Sound advice for song writers

I had the great privilege of participating in a small group workshop about song writing, hosted by Simon Austin and Angie Hart prior to Frente’s Adelaide gig of their Marvin the Album 21st anniversary tour on Friday night. I’ve delayed writing this a few days, partly to eliminate the gush factor but largely to reflect of what I feel are the most important elements to me, expressed in my own words. (Additional points keep occurring to me while I’m out and about so there may be a follow-up.)

• Don’t get hung up on the term ‘musician’. What matters is that you make music and be proud to develop in your own unique style. And making music is different from working on music (the mechanical, repetitive thing that classical orchestral professionals do to achieve a technically perfect product, for example, is not your typical music making experience and should not be taken as a benchmark).
• Let the song find its own path. If you’re stuck at a certain point, relax and sing/play from the start to as far as you can go and pause. This way, you’re asking your song where it wants to go. It will reveal itself in time.
• Don’t be a stubborn smartarse. It’s good to feel proud about something you’ve created, but sometimes you need to ask yourself if you’re clinging to its current form just because you think it makes you look clever. Chances are, if you relinquish your grip and be willing to let it go, it will make way for something better, more natural…
• That said, you might be right and the song needs to form itself around that little bit of magic. Also, be willing to pull it apart; you may find you’re actually working on two (or more) different songs. Bonus!
• A song feels good when it returns back to position 1. Ordinary Angels, for example, journeys on through some an interesting progressions including ascending key changes but once it hits that E major, there’s a lovely sense of being back at home base. This is true across the musical world, regardless of genre, style or level of complexity.
• Like everything else in nature, music loves repeating patterns. An ostinato (a musical pattern repeated continuously throughout a composition) not only feels good, it’s yet another reason you don’t have to worry about needing to be clever.
• The time it takes you to write a song is no indication of how good it is. Some gems come fully formed in five minutes; others take years. Everyone has their own preferences and tenancies but not every song will want to comply. Be prepared to sit on snippets until they become usable or accept that five-minute wonder as a good thing.
• Always carry a device around with you to record ideas as they pop into your head; you’ll most likely them if you don’t do it straight away. Smartphones have built-in recorders but the process of locating and opening the app can be lengthy and distracting. Carry a quick-on device if the bubble floats away too quickly.
• Song writing can be conversational and collaborative. A buddy can help get you unstuck, write to your strengths, prize the smartarse bits away for your own good and contribute elements you’d never consider in isolation. As with any relationship, there may be tears but there’ll also be magic.

A big thank you to Simon and Angie for sharing their wisdom and encouragement with us. It’s helped me seriously question the doubts I’ve been hanging on to. It’s also made me feel brave enough to extract and record the goofy little nonsense song that’s been floating around in my head and upload it as my first original song to Soundcloud.