Dear songwriters of all genres,
I wanted to inform you of something that has been laying heavily on me recently. Song after song, I wrote and wrote but I had never seemed to accomplish what my task was, all the songs on the radio seemed to just surpass something I couldn't grasp. I am sure all of you have experienced writer's block at one time or another, but this is not what I am talking about. I am talking about what I will call an "individuality block." The most challenging obstacle as a songwriter is that we often feel the need to choose that we are either so much like someone that it sounds like we copied the original artist (thus losing individuality and an audience's interest) or we try to be so different that it just doesn't make sense to the average listener.
What if I told you that you can be completely original and still retain a captive audience? It really can happen... but you will have to listen carefully to the following. First, you need to know the components of a song, what makes it so enjoyable. There, as stated by some musicology researchers, is only one aspect of music that is really truly important without pertaining to a single genre... that is repetition. The repeating of the key signature's tonal center, the repeating of a chorus, the repeating of the bridge, the repeating of syllables in order to rhyme, the repetition of an idea.
When in accordance with repetition, a song seems to have a lot more familiarity to the listener. The same is true with the avoidance of repetition as well... too much is monotonous. This here lies the problem for most artists and songwriters. What makes something enjoyable and interesting is a mixture of familiarity and the lack thereof. Try and imagine a song that just played a bunch of random notes or a song that played the same note over and over and over again. Neither sound pleasing, but that's the point... we cannot have one or the other. There has to be a balance of the two. It needs to sound familiar but still surprise your audience.
The second aspect of songwriting is a bit more relative to the creator and this is where some imagination comes into play. This next key aspect of songwriting is called association. This is where you need to relate the parts that are different to the original subject matter. It may be too in depth, so I won't go into detail, but an example would be the fifth note and fourth note of a scale being important in relating to the central tone, or the tonic.
Another example would be where your song changes pace and maybe a different rhythm from the verse to the chorus, but try keeping a similar chord progression throughout, not necessarily identical, but bring familiarity to the table. Everything about your song needs to lead back to the original, or the most important idea you have created. This is relative to the sound, the structure, the lyrics, the concept of the meaning of a song... everything needs to tie into one sound idea. A good practice is to try to sum your song up to one sentence that does not neglect a major "plot" to your song.
Lastly, and most importantly, is that your song should reflect your personality. Be real with your audience, because authenticity strikes a chord with people. If you are sad, write a sad song... DO NOT TRY TO SOUND LIKE ANYONE. Because it is a guarantee two things will happen... One, you will not sound as good, because they are definitely better at being them than you are. Two, people will associate you with them, and at best you will be associated as a wannabe, and people will lose interest because they have heard it before. The artist in you comes out when you try out your own concepts from ideas that you formulated that aren't just mimicking someone else that you had heard. Don't try too hard to be different, but don't try too hard to sound the same... this is crucial.
As a songwriter being you, one hundred percent, is the only way to be. Try new things, be different, but stick to these three little "Rules of Songwriting" so that you can find out how to defeat that "individuality block" and become a songwriter people love to hear, and are anxiously anticipating what is to come. I hope this helped you guys out who maybe felt the same way that I did, or that simply wanted some sound writing advice. Just remember to be:
1.) Familiar
2.) Associative
3.) YOURSELF
