JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum Words NOT to use in songwriting

Yeah Pat is a good teacher and that concept (some words sing poorly high, some low) is an excellent observation. I think he may have brought that up at one of our JPF Workshops a few years back when he was a JPF Mentor.

Hey Marc, how much are people writing for specific artists who are not actually in the inner circle of that particular artist? Is there any benefit to doing that at all? I'd think not, but nearly every entry level writer is just sure Song X they wrote is perfect for Artist X. Do Pro writers even consider that these days? Do you all go racing to find your file full of songs you wrote for Artist X when you hear she is going to start on a new album?

Writing from real life is really the best approach. JPF Mentor Steve Seskin always talks about listening to conversations in line at the grocery store checkout. I once tried an experiment an spent a day writing the most interest real life comments I heard around town in a single day. At the end I had more than enough material for several albums. Give it a try. Take a little recorder in your pocket or go old school and use a notepad. Then write to those comments and subjects. You'll be amazed at how much better your storylines ring true and original but not overused cliches. People tell their stories in ways that might sound un-cliche like sometimes but you may find you've stumbled upon a real life cliche that hasn't been beaten to death in song form. Jump on those.

Brian