Songwriting Co-Writing
Most songwriters have written their first song just by themselves. But nowadays almost all the songs you listen to are written by at least two or three writers. For some people it is hard to make that transition to do co-writes. But doing so can result in huge improvements in your songwriting. At the Wisseloord Academy you will do a lot of co-writing sessions. But why should you try co-writing and what are the tips and tricks to keep in mind?
If you give co-writing a try, you will work with a lot of people. Some of them you already know and some you meet for the first time right there and then in the writing room. If you just met, don’t rush into it, and don’t start writing right away. Take your time, grab a cup of coffee together, talk about life and maybe listen to some of each other’s songs. Songwriting is a very delicate thing, getting to know the writers in the room a little bit won’t hurt. You will have to be able to open up to each other to get to the best result. When you feel comfortable with someone, it will be easier.
What makes co-writing so interesting is that you will encounter new ways of writing every single time. Every songwriter has his own way to approach a lyric or a way to come up with melodies. It gives you new insights and ideas. Next to that it is a way to mix-up genres and styles that you would normally never come up with on your own. Your songwriting skills can benefit from this enormously. You can use the different techniques and styles to implement them into your own songwriting and built your own unique selling point.
Writing on your own can be peaceful and gives you the freedom to write whatever you want. But what if you suddenly suffer from a so-called writer’s block or get stuck on that one sentence you still don’t like? In co-writing sessions there’s always at least one more person in the room which may help in such a situation. During a session with a couple of writers chances are bigger that ideas, concepts, lyrics, melodies etc. keep on coming. So, the writer’s block is less likely to appear.
These sessions are not only good for your songwriting, but also makes you meet new people and grow your network. Which can be quite useful in the future. If a session goes well, chances are the artist or songwriter will ask you to do more sessions together. In this way you can work on your ‘brand’ and make a name for yourself. If people like to work with you, other people will start to notice resulting in more sessions and briefings. So, have you scheduled your first co-write session already?
To read more about Songwriting and how to improve the process of developing, creating and refining recorded music visit our knowledge base page about Songwriting Education.