This is a great Jersey Shore song in the making.

I got the original concept and the first line while riding on the Garden State Parkway outside of Avalon while heading back toward my house in Sea Isle City. It kind of hybrenated for a year or so and then while driving to Sea Isle again the whole song came flowing out.

I have always loved how the Beach Boys captured the essence of the Southern California beach scene. I am hoping to put New Jersey beaches on the map. Calfornia has nothing over us. Believe me, I have been there. I’ll take New jersey beaches any day.

This is a rough 1st cut. Let us know your thoughts?

Jersey Shore

I can remember when I first wrote this song. Everytime I played it, I had this calypso type lead roaming thru my head. It is a great upbeat song and I always get great feedback when I play it. It seems to make people hum the melody and smile, all at the same time.

That’s not too bad, is it?

It’s a song of Hope. Follow your dreams, wherever they may lead. Reach for that rainbow, way up in the sky.

When I introduced the song to Stevie Ray and Michael, they immediately loved it. Michael would want to play it several times in a row. In the middle of playing it one time, I stopped and said to Stevie Ray, I would like you to come in with this lead at this part. He started laughing, Oh here he goes, getting artsy on us. The song sounds good. I said, this will make it sound better.

We took a few minutes and before you know it, Stevie Ray nailed it.

Let us know what you think?

Changes

I am hoping with this posting, to open up the dialogue and get receive your feedback on writing a song.

For Christmas, I receive a great book Song Writers on Song Writing by Paul Zolo. If you currently write songs as a profession or if you find yourself only dabbling in songwriting, I am looking to get your feedback.

In reading this book, I found great insight from a vast array of song writers from Bob Dylan to Paul Simon, Graham Nash, Neil Young and John Fogarty.

Some say they do not like writing songs. They like the initial burst of energy but then they find themselves laboring over the remainder of the song. 

Others felt they were able to tap into a stream of consciousness or energy and they loved the idea of letting the energy take it where it leads.

In fact, Neil Young states then when the initial burst fades and he finds that he has to start thinking or working on a song, he stops.

I know that I find great energy in creating a song. I am not sure where the idea may come from but it just starts flowing.

There may be some inter relation with something  I may be currently experiencing. And maybe the song helps me to understand this and put it is some perspective.

Either way, I feel it is a real gift. To be able to tap into a feeling, place yourself in the middle of it and then try to capture its’ essence, is very powerful. It a high that is seldom acheived.

I know as a songwriter, your best song is always the always the latest one you are working on. The previous songs are like little gems that continue to evolve.

I would be intersted in knowing how you feel? Feel free to leave a comment.

Stevie Ray and I had been kickin around playing for a couple of years and he said, why don’t you write a new song.  Kiddingly I said, give me a topic  and I’ll put something together.

He said, ” How about Jersey Blues”

So began what I feel is a great tune. Everyne that hears our music loves ” Jersey Blues.” It just has a catchy, melody, and Stevie ray does some great guitar work. When Mike joined in, he just brought the song to life, giving it a fuller sound.

Every Thursday nite we cannot end the nite without playing Jersey Blues. We added a traditional acapello rendition of, “I’ll fly away”, to start it off.

Let us know what you think?

fly-awayjersey-blues

Writing is never easy, especially when you encounter the so-called “writer\’s block”. Add to that process, the idea of synchronizing melody to the words you write – now that is even more difficult. With the many hit songs

in mass media today, it\’s hard to find your own voice as a songwriter. If you\’re thinking on how to write a song, we have come up with seven easy steps to get you started:

1. Be Inspired. Oftentimes, a songwriter can come up with a hundred hindrances for writing. Yet one of the biggest challenges of being a songwriter is motivating oneself. The first step on learning how to write a song is to get that mental and emotional stimulation. You have to set your mind on a goal, and that is to come up with a great song at the end of the day.

2. Stay With It. Once you have captured that subject of inspiration, stay with it. You have to set your frame of mind to work on that idea. Make sure you are in a place where you\’re comfortable to write and express your ideas. Most songwriters prefer to sit in a quiet place with good scenery. Others favor an ambiance with relaxing music to soothe their thought flow.

3. Have Fun. You might be thinking, “How will this help me concentrate on my subject?” Having fun is an essential part in learning how to write a song. You have to find joy and fulfillment in what you are doing. Once you start writing, you can now play with words and work on your lyrics. Explore the possibilities of working with an instrument on hand. At the moment you get part of your desired melody, continually play it to stir up more tunes to add to your music.

4. Expand Your Horizons. Keep your ideas flowing. In this way, you can begin to develop your initial material. Reread the lyrics you\’ve written and expound on them. Construct a story about your subject or create another voice in your melody. Try to form progression in the chords of the song\’s tune.

5. Make Music Out of Lyrics. Use metaphorical descriptions and rhythmic patterns to titivate your song. It helps to know a little of poetry and literature to help influence your work. Bear in mind that in knowing how to write a song, it also helps to have knowledge on your genre of music.

6. Listen to Your Song. Once you\’ve come up with the lyrics and the melody to beat, make sure you listen to the entire song. While doing so, ask yourself if you are satisfied with your work and what you can do to make it better. The process of self-critique helps polish your song. Make sure you edit the necessary words that don\’t have nuance to the theme of your music. At the same time, make sure that the melody is plausible to your chosen subject.

7. Let Someone Listen. Your song is finished. The best way to know if you\’ve done well is to have someone listen to the product of your hard work. Feedback is vital in improving your next creation. Learning how to write a song from another person\’s point of view will make you grow as a songwriter.

Over the last 6 years that my friend Dan and I have been putting out The Songwriter’s Tip Jar ezine, the STJ Forum, and now this daily blog, our most frequently asked question has been, “How do I get started writing songs?”

It made us stop to think…how DO you write songs? We could draw on our own experiences and ask a few others, but it came down to this: There’s no wrong way. So we would suggest the following as an answer to that oft-received question:

1. Start here. Read back through our daily tips.

2. Read the many tips, suggestions and exercises we have printed in our ezine (available 24/7 in the archives);

3. Listen VERY CLOSELY to your favorite songs, and hear beyond pleasing tones and lyrics, to the very foundation of the song. Why does it work? What do you love about it? How is it put together? How do they get that guitar sound, keyboard sound, vocal effect, etc., that makes it stand out? Where do the lyrics take you — are they pleasing or clever prose, clear and cutting, or do they paint a blurry, yet compelling picture?

In other words, pick a song apart to instruct yourself on how to reassemble it, and then how to assemble your own tunes in a similar (or even dissimilar) fashion;

4. Practice at your craft often — daily, even. The idea being that as little as 15 minutes each day working on writing songs is better than 2 hours once a week;

5. There is no right or wrong way to write songs — just be patient with yourself and don’t judge yourself too harshly — and KEEP AT IT!

Robert

How do you write songs? Currently on the STJ forum, that question is being answered by a variety of songwriters. It seems everyone has their own unique methods, their own favorite ways of getting it done.

Somebody else’s method may seem odd or not applicable to you. But there also may be a gem in there that will help you. And your unique way of getting from start to finish may help someone else.

How do you do it? Where do you start? And how do you move to the next step and the one after that? How do you get from a tiny spark, an inkling of an idea, all the way through the creative bursts, the editing, the rewriting, the waste bin full of crumpled papers, the dark night of doubt, and all the way to the place where you have a complete song that you’re proud of?

Check out the thread called all paths to a finished song are valid for specifics. And if you have a method that works for you, leave a post. Or leave a comment here on the blog (click Comments» below).

Measure for measure, the songwriting blog from the New York Times has a new entry. This one is called Catch and Release by Peter Holsapple.

He talks about his process of writing a song, which includes watching TV with the sound off. Included in his post are a couple samples of his work. I didn’t find it all that helpful.

However, if you scroll down to the entry by Suzanne Vega, two posts earlier, you’ll find a much deeper discussion, about being a two hit wonder, her song Luka and much more.

There are 7 factors that I require when writing a good song and they are:

1) Emotions: The best place to find these are through a woman or a bottle of whiskey (note* whiskey was created after emotions were lost on a woman)

2) Catchy melody: Usually my songs start with some sort of chord progression on the guitar but not always. Then a vocal melody wrapped around the chords in an

interesting and satisfying way. If you interviewed most famous songwriters, they’d tell you most of their best songs seemed to channel through them

in an almost effortless fashion. If I look back on the songs I’ve written, I’d agree that my stronger songs were the ones that seemed to write themselves.

3) Strong lyrics: If you put strong lyrics with a very catchy melody then you’ve got something to be proud of for sure. For me, lyrics don’t come easy. I seem to lack something important to say for the most part.

Note to self: must find a woman or buy more whiskey.

4) Re-writing: This is where a lot of people fail miserably. They’re always too damn proud of their first take and are afraid to throw away something to make the song better because they really like one line.

Changing Chords and melody can lift a song too. Sometimes for example, you can replace the root chord with a minor 6 and give it some mood.

Or again, pour a stiff drink.

5) Play it live: Play your song to your friends and ask for honest opinions. Don’t let the negative vibes get you down either. A lot of the time, you’re friends won’t know what they’re talking about-

(Those drunken wankers). But a good song is pretty much universally liked and you’ll be able to weed out the good from the bad and generally get a sense of what is strong.

6) Write lots: You’ll get different opinions on this but for me, writing a lot of songs just makes me a better songwriter. It’s like learning to play the guitar. If you practice every day, you’re going to be much better than if you play it once a month.

7) Sleep on it: It’s weird but often I’ll wake up in the morning and play the new song again and it doesn’t have the same impact on me. That’s a sign that perhaps it just wasn’t a good song.

Or your just hung over to the nines!

Check out reviews and listen

Found this on a chat:

If you’ve emotions but don’t have craft, people won’t get you If you’ve craft but don’t have emotions, people won’t care

Here you go. Think abut this when learning how to write a song.