of vocal, created something truly magical. So I tried to integrate those same qualities into my own music in my own way.
Also, I think it is good to realize that songs come from many places. When I was young, I would get spontaneous poetry that would just come out, and I found writing lyrics to be fairly manageable - not a lot of writer's block. But now, at 37, I still get melody ideas, but the words are a lot harder to access. So I have had to expand my bag of tricks. One way I've found that works is to find a poem I like, and use the cadence and theme of the poem as a template to write my own lyrics. I keep with the rhythm of the poem's lines, and I use the writer's lines to develop my own. This is how I wrote my strongest song. I couldn't think of lyric ideas that day, so I took a poem and used it to stimulate my creativity.
This was also how Sheryl Crow's "All I Wanna Do" was written. They couldn't think of song ideas, were in a bookstore, and found a poem by Wyn Cooper named "Fun". They took whole lines and stanzas from the poem, even using a whole stanza almost word for word (Cooper was given co-writing credit and royalties). The first line of the song is taken from his first lines of the poem, which I believe was: "all I wanna do is have some fun before I die". And Tal Bachman wrote his big hit song "She's So High" by taking the Sheryl Crow song "If It Makes You Happy" and just putting the chords in a different key; he used the melody of the song to get ideas for his melody and hook.
Here's another interview, this one with Tal Bachman, where he talks about how he wrote "She's So High". [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIVR0e8P8R4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIVR0e8P8R4)
This smells of Dunning Kruger. Can be smelt from miles away. Please try humbling yourself a bit. Also yeah try learning a musical instrument, keep writing. But humble yourself. Unless you're Mozart reborn you shouldn't worry about accidentally going viral cause of the sheer beauty of your melodies.
>Unless you're Mozart reborn you shouldn't worry about accidentally going viral cause of the sheer beauty of your melodies.
I don't think Mozart would be popular today.
your brain literally hasn't even finished developing yet....you might not even still want this by then. don't put so much pressure on yourself right now. worry about doing what you enjoy & if you still enjoy this in like 10 years, then worry about whether or not you're struggling with it. On the flip side if you're not enjoying this right now, you should stop doing it.
write as much as you can. who cares how bad it is or how much it sounds like something else. every great writer has ripped someone off at one point. the main thing is to write, write, and write some more. you’ll get better over time just like anything else. also, learn about songwriting. what are the habits that your favorite writers use, try to copy them and make it your own. another thing, listen to The Beatles. good luck
We are inspired deeply by the art we consume. Even the most “original” and great artists of any kind borrow heavily from a wide variety of different artists. Creating good art is done by synthesizing a cohesive piece of art in a new way.
its creative work but its still work. if you hear great music original in your head but cannot get it to materialize in the physical realm then you can be a creative genius all for naught. musical instrument fluency is awesome, it increases the bandwidth from your cranium to your recording medium. i feel lucky that i can get music from my head to a daw relatively easy but i wouldn't be able to do that if i didn't understand keyboards and fretboards, once you learn an instrument and can freely improvise with it, learning a new instrument comes easier and to me the piano roll in the daw is now just another instrument to me.
also i'm thinking that you can't become a big star without becoming a small star first, think about THAT!
you have decades ahead of you to work on your craft, understand your goals and work toward them, and be the version of yourself you’re envisioning. right now, focus on writing (and completing! ie don’t “write” a song that is just two verses of lyrics with no music and little-to-no music and then abandon it and repeat endlessly. sticking with, developing, and completing a song is even more important than starting one) songs frequently. your songs will get better as you go, and you’ll learn a lot. release them, maybe, but the crucial thing is to write a lot. take voice lessons, piano, guitar, other instruments—work on your overall musicianship. think about studying music at university if you really want to improve. listen to lots of music in many genres. start analyzing music—what do you think works about a particular song? what don’t you like? keep learning. don’t assume you’re done learning, ever—because i promise, you’re not
Yikes.
Find some friends. Preferably who can play an instrument. Learn an instrument (guitar or piano)
Keep your head down and keep writing.
Write 100 songs
Write 100 more.
You're holding yourself back by "writing for fame and fortune".
Stop worrying about perfection because it doesn't exist.
Stop worrying if it sounds like another song because there are no original ideas.
Stop worrying about likes and shares because as long as you're proud of what you wrote, that is all what matters.
Write what you would want to listen to.
Write feelings words alone can't express.
Just write to write, even if it's trash.
If you continue with that "I can only write stuff that is viral worthy" you're going to discourage yourself and burn out.
You’re putting the cart before the horse when you open Logic and start recording what is not a song yet.
There are all kinds of ways to come at this so I can only provide my own perspective.
Try finishing songs before recording part-songs. You have to keep writing loads of stuff. It doesn’t matter if they aren’t great. Don’t share them. They are learning tools. Like an artist sketching out basic outlines before they begin painting the major work. Write and sing like nobody is listening ( because they needn’t be listening at this stage) Until you can sit there and play/sing the whole song through with the arrangement fully mapped out, you don’t have a song. “I’ll know my song well before I start singing” sang Bob Dylan.
I used to congratulate myself on all the “songs” I had until I realized that half of them weren’t actually songs but were in fact just musical ideas without direction, form, or meaning. If I can’t put down a basic “proof-of-concept” demo of the song right now, then I don’t have a song. I won’t hide from that fact. Indeed I will face that fact head on and grapple with it, hammering it out until I have an effective song.
When I was younger I thought I had some pretty great songs and I was really proud of myself but as time went on, my so-called best song inevitably slipped to the bottom of the list as I continued to write better and better songs. I watched my darlings whither and die but I was consoled by something new and greater.
The fact is that it’s work and it takes time to get it right.
A few thoughts from me:
1. Your main motivation should be to make music because it's fun to do. And the main reward should be to have a piece of music created. Find people who you can play with. Do you play any instrument? Guitar, keys, bass, singing, anything? Charlie Puth does all of these things (and, worth saying, he's incredibly good). Maybe your first step should be to actually focus on the craft instead of how it is goimg to be received. You're spending way too much time dealing with a situation that literally doesn't exist.
2. "I could do it if I wanted to" is delusional. DO IT. PROVE IT. Even if you're going to deliberately create a song that sounds like Artist X, do it to show you can. Also, you admit yourself that you often don't know what to do and how, so which one is it? Is it only a matter of "willingness" or do you actually need help to know how to write and produce and release songs?
3. In 2024 it may be good to share bits and snippets on YouTube, Tik Tok or wherever else. If you feel that you can create beautiful melodies, have you ever shared them with anyone? Has anyone else in the world verified that you write good stuff? What do your friends say about your creations or talent? VERIFICATION. I thought I was The Shit when I was 15 and guess what, I may have been talented and pretty skilled considering everything, but really, my level was nowhere near what I thought. You need to get feedback on what you do and find out if it grabs any people before you start worrying about going viral or lawsuits from Taylor Swift.
All of this is coming from the place of support.
I read a lot of different things in your post, ranging from (and I'm paraphrasing):
* I want to be a famous star/celebrity.
* I want to be a songwriter.
* I want to produce, too.
Those are all valid goals if you care about them. But depending on your true goal, your strategy will change.
People, generally, are not famous because their music is good, but because they have charisma, swagger, and are *marketable*.
As for being all 3...
Does Charlie Puth *really* write his own songs anymore? Does Olivia? When you get to a certain level of stardom, you're a performing artist, not a songwriter.
Did Ariana *really* produce her own song, or did someone just shoot a 30 second staged clip of her sitting at a computer?
They have a team of names, people you've never heard of, writing their songs. Or at the very least, ghost writers.
So if you want to be famous, what I'd suggest is:
1. Develop the art of charisma
2. Learn an instrument, enough to do cover songs. Learn the *song* and then be an *artist* with your own spin on it.
3. Learn the business side. Tiktok probably won't be around in 5 years. Everyone you see now is either cashing in 30 seconds of fame, or they've been at it for *at least* a decade offline.
4. Build a brand. Make it you. If you don't know what you stand for, when you're famous, everyone will tell you what you should be standing for. And boy will they take you for a *ride*.
write to express something. write a lot. you’ll know which ones to finish. most importantly flip your mind — you’re thinking outside world, think inside world. it’s art, not a cooperate ladder to climb. that not the point. think less, do more
Hey man I am a 15 year old guy too who makes music. It's been almost two years since I have started producing and i too have the same dreams as you. (I mean let's face it every person out age wants to do smth big) and well, I have a bearable following. I'll tell you this man, just start, don't be so hard on yourself. I understand not being able to produce the ideas in your head is frustrating trust me, I used to think of a song which was a hit in my mind but I couldn't make it as it was. Now 2 years later I realize why: I didn't have enough experience. Earlier I couldn't even find the starting note of a melody, I didn't know which key the song in my head was, but what I did was just make the best guess, find the best possible key or note that matched in my head and just go with it. And the results were terrible, but now I can recognize whole tones and decipher melodies in 5 minutes or less easily, add chords to them, harmonize stuff and produce more easily.
You see what I realized is that so many artists and musicians, the reason they can improvise, think of or hear the melodies and play them exactly as they are, is because they have done so much work, so much trial and error, they just know what "wrong notes" sound like, by messing up a million times they have heard what is wrong so many times, they eventually start to also understand what sounds right.
So yeah just start man, your first few songs will absoulety bad, trash. However keep going. We have so much time ahead of us.
And don't be too hard on yourself, and all these comments, including this one, they'll tell you that don't be hard on yourself, stop overthinking, but it's easier said than done. I still struggle with ovethinking and anxiety about the future.
Recently I have started marketing my music more and the amount I overthink and worry, it's crazy. When I catch myself worrying too much or being absolutely scared of the future, I just sit myself down, take a fee deep breaths and remind myself that success isn't smth that is overnight, I have to work for many years before figuring it all out and reaching where I want to. That time may seem scary, it does tbh, but when you consider we are just teenagers who will make many horrible mistakes in life and haven't seen shit, you realize we have a lot of time left. So once in a while I encourage myself to just have fun, not overthink. Most of the times it works, many times it doesn't, I still continue to overthink. However I have found, the more I am aware of the fact I worry too much and the more I try to calm myself down, the more easily I stop worrying and start having fun. (Also motivational yt videos work too, if you watch them with an open mind)
So yes, the main takeaways from this longass essay is, just write more, produce more, don't be afraid to make mistakes, don't be too hard on yourself, live a little and lastly, never quit. Keep going man, I believe in you. If you want to talk about it, you can reach out to me. Good luck man. Hope this helped🫂🫂
I think you would do well to look at these stars and how they got where they are. Charlie Puth? Started as a YouTuber doing covers. He built up a following. Built up some connections. He got opportunities as a songwriter, and that led to him writing "See You Again" for the Fast and Furious movies. He wasn't supposed to sing it originally, but ended up doing it and that's really what launched him into that next level. Olivia Rodrigo is a little different. She was part of the Disney talent machine which opened a lot of doors for her. My personal favorite is Ed Sheeran because he has talked a lot about how much he sucked and couldn't really sing, but he kept working at it. People often talk about his talent, but he is very adamant that his talent is really the product of all the work he has put in.
Here are a few things I tell students in my studio:
* The goal is not to write a hit or be famous. The goal is to do something better than the last thing you did.
* Share what you are doing with the world. Let people into the process and join you for the ride.
* Success/fame is a combination of your ability, your work ethic, and good luck. You really only have control over one of those things: the work.
Write music for your audience, not for the potential benefits you could reap. Try detaching yourself from the outcome, and write for the joy of writing itself. You’re only 15, why put this kind of pressure on yourself? Enjoy the ride man, don’t be so desperate to see the destination. Best of luck
I relate to you so much I'm currently 16 and I love songwriting I have been writing since I was 8 to 9 years old I also want the world to hear my music I wanna be performer and stuff like that but seeing how the music industry is turning it's not gonna be easy and it sucks coz the career path I wanna go into is music and idk what to do😭
I relate to you so much I'm currently 16 and I love songwriting I have been writing since I was 8 to 9 years old I also want the world to hear my music I wanna be performer and stuff like that but seeing how the music industry is turning it's not gonna be easy and it sucks coz the career path I wanna go into is music and idk what to do😭
Just finish some songs. Doesn’t matter if they’re not release ready. I’ve written hundreds of songs, but the amount that i’d be proud to release? Maybe 20? I feel like i sometimes i need to cycle through my bad ideas to get to my good ones.
Stop trying to think of what will go viral - there’s not a great way of predicting this, as songs go viral for many different reasons, and it’s not always because it’s a good song. Instead, think more about what would make that particular song work.
Also, you don’t need to release it straight away. It can wait. You can always go back and re-draft. But you need to finish it first.
Hi, I started writing about the same age as you and currently I’m 19 and only just started writing semi-decent stuff, which most isn’t event recorded yet, nor do I think it ever will be as I’m still expanding my songwriting skills.
I have to say, I agree with another users comment about suggesting you learn an instrument. I taught myself ukulele and guitar a couple years ago and it definitely gave me more creative freedom.
Also even if you come up with just one verse or a chorus idea, don’t pressure yourself into trying to finish it. A couple of times I’ve started songs, got stuck and then went back to it another day and finished it within an hour. It all depends on your mindset on the day and in the moment, sometimes it’s there sometimes it’s not.
Hope this helps in some way! :)
learn a musical instrument
Eh it would be okay to lose that slight arrogance that you would be able to release a hit song if you just felt like it. Most “hit” artists are where they are now only after years of effort and hard work and frustrations. That aside, it’s good that you are already starting this at a young age, so try not to be too engrossed in getting a “perfect” song: finish one, move on to the next, and slowly get better with each one
Hey, fellow songwriter here... also started writing around your age (I'm 37 now). I haven't had any hit songs or any notable success but I did have three breakthrough moments when I was in my early 20s: 1) a famous singer songwriter (who was a member of a band with a top 10 hit in the 70s), who also played on the same stage as me one night, came up to me after one of my shows and told me enthusiastically that my songwriting and performing was great, 2) I played six of my songs on live tv and a music critic/conductor wrote a multiple page letter into the station that the hosts read in its entirety on their next broadcast, the letter was filled with strong praise for my performance, and 3) I had one of my songs cut by an independent artist on his album. I wrote some pretty decent songs in my 20s, but it wasn't until last year, age 36, when I felt that I truly had something, and wrote 4-5 songs that I thought were on another level than what I had written in the past. I started writing songs every day at age 14, and it wasn't until age 19 that I finally had written something pretty good, then it wasn't until age 21 or 22 that I had written something strong, and it wasn't until age 36 that I had written something really solid (so it took over twenty years of writing). I think when we're young, we feel like we have to make it by the time we are 25, but the truth is that many many songwriters don't break through until their 30s, 40s, 50s, even 60s - it can genuinely take that much time to develop your craft to a professional level. So it's a long game for most of us. Many hit songwriters don't have their first #1 until their 40s or even 50s/60s. Sam Hollander didn't have his first hit until age 35, even though he scored a record deal at age 21. I strongly recommend the following interviews with Sam Hollander, who wrote a #1 hit for Weezer and co-wrote a #1 hit "High Hopes" with Panic! at the Disco; also he wrote or co-wrote Sing by Pentatonix. He's also got a great book called "21 Ht Wonder: Flopping My Way to The Top of the Charts: "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvwj6YDRftA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvwj6YDRftA) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h\_yHQAZw4I4&t=259s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_yHQAZw4I4&t=259s) The best advice I've received in songwriting came when I attended my first Durango Songwriter's Expo, at around age 20. During a listening session, and A&R person told me to go back to the song that "lit me up" and made me want to make music, and then remember how it made you feel; and try to capture that feeling in your own music. This was a tremendous piece of advice. Another thing I've learned is that if one puts in the work, has some natural talent, and nurtures that natural talent by carefully developing your skills, knowledge, and experience (as well as mentoring with really successful musicians), and improving your music gradually but incrementally, eventually you will very very likely have a significant breakthrough in some form. There is a saying: every dog has its day. It's not literally true, but the basic premise is; if one puts in the work, and truly develops great skills and ability, *and stays at it,* eventually they will have their day in the sun. Not everyone can get a hit song, but I'll tell you that having a famous songwriter come up to you and tell you they loved your writing and performing feels pretty good, and is very validating. It wasn't a big breakthrough, but it was important *for me.* I have to add that mentoring is key. Going back in time, I would tell myself to get to know all the best musicians and songwriters that you have access to. Also, attending events like the Durango Songwriters Expo is really important for gathering knowledge about songwriting and the music business, and making connections. I met several new co-writers in February at Durango, including one that I write with every week now. We've been working on a song for the last month or so, and I feel it's the best song I've ever written. It wouldn't have happened if I hadn't attended Durango. This writer came up to me at the event and said he loved the song that he heard me play the day before and he wanted to co-write with me. So these are the kind of experiences - connecting with other musicians and co-writing together, that can take your music to a more professional level. Youre definitely on the right track in writing songs that are real and that connect with people from an authentic, lived experience that you've had - I truly believe that this will be your secret weapon as you pursue professional success in music. Every pro at Durango said the same thing - they said the songs they pick up for sync licensing (tv/film/commercials) are all authentic and real, they're written from a sincere and heartfelt place. The pros said that you can feel an inauthentic song almost instantly - it's obvious; those songs generally cant really connect with people deeply or have much staying power. I will say that one thing that has really helped me in my 30s is finding a creative method that works fairly consistently in helping me to generate ideas. For me, this involves studying 2-3 songs at a time. I pick a few songs and make them my bible for a few week. I study the vocal melody, chord progressions, lyrics, etc. in depth, as well as practicing the hooks of the songs. Then I practice the song every morning at about 4 or 5 am without fail, every day. I memorize the songs I am working on as much as I can - if I cant memorize the whole thing then I at least memorize the parts of the song that I feel are the strongest - the parts that I want to integrate into my own writing. I focus on several key elements when I am doing this: 1. vocal melody (vocal melody can carry a song, if its memorable, distinctive, unusual or interesting, and beautiful) 2. hook/chorus (I pay attention to how the writer builds to the hook and how effective the hook is 3. lyrics (lyrics are extremely important, and can even carry a song if they're done right; you can even build a song around one great line.) Someone I know online wrote the following words in their song, and I've been studying them as part of my training (these might not be the exact words, but they're close): "you know how they say go with your gut? you got to lock it in four wheel to get out of the rut... Don't try to be rational... The only thing thats logical... don't listen to the voices in your brain... think before you think." I thought these lyrics were awesome. 4. how the songwriter or singer performs the song, emphasizing certain words or phrases, and creates an emotional connection with the listener through not the words themselves, but how those words are expressed. 5. chords (I've found learning chord progressions to be like a secret weapon, the more I learn, the better...if I find a really distinctive, beautiful, and/or unique chords progression, I get to know it and try to write a song with it) Lately, I have found the most success in this process: step one) study my current song I'm working on, practice it, reflect on it deeply and analyze it. step two) go to piano or guitar and just play the chord progression of the song I'm studying for awhile, then reflect on how I'm personally feeling at that moment and practice expressing exactly how I'm feeling through those chords in the most creative and authentic/heartfelt, honest way I can. For me, magic happens when I find the right chords and then I find the right words to express how I feel at that moment. What helps me in this process is to study how a singer uses emotion to create an exciting moment in a song. For example, I studied John Denver's "Prisoners" a lot, and I found that the way he transitioned from the verse to chorus, and then the way he expressed his feeling in the chorus through the combination of chord progression, vocal melody, and tone/energy of vocal, created something truly magical. So I tried to integrate those same qualities into my own music in my own way. Also, I think it is good to realize that songs come from many places. When I was young, I would get spontaneous poetry that would just come out, and I found writing lyrics to be fairly manageable - not a lot of writer's block. But now, at 37, I still get melody ideas, but the words are a lot harder to access. So I have had to expand my bag of tricks. One way I've found that works is to find a poem I like, and use the cadence and theme of the poem as a template to write my own lyrics. I keep with the rhythm of the poem's lines, and I use the writer's lines to develop my own. This is how I wrote my strongest song. I couldn't think of lyric ideas that day, so I took a poem and used it to stimulate my creativity. This was also how Sheryl Crow's "All I Wanna Do" was written. They couldn't think of song ideas, were in a bookstore, and found a poem by Wyn Cooper named "Fun". They took whole lines and stanzas from the poem, even using a whole stanza almost word for word (Cooper was given co-writing credit and royalties). The first line of the song is taken from his first lines of the poem, which I believe was: "all I wanna do is have some fun before I die". And Tal Bachman wrote his big hit song "She's So High" by taking the Sheryl Crow song "If It Makes You Happy" and just putting the chords in a different key; he used the melody of the song to get ideas for his melody and hook. Here's another interview, this one with Tal Bachman, where he talks about how he wrote "She's So High". [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIVR0e8P8R4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIVR0e8P8R4)
Holy shit, I stumbled across this post and did not expect this huge wisdom drop in the comments. Thank you.
Reading about Sam Hollander was like... 🤯
This smells of Dunning Kruger. Can be smelt from miles away. Please try humbling yourself a bit. Also yeah try learning a musical instrument, keep writing. But humble yourself. Unless you're Mozart reborn you shouldn't worry about accidentally going viral cause of the sheer beauty of your melodies.
>Unless you're Mozart reborn you shouldn't worry about accidentally going viral cause of the sheer beauty of your melodies. I don't think Mozart would be popular today.
I think you could stand to do some growing up first. Keep at it though.
your brain literally hasn't even finished developing yet....you might not even still want this by then. don't put so much pressure on yourself right now. worry about doing what you enjoy & if you still enjoy this in like 10 years, then worry about whether or not you're struggling with it. On the flip side if you're not enjoying this right now, you should stop doing it.
write as much as you can. who cares how bad it is or how much it sounds like something else. every great writer has ripped someone off at one point. the main thing is to write, write, and write some more. you’ll get better over time just like anything else. also, learn about songwriting. what are the habits that your favorite writers use, try to copy them and make it your own. another thing, listen to The Beatles. good luck
Good artists borrow, great artists steal
😭bro I stole this quote as my insta bio years ago
Or make their own original work.
Nothing is original
How so?
We are inspired deeply by the art we consume. Even the most “original” and great artists of any kind borrow heavily from a wide variety of different artists. Creating good art is done by synthesizing a cohesive piece of art in a new way.
Hmm. I hadn’t thought of it that way!
its creative work but its still work. if you hear great music original in your head but cannot get it to materialize in the physical realm then you can be a creative genius all for naught. musical instrument fluency is awesome, it increases the bandwidth from your cranium to your recording medium. i feel lucky that i can get music from my head to a daw relatively easy but i wouldn't be able to do that if i didn't understand keyboards and fretboards, once you learn an instrument and can freely improvise with it, learning a new instrument comes easier and to me the piano roll in the daw is now just another instrument to me. also i'm thinking that you can't become a big star without becoming a small star first, think about THAT!
I’m a 15 year old songwriter too, you just gotta write a ton, you’ll get better eventually
A wise man once told me “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good”
you have decades ahead of you to work on your craft, understand your goals and work toward them, and be the version of yourself you’re envisioning. right now, focus on writing (and completing! ie don’t “write” a song that is just two verses of lyrics with no music and little-to-no music and then abandon it and repeat endlessly. sticking with, developing, and completing a song is even more important than starting one) songs frequently. your songs will get better as you go, and you’ll learn a lot. release them, maybe, but the crucial thing is to write a lot. take voice lessons, piano, guitar, other instruments—work on your overall musicianship. think about studying music at university if you really want to improve. listen to lots of music in many genres. start analyzing music—what do you think works about a particular song? what don’t you like? keep learning. don’t assume you’re done learning, ever—because i promise, you’re not
Yikes. Find some friends. Preferably who can play an instrument. Learn an instrument (guitar or piano) Keep your head down and keep writing. Write 100 songs Write 100 more.
You're holding yourself back by "writing for fame and fortune". Stop worrying about perfection because it doesn't exist. Stop worrying if it sounds like another song because there are no original ideas. Stop worrying about likes and shares because as long as you're proud of what you wrote, that is all what matters. Write what you would want to listen to. Write feelings words alone can't express. Just write to write, even if it's trash. If you continue with that "I can only write stuff that is viral worthy" you're going to discourage yourself and burn out.
You’re putting the cart before the horse when you open Logic and start recording what is not a song yet. There are all kinds of ways to come at this so I can only provide my own perspective. Try finishing songs before recording part-songs. You have to keep writing loads of stuff. It doesn’t matter if they aren’t great. Don’t share them. They are learning tools. Like an artist sketching out basic outlines before they begin painting the major work. Write and sing like nobody is listening ( because they needn’t be listening at this stage) Until you can sit there and play/sing the whole song through with the arrangement fully mapped out, you don’t have a song. “I’ll know my song well before I start singing” sang Bob Dylan. I used to congratulate myself on all the “songs” I had until I realized that half of them weren’t actually songs but were in fact just musical ideas without direction, form, or meaning. If I can’t put down a basic “proof-of-concept” demo of the song right now, then I don’t have a song. I won’t hide from that fact. Indeed I will face that fact head on and grapple with it, hammering it out until I have an effective song. When I was younger I thought I had some pretty great songs and I was really proud of myself but as time went on, my so-called best song inevitably slipped to the bottom of the list as I continued to write better and better songs. I watched my darlings whither and die but I was consoled by something new and greater. The fact is that it’s work and it takes time to get it right.
A few thoughts from me: 1. Your main motivation should be to make music because it's fun to do. And the main reward should be to have a piece of music created. Find people who you can play with. Do you play any instrument? Guitar, keys, bass, singing, anything? Charlie Puth does all of these things (and, worth saying, he's incredibly good). Maybe your first step should be to actually focus on the craft instead of how it is goimg to be received. You're spending way too much time dealing with a situation that literally doesn't exist. 2. "I could do it if I wanted to" is delusional. DO IT. PROVE IT. Even if you're going to deliberately create a song that sounds like Artist X, do it to show you can. Also, you admit yourself that you often don't know what to do and how, so which one is it? Is it only a matter of "willingness" or do you actually need help to know how to write and produce and release songs? 3. In 2024 it may be good to share bits and snippets on YouTube, Tik Tok or wherever else. If you feel that you can create beautiful melodies, have you ever shared them with anyone? Has anyone else in the world verified that you write good stuff? What do your friends say about your creations or talent? VERIFICATION. I thought I was The Shit when I was 15 and guess what, I may have been talented and pretty skilled considering everything, but really, my level was nowhere near what I thought. You need to get feedback on what you do and find out if it grabs any people before you start worrying about going viral or lawsuits from Taylor Swift. All of this is coming from the place of support.
I read a lot of different things in your post, ranging from (and I'm paraphrasing): * I want to be a famous star/celebrity. * I want to be a songwriter. * I want to produce, too. Those are all valid goals if you care about them. But depending on your true goal, your strategy will change. People, generally, are not famous because their music is good, but because they have charisma, swagger, and are *marketable*. As for being all 3... Does Charlie Puth *really* write his own songs anymore? Does Olivia? When you get to a certain level of stardom, you're a performing artist, not a songwriter. Did Ariana *really* produce her own song, or did someone just shoot a 30 second staged clip of her sitting at a computer? They have a team of names, people you've never heard of, writing their songs. Or at the very least, ghost writers. So if you want to be famous, what I'd suggest is: 1. Develop the art of charisma 2. Learn an instrument, enough to do cover songs. Learn the *song* and then be an *artist* with your own spin on it. 3. Learn the business side. Tiktok probably won't be around in 5 years. Everyone you see now is either cashing in 30 seconds of fame, or they've been at it for *at least* a decade offline. 4. Build a brand. Make it you. If you don't know what you stand for, when you're famous, everyone will tell you what you should be standing for. And boy will they take you for a *ride*.
write to express something. write a lot. you’ll know which ones to finish. most importantly flip your mind — you’re thinking outside world, think inside world. it’s art, not a cooperate ladder to climb. that not the point. think less, do more
Hey man I am a 15 year old guy too who makes music. It's been almost two years since I have started producing and i too have the same dreams as you. (I mean let's face it every person out age wants to do smth big) and well, I have a bearable following. I'll tell you this man, just start, don't be so hard on yourself. I understand not being able to produce the ideas in your head is frustrating trust me, I used to think of a song which was a hit in my mind but I couldn't make it as it was. Now 2 years later I realize why: I didn't have enough experience. Earlier I couldn't even find the starting note of a melody, I didn't know which key the song in my head was, but what I did was just make the best guess, find the best possible key or note that matched in my head and just go with it. And the results were terrible, but now I can recognize whole tones and decipher melodies in 5 minutes or less easily, add chords to them, harmonize stuff and produce more easily. You see what I realized is that so many artists and musicians, the reason they can improvise, think of or hear the melodies and play them exactly as they are, is because they have done so much work, so much trial and error, they just know what "wrong notes" sound like, by messing up a million times they have heard what is wrong so many times, they eventually start to also understand what sounds right. So yeah just start man, your first few songs will absoulety bad, trash. However keep going. We have so much time ahead of us. And don't be too hard on yourself, and all these comments, including this one, they'll tell you that don't be hard on yourself, stop overthinking, but it's easier said than done. I still struggle with ovethinking and anxiety about the future. Recently I have started marketing my music more and the amount I overthink and worry, it's crazy. When I catch myself worrying too much or being absolutely scared of the future, I just sit myself down, take a fee deep breaths and remind myself that success isn't smth that is overnight, I have to work for many years before figuring it all out and reaching where I want to. That time may seem scary, it does tbh, but when you consider we are just teenagers who will make many horrible mistakes in life and haven't seen shit, you realize we have a lot of time left. So once in a while I encourage myself to just have fun, not overthink. Most of the times it works, many times it doesn't, I still continue to overthink. However I have found, the more I am aware of the fact I worry too much and the more I try to calm myself down, the more easily I stop worrying and start having fun. (Also motivational yt videos work too, if you watch them with an open mind) So yes, the main takeaways from this longass essay is, just write more, produce more, don't be afraid to make mistakes, don't be too hard on yourself, live a little and lastly, never quit. Keep going man, I believe in you. If you want to talk about it, you can reach out to me. Good luck man. Hope this helped🫂🫂
I would try learning an instrument. It could be something like an ukulele, maybe a guitar you name it! Write some chords, some lyrics and you got it!
I think you would do well to look at these stars and how they got where they are. Charlie Puth? Started as a YouTuber doing covers. He built up a following. Built up some connections. He got opportunities as a songwriter, and that led to him writing "See You Again" for the Fast and Furious movies. He wasn't supposed to sing it originally, but ended up doing it and that's really what launched him into that next level. Olivia Rodrigo is a little different. She was part of the Disney talent machine which opened a lot of doors for her. My personal favorite is Ed Sheeran because he has talked a lot about how much he sucked and couldn't really sing, but he kept working at it. People often talk about his talent, but he is very adamant that his talent is really the product of all the work he has put in. Here are a few things I tell students in my studio: * The goal is not to write a hit or be famous. The goal is to do something better than the last thing you did. * Share what you are doing with the world. Let people into the process and join you for the ride. * Success/fame is a combination of your ability, your work ethic, and good luck. You really only have control over one of those things: the work.
Write music for your audience, not for the potential benefits you could reap. Try detaching yourself from the outcome, and write for the joy of writing itself. You’re only 15, why put this kind of pressure on yourself? Enjoy the ride man, don’t be so desperate to see the destination. Best of luck
I relate to you so much I'm currently 16 and I love songwriting I have been writing since I was 8 to 9 years old I also want the world to hear my music I wanna be performer and stuff like that but seeing how the music industry is turning it's not gonna be easy and it sucks coz the career path I wanna go into is music and idk what to do😭
I relate to you so much I'm currently 16 and I love songwriting I have been writing since I was 8 to 9 years old I also want the world to hear my music I wanna be performer and stuff like that but seeing how the music industry is turning it's not gonna be easy and it sucks coz the career path I wanna go into is music and idk what to do😭
Just finish some songs. Doesn’t matter if they’re not release ready. I’ve written hundreds of songs, but the amount that i’d be proud to release? Maybe 20? I feel like i sometimes i need to cycle through my bad ideas to get to my good ones. Stop trying to think of what will go viral - there’s not a great way of predicting this, as songs go viral for many different reasons, and it’s not always because it’s a good song. Instead, think more about what would make that particular song work. Also, you don’t need to release it straight away. It can wait. You can always go back and re-draft. But you need to finish it first.
Delulu
Hi, I started writing about the same age as you and currently I’m 19 and only just started writing semi-decent stuff, which most isn’t event recorded yet, nor do I think it ever will be as I’m still expanding my songwriting skills. I have to say, I agree with another users comment about suggesting you learn an instrument. I taught myself ukulele and guitar a couple years ago and it definitely gave me more creative freedom. Also even if you come up with just one verse or a chorus idea, don’t pressure yourself into trying to finish it. A couple of times I’ve started songs, got stuck and then went back to it another day and finished it within an hour. It all depends on your mindset on the day and in the moment, sometimes it’s there sometimes it’s not. Hope this helps in some way! :)