Have you ever wondered if you should write your own songs? Have you ever thought about all the things it could mean for you? Both as a person and as an artist?
Singers should definitely strive to write their own songs. Writing your own songs is how a singer is recognised in the music industry. It’s also a portrayal of what you stand for and how beautifully you can convey something that only you have to say.
Your songs don’t just define your ideas, it’s what resonates with your listeners and allows them to sing along with your song. Let’s dive a bit deeper.
Is It Original?
Authenticity. Original. Real. All words we describe subconsciously to art. I can simplify this even more.
Who do you respect more? A cover band or the artist whose songs the crowd sings along with and who performs their original songs? Exactly. The latter. Covers are good and homage should be paid and has a place in every artist’s heart but, the fact remains.
Original songs are the only way to make people remember you. Not just in terms of your legacy as an artist but being true to yourself and your art.
It’s Important Because of You
The need for it grows deeper as you progress through the endless practice sessions to become 1% better. For what?
You wield these skills to manipulate them to your will to become a better musician. You learn everything in music to express yourself in a medium that brought you closer to yourself. Compositions are reflections of yourself in a way that you have never seen before.
I may be speaking vaguely in this article but all the feelings surrounding creating your own songs are real. Something you can call your own and something only you can express in a way that has never been done before.
It’s as I said it is, a medium. A way to tell something important to you. As we become a generation where depth and words lose their way, it becomes increasingly necessary we create even more.
Somewhere in us is the innate feeling of creating something of our own, a business, a person, a relationship.
The end goal of all musicianship is to be heard.
You better make sure that when someone’s listening, you’re singing your own song.
Never Written a Song Before?
It’s the best feeling ever.
If you’ve never written a song before then don’t be afraid. It’s going to be bad. So will your second one. But that shouldn’t deter you from writing. Learning to compose and write songs is a process.
Something you have to do a decent amount of to get any better at it. You must strive to put in the time and your heart and everything else you have to write good songs.
Then it becomes easier to compose. You settle in with the difficulties of writing a song, not out of frustration but with the excitement of solving yet another musical problem that has been brought in front of you.
The secret to learning anything is from studying the best right? The literature required to learn how to compose is already there for you.
It Gets Better
It gets better along the way. The more you write, the better you understand yourself and your own way of writing songs. You develop habits and then you expound them.
When you see yourself getting stuck in a rut that’s when you start to go to things that you haven’t explored yet. Writing your songs is such a wonderful skill to have and there is another way to make it even better that ends up adding skills to your existing skill set.
Learning How to Record Yourself
Now, I want you to do something for me. Call your nearest recording studio and give them details about a fake band you have and ask them how much money they are going to charge you for a five-piece band doing five songs, then ask for a one-man and guitar.
I can assure you learning how to record and mix your own songs yourself is the sustainable way to go. Because getting one song recorded in a professional studio is not sustainable.
Of course, you can do it, but, as musicians, we’re never taught about the cost-effectiveness of things in this business. It’s more cost-effective to invest in a way to record yourself.
When you’re starting off, it surely is cost-effective and when you’re an established artist you can do whatever you want. You don’t have to pay for redos and you don’t have to ask for anyone’s permission if you need something to change.
The learning curve, in the beginning, is quite intimidating and it’s not the easiest thing to do but it is worth it.
You Have a Never-Ending Library
Your learning resource as a singer who wants to write their own songs is other songs. There are so many that have been written! Learning the basic techniques required in songwriting will give you a tool to see how other songs use the same techniques.
You dissect the songs you love and how phrasing, melody, and everything else flow to come to a final end, the song. That’s why it’s not only necessary to possess skills in songwriting because without them you are going blind to learning from the songs you like.
Once you can do that, then it’s your turn. Use the same techniques in use so that you can do better with your own songs.
Sing Better
The idea of writing your own songs might be very exciting but the fact still remains that for all of this to happen successfully you must be able to sing competently.
One of the ways I think to achieve that is through an online course. Which I have already written about here.
If I were to give you my recommendation I would ask you to have ‘The Four Pillars of Singing‘ (affiliate link).
It would be of great benefit to you if you checked out this page and made the call for yourself as to which course you can, as you can imagine, there is indeed more than one to choose from.
Whatever you end up deciding to do, all the best in your songwriting!