Knowing Your Songwriting Strengths Welcome Back!

Discovering Your Successful Songwriting Process John Chisum

Module 7: Knowing Your Songwriting Strengths

Welcome back!

I hope you’re already getting a lot out of the principles and techniques we’re talking about in Discovering Your Successful Songwriting Process.

The best songwriters I know have taken a long time to perfect their craft, so I hope you’ll be patient with yourself as you begin to understand the work you need to do around your process and methods to get where you want to go.

I think we can sometimes be like the kid who wants badly to play piano or some sport they really haven’t learned to do well yet - -

They play “at it” more than they commit to learning it well and they get frustrated, angry, and even quit,

All the while blaming the piano or the ball and bat or whatever it is for being “stupid” or “dumb” and having a sour grapes attitude that spoils the whole thing for them.

It’s like the guy who got so frustrated and yelled out, “This computer sure can’t spell right!”

Even we adults can act like children sometimes when we don’t want to take the time to really learn the proper ways of approaching a discipline.

And I’ve seen it over and over in songwriting.

I’ve had hundreds - literally hundreds - of aspiring songwriters tell me how called they are to it, but who then never do what it really takes to fulfill that call.

It’s as if they want the world to recognize where they are in the beginning stages of their craft and call it world-class.

They believe they should be on the radio or sung in a thousand churches at their current level of development, without stopping to recognize that their work is a lot more like the middle-schooler’s water color that got hung on the fridge, but would never make it to a museum.

Now, every song written from a pure heart is a treasure to God.

There’s no such thing as a “bad” song, but there are levels of commercial songwriting that reach more people.

Along with a general misunderstanding of the real song process, I think many aspiring songwriters are trying to operate from a d esire to write and not from the true knowledge of how to write.

If I were to sit down to try to paint a great watercolor, it would result in something pretty childish, at best.

A few years ago, in fact, I took a picture of a beautiful red cardinal and then decided I wanted to try to paint it. I spent a couple of days sketching it out and then doing my best with the canvas to represent one of the prettiest birds I’ve ever seen….

I was quite proud of my creation, but when I showed it to my wife she said, “Yep - that’s a bird!”

I painted over it.

So coming back to the process of songwriting, it would be very helpful for you to rightfully assess your musical and lyrical strengths, and to understand more of how you think about it.

That way you can determine where you need the most growth and begin to go after it.

So let’s look at a few general types of writers and maybe you’ll identify with one or more of them. First, there’s the

• The Big Idea Guy

This is the songwriter who easily recognizes big ideas, big titles, hooks, and the kind of messages that can reach a lot of people.

One of the greatest big idea people I’ve ever met is my friend Nancy Gordon, a songwriter I managed at Integrity Music.

She’s responsible for many big ideas like Firm Foundation, Because We Believe, and many more that became title songs of albums.

She also created a major children’s character with many supporting albums and one of her big songs God Can was featured on the hit television show Touched By An Angel.

Nancy just has a knack for recognizing and creating big idea titles and hooks that can then be developed into full songs.

She is a fine lyricist, as well, but not all Big Idea Guys or Gals are and need co-writers to help flesh out the full song.

If you think of titles but don’t quite know how to finish them, you may be a Big Idea kind of songwriter.

One way you know this might be your style is if you have a ton of ideas, but very few finished songs. That tends to happen to this type of songwriter - you just KNOW this particular idea would connect with a lot of people, but you just don’t seem to have the skills to finish it out the way that it could be to reach them.

If that’s you, the best thing you can do is to connect with great co-writers.

Find writing partners who know how to help you flesh out the ideas, putting meat on the skeleton of your idea.

You can grow in the other skills of songwriting, sure - - but you have to decide what’s most important right now - - spend your time trying to learn it all on your own?

Or, maybe through co-writing you’ll begin to pick up the other skills to compliment the big idea skill you already have.

Let’s face it - - not finishing songs often can get very frustrating, so what if you start sharing your big ideas with potential co-writers who can help finish them quicker than you can?

You might be surprised with the new output and how great it makes you feel.

Then, there’s • The Producer

The Producer is the writer who hears the final production of the song in their head, everything from the drum track to the string section, the guitars, horns, and bass lines….

The Producer’s the one who who hears everything down to the final mix already playing in their head even while the song is being written.

The Producer can be a great asset in some ways, but often gets the processed bogged down in thinking about particular parts instead of letting the process unfold.

Producers often spend their time playing with gear instead of writing actual songs and could benefit from delaying the production until the song is written

I always know when I have a producer in our NCS Boot Camp because the weekly demos are tricked out and they’ve spent far more time producing than writing a great song.

That’s when I encourage them to only do single piano or guitar tracks with one vocal on it for the weekly submission.

This is hard for them but the quality of the actual song increases for it. You’ll know if you’re a Producer because you’ll be thinking more about layering guitars than the lyric.

You won’t care as much about the meaning of the hook or the lyric’s impact because the final master is playing loudly in your head, distracting you from the power of the raw lyric and melody.

As I said, the potential pitfall of Producers is bogging down the process when writing, or, even worse, settling for inferior lyrics and melodies because all you’re thinking about is groove and ear candy.

If you believe you’re more of a Producer than anything else, I recommend that you stop to realize that production is a vehicle for the real song.

Great production is important, but only after a great song exists to produce.

Train yourself to step back from all the plug-ins and pedal boards and reverbs and flanges and a million buttons and lights to realize that a song is ONLY a lyric and a melody, at least at first.

Be willing to wait on the production until a hit song has been written, existing of a killer lyric and melody that can stand out above the rest and THEN start thinking about the ear candy. Now, in today’s songwriting world, the current co-writing method can often be three people in a studio where there is a top-line guy who works to start the lyric idea, another melody writer guy, AND a track guy, or Producer, actually laying down tracks while the song’s being written.

If you’re more of the Producer, try putting yourself in that kind of a co-writing situation so you can shine in your best strengths.

But if you’re writing alone or with just one other person, you may need to calm the production jets, at least until you’ve got a great song going.

Then jump into the production and do your thing.

Next there’s • The Technician (Lyrics or Music)

The Technician is the songwriter that mostly focuses on the minutiae in the process and often bogs down in very minor issues.

This writer approaches the process very mechanically and the results are often stiff and even emotionless.

The best songs start with an emotional hook of some kind that is universal, meaning it can apply to almost anyone, and then is written - or better yet “assembled” - from that hook to a full blown song.

Think about titles such as In Christ Alone, or Reckless Love, or This Is Amazing Grace, or What a Beautiful Name that are amazing ideas first.

Each of them carry a certain emotional appeal even before you hear the song itself.

If we were to list out ten ideas here, ten titles, you would know immediately which ones had emotional appeal and which ones were flat, lifeless, dull, and uninteresting.

Technicians can often approach a song so, well, technically, that they miss the emotional power and fail to deliver anything anyone wants to hear.

I’ve taught the techniques of songwriting to some writers and they come back to me with a song saying, “okay - - I’ve got the hook in the

© All materials are the sole properties of John Chisum and Nashville Christian Songwriters. Reprint only by written permission. All Rights Reserved. chorus three times, the verses all point to the OBI - the One Big Idea - and the melody matches the lyrics perfectly….”

But, when I listen to the song, it has zero emotional appeal because they started with a very dull and lifeless idea, hence their hook and the whole point of the song left me cold.

This points to something that’s difficult to teach and that’s how to recognize great hooks. We will be spending an entire module on that later, so pay close attention when we get there.

But often the technician is looking for ticking off a list of technical points in their songwriting rather than coming from a more authentic and emotional place in their own hearts.

Often their songs point out something basic or obvious that no one wants to sing about and the lyric is a laundry list of concepts - even biblical ones - that won’t catch anyone’s attention or make them want to sing it.

Songs ABOUT things, even songs about the Word or about God or Jesus wind up unappealing because, while what the Technician is saying is truth, it’s not presented in an emotional appeal to the heart.

This is often really subtle because the Technician believes they’re doing everything “right” - - but being right doesn’t make it a hit with people.

Dave Clark, a fantastic songwriter and publisher here in town, says “Write the emotion, not the details.”

Writing an emotional song is like painting a watercolor or using pointillism or other forms of impressionism…

You’re painting the f eelings first.

I don’t have permission to display the lyrics to the top worship songs, but go to CCLI’s Top 100 and scroll through the titles.

Then go to Youtube and check out the lyric videos to experience what I’m talking about - - see if the songs that have emotional appeal aren’t like impressions of feelings and then begin to incorporate more feeling into your songwriting.

I’ve recently written a song that I think can demonstrate this principle and I can display it because it’s my song.

It’s called “Forgive” and I want you to think about the feeling it portrays even beyond the words:

I don’t wanna hurt You anymore

I don’t wanna feel like I’m the one who’s always

Letting You down

I don’t wanna do this anymore

I don’t wanna feel like I’m the one who’s always

Out of control

I know, I know

You’re much bigger than my fall

Still I know I can hold on to the everlasting arms

CHORUS You forgive, You forgive

You forgive

Again and again

I just wanna get it in my soul

I just wanna see that You’re the One who’s never

Turning on me

I just wanna hold on to Your love

I just wanna see that You’re the One who’s always

Calling me home

BDG I could live a million years

I could shed a million tears

But Your mercies never end

I don’t have to beg and plead

You took it all to Calvary

You’ve wiped away my sin

Now, this is a very technically tight piece because you’ve got symmetrical verses, a pre-chorus that lifts you into the short, emotional chorus, and a unique bridge that steps away from the other sections and ideas just long enough to refresh the chorus.

But the point I’m making is that you shouldn’t notice any of that technique because the central emotion of the song is so strong - -

We all know the f eeling of letting God or ourselves or someone else down, so it connects on a heart level first before the listener ever thinks about the techniques that were used to craft it.

While technique and details are important, the Technician could benefit from loosening up a little and looking for how the emotion of a song is working over the technique and mechanics being used.

I suggest that you Technicians spend a little more time, like the Producers, thinking about what you’re wanting to say in a song before you ever write it.

Ask yourself, “What am I wanting the listener to actually hear? Do I have a strong emotional hook that appeals to a lot of people? Is my idea really important or just boring?”

Technicians help the Big Idea writers in syllable counting, making sure the right number of repeats are in, and checking overall song form.

But Technicians need to learn to write more from their own stories and hearts and learn to recognize emotion in order to reach more listeners.

Next we have • The Pastor/Teacher

The Pastor/Teacher is the songwriter who approaches the entire process from the central message of the lyric, thinking mostly about what the listener will learn from it.

Pastor/Teachers are generally encouragers, but may sometimes be prophetic and preachy.

When a song feels heavy and doctrinal, you know that a Pastor/Teacher hasn’t reigned in the urge to over-instruct in a song lyric.

The general rule for Pastor/Teachers and all songwriters is “No preaching, whining, or complaining” in their songs.

The best Pastor/Teacher songwriters communicate Biblical truths in emotionally and culturally appealing ways such as the iconic singer songwriter Michael Card or like worship leader Chris Tomlin.

Think about Michael Card’s iconic El Shaddai or Tomlin’s Amazing Grace/Chains Are Gone.

Both songs capture biblical truth in an emotionally appealing, singable, and universal way.

Songs that condemn anyone’s cultural or biblical worldview will have a very limited audience, for a lot of obvious reasons.

Pastor/Teachers are tuned in to the Body of Christ from a pastoral viewpoint and tend to write less evangelistically, though that’s no hard rule.

If you find yourself concerned primarily with how the song will impact, change, and encourage a listener, you’re operating in this style of songwriting.

Your weakness may be trying to put too many Scriptural concepts in a song when there’s only room for one.

The Pastor/teacher has to reign in the preachiness and dress a biblically encouraging message in a modern, culturally relevant way to reach more listeners.

Finally we have • The Communicator

All of these approaches communicate, but what I mean by The Communicator is that you’re writing from what you desire to communicate first as a singer songwriter, worship leader, or artist.

We would probably call you an artist or a singer-songwriter.

True Communicators don’t really care much about writing for others but are constantly in touch with what they feel God is wanting to say through them.

The unique thing about this type of songwriter is that they may not necessarily be a public performer, but they still approach the process as if they were.

This isn’t bad, necessarily, unless the Communicator’s own message doesn’t seem to translate to others who might want to use their material.

For instance, a Communicator’s core message might be pro-life or some other controversial topic that he or she will have a difficult time getting others to sing about.

The Communicators who aren’t performers can benefit from studying the core messages of performers if they hope to write for them.

Kenna Turner West is a great friend and co-writer and probably one of the most skilled at writing songs that other people will sing.

She’s had 35 #1 songs so far and every time we write I can see the wheels spinning in her head about just WHO can sing whatever we’re writing that day.

She does this by KNOWING artists so well and studying what they usually sing about and the style they love to sing it in.

Then, as we’re writing, she’s constantly course correcting and steering the song into the exact wording and melodies she knows she can pitch to that artist.

Many aspiring writers haven’t learned to do this well yet and just hope an artist will hear their song and want to sing it like it is.

But that rarely happens unless a song has caught on somehow, like our friend’s Eric Wyse and Dawn Rodgers whose song “Wonderful, Merciful Savior” caught on in so many Nashville churches that many artists started worshiping with it and recorded it over and over.

There’s no one way to get a song to an artist, but writing in styles and with the kind of words they already use is one key to get there.

So the Communicator, especially if they aren’t the artist themselves, benefits from knowing the styles and general lyrical approach of the artists they hope to write for.

SO begin to ask yourself these questions….

Am I really more of a melody writer than a lyricist?

Do I naturally gravitate to big ideas for titles and hooks, but have difficulty fleshing them out in a fully developed lyric?

Am I really more of a producer type, hearing the full arrangement in my head as I’m writing, and the horn parts are actually more interesting to me than the title, hook, and overall message of the song?

Am I more of a technician, either musically or lyrically, who sees deep into the minutiae of how a song is assembled?

I am personally message-driven as a Pastor/Teacher and encourager.

I have to be working on a title that I feel deeply will impact others with a powerful message or I lose interest very quickly.

That’s why I have a song in a couple of hymnals co-written with David Baroni called O Mighty Cross.

I believe that song will be sung in one-hundred years because its majestic theme and classic hymn-like structure makes it able to live in any time period.

There is certainly overlap in these songwriter types - - you may be any blend of them, but you probably approach your process in one strength or the other and that influences your process and methodology.

Our inner motivations and spiritual giftings do come into play in our songwriting and that’s because we bring all we are to the process…

We don’t stop being who we are when we write a song.

In fact, I believe that’s when we find out even more who we are by not just what we do well, but maybe even more by what we struggle with.

I used to despise my struggles in life, but I’ve come to believe that my struggles are nothing but stepping stones to my success, if I can just view them that way.

So let me encourage you to live into your songwriting strength, but be aware that you need help in the other approaches - -

Whether that’s on your own or by surrounding yourself with what you need in other co-writers.

This is all part of discovering your successful songwriting process - - you have to identify weaknesses and strengths in order to rise to higher levels of excellence.

One word of caution here, though - - instead of trying to fix weaknesses, the better plan is often to work around them instead.

It’s so easy to get derailed in the negatives and waste time working on things we would be better off letting someone else do instead of fretting over why we can’t seem to be great at everything.

That’s why God invented co-writing and the different types of writers we’ve been talking about today.

Embrace your strengths AND your weaknesses. Celebrate the full package of who you are and find creative ways to fill in the gaps.

I write a certain kind of classic praise and worship style musically, but last year I had the opportunity to write a very current pop-driven song with a former Disney Mousketeer name Jennifer McGill.

She was on the New Mickey Mouse Club with Ryan Gosling, Justin Timberlake, and Christina Aguilera, and was re-launching her pop music career.

Kind of intimidating to me because I’ve never written in that genre.

Instead of trying to write the song on guitar or piano where I was clearly deficient for that style, we wrote the entire song AWAY from any instrument - - completely a cappella.

When the producer got a hold of the working demo - - only Jen singing it with no accompaniment - - he heard what it needed and put an entire track underneath.

It became the title of her album and a #1 song for her.

Writing the entire song off instrument opened up tremendous possibilities for us and is a great example of working around your weaknesses.

I am looking so forward to getting you deeper into your successful songwriting process and I will see you on the next video!