Songwriting & Composing

Writer’s block… the stories from fellow musicians who completely get stuck when writing songs don’t lie. Guest blogger Iris Siemons sees the struggle. As a songwriter, she can offer plenty of advice on inspiration, planning, dedication, flow and… that annoying inner critic.

Forget the image of the traditional songwriter, who builds a song from scratch and – with or without a co-writer – delivers the full package of vocal line, accompaniment and lyrics. In the vast majority of industrial music productions today, especially in pop, hip hop, EDM and commercials, an important role is reserved for ‘topliners’. Guest blogger Peter van Vleuten from the Songwriterschool explains what topliners do and what they need to be able to do.

Finding a good, interesting, fun or distinctive subject for song lyrics always takes time and energy. Not only because the subject needs to be ‘describable’ and singable, but also because you’ll eventually need a complete set of lyrics on paper — not just a promising first line.

In his previous article, guest blogger and songwriting teacher Lex Hakker explained how to get your first ideas for lyrics down on paper. Now it’s time to give the text more structure. We’ll be working on the build-up of your ‘story’. We’ll cover perspective, verse, chorus, prep/pre-chorus and contrast/bridge.

Written a solid pop song but feel like it’s missing something? Then it can be a good idea to add strings, brass or even a complete symphony orchestra to your vocals, drums, bass, keys and guitars. Whether you go for a virtual orchestra or flesh and blood musicians, the question is: what’s the best way to add orchestral elements to a pop song?

Guest blogger and songwriter Jemy Gijsman takes us through the next step on your journey to success: recording a demo. Once the song is written, the lyrics are finalised and you’ve got the chords down on paper, you want to go further, so you need to get out there and start hustling. Since you don’t have your own studio and only have minimal knowledge about the production and mixing process, you need to do some research and find a studio that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg and can help you record your demo. Once you’ve found the right studio, what do you need to prepare? And how can you find the right musicians to help you get the job done?

Ever wonder why your beats sound different from tracks dropped by other producers? If you’ve been feeling like your tracks lack a bit of oomph and energy, then it can be worth learning how to analyse other people’s work. After all, why struggle when you can simply borrow ideas, right? Remixes, tracks that feature samples, and songs with classic chord progressions are based on the same idea, so there’s nothing to feel bad about. Read on and allow Dutch guest-blogger and producer Daddynervs to explain how you can analyse a track and recognise the BPM, key, chords and structure.

Guest-blogger Guillaume de Lophem is a singer-songwriter and artist coach. He’s also a self-taught musician, which didn’t stop him from making an EP and working on a 12-track album that’s soon to be released. Guillaume is the living proof that you don’t need to be a professional musician to release music and offers six practical tips for budding songwriters.

John Williams needs no introduction. Known for soundtracking classics like Superman, E.T., Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones and Star Wars, the distinguished film composer has his own chapter in the Hollywood history book. Want to mimic the master? Allow me to divulge some classic John Williams hallmarks.

Love horror film music and want to know more about how it’s composed? In this article, I’m going to discuss three types of suspenseful, tension-building styles that are the cornerstone of many-a scary movie, and then give you ten examples of stellar horror soundtracks. In the second half, I’ll share a few writing tips for aspiring horror/thriller film composers. And don’t worry, there are no jumpscares!

If you want to make your bread and butter as a musician, besides investing in your skills, it’s also essential to invest in building your fanbase. If you don’t have people listening to what you’re making or coming to your gigs, it’s going to be pretty hard to make a living from your music. With that in mind, the question is: how do you gain new fans? Guestblogger Maaike van Steenis offers up her top tips!

In 2021, the moment finally came when Anni-Frid (1945), Björn (1945), Benny (1946) and Agnetha (1950) treated the world to a completely new album. Who’d have thought it? The band had long since broken up and even the promise of a billion dollar paycheck for a tour wasn’t tempting enough to bring them back together. However, this blog isn’t going to dig through the ABBA legend (you’ll be able to find plenty of ABBA history lessons documented in countless books and YouTube clips). Instead, we’re going to look at the musicality of this special band and the technical details that made it all possible. What are the necessary elements of the ABBA sound? Where do you start if you want to write a song like ABBA and how do you capture that distinct ABBA style?