How to Write Songs That Sell _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ An Advanced Songwriting System for Crafting Songs That People Want to Hear By Anthony Ceseri This is NOT a free e-book! You have been given one copy to keep on your computer. You may print out one copy only for your use. Printing out more than one copy, or distributing it electronically is prohibited by international and U.S.A. copyright laws and treaties, and would subject the purchaser to expensive penalties. It is illegal to copy, distribute, or create derivative works from this book in whole or in part, or to contribute to the copying, distribution, or creating of derivative works of this book. Furthermore, by reading this book you understand that the information contained within this book is a series of opinions and this book should be used for personal entertainment purposes only. None of what’s presented in this book is to be considered legal or personal advice. Published by: Success For Your Songs Visit us on the web at: http://www.SuccessForYourSongs.com Copyright © 2012 by Success For Your Songs All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. How to Write Songs That Sell 3 Table of Contents Introduction 6 The Methods 8 Special Report 9 Module 1: The Big Idea The Find Inspiration Method 10 Big Idea Inspiration 10 Altered Perspective Inspiration 11 Three Questions 13 The Do It Yourself Method 15 Start Simple 15 Ideas from a Title 17 Plan Out Each Section of Your Song 20 A Note on Emotions 27 The Character Avatar 27 Capturing Inspiration 31 Last Note 33 34 Module 2: Chord Progressions The Find Inspiration Method 35 Use the Chords From Another Song 35 Chords from One Song and the Rhythmic Pattern of Another 36 Change the Tempo 37 Change the Length of Each Chord 38 The Same Length of Each Chord with a Different Amount of Notes 39 Arpeggiate Your Chords 40 Change the Arrangement 41 Success for your songs How to Write Songs That Sell 4 Change the Key 42 Cover Songs 45 Change the Mode 45 Combining These Ideas 51 Writing Full Songs 52 The Do It Yourself Method 54 Special Report Common Chord Progressions 54 Using the Chord Charts 55 Song Structure 56 Contrast Your Sections 59 Last Note 61 62 Module 3: Melodies The Find Inspiration Method 63 Disclaimer 63 Truncate the Original Melody and Lengthen the Notes 64 Motifs 65 Repeat and Add to a Motif 66 Shorten the Motif and Add Spacing 67 Subtract from a Motif 68 Keep the Notes and Change the Rhythm 69 Reverse the Order of the Notes 70 The Do It Yourself Method 72 Use the Notes in Your Chords 72 Modes 72 Pentatonic & Blues Scales 75 Organize Your Pitches Into Patterns 81 Contrast Your Sections 83 Tips & Tricks 85 Last Note 89 Success for your songs How to Write Songs That Sell 5 90 Module 4: Lyrics The Find Inspiration Method 91 A Word on Referencing Lyrics Written By Others 91 The Do It Yourself Method 92 Specificity 92 Engaging the Senses Special Report 93 Metaphors 98 Number of Lines 99 The Rhythm of Your Lines 105 Line Lengths 111 Rhyming 116 Cliché Phrases 133 More on Titles 135 Recoloring 136 More on Prosody 141 Last Note 145 Bonus Module: Mindset & Practice 146 Limiting Beliefs 147 Setting Routines 149 Keep Yourself Motivated 150 Eliminating Distraction 153 Writing Bad Songs 155 Making Decisions 156 Your Roadmap 158 Getting Outside Your Comfort Zone 160 The 5 P’s for Success: A Summary 161 Last Note 164 Success for your songs How to Write Songs That Sell 6 Introduction If your goal is to write songs people want to buy and listen to over and over again, there are plenty of tools you can use in your music to increase your chances of that happening. This Special Report book will outline the best of those tools for you. If you simply write songs for yourself and no one else, you may not care about the methods that can make your song as appealing as it can be to other people. However, there are certain techniques that will be very beneficial to you, if you want as many people as possible listening to and buying your music. Songwriting is an art, so technically there are no rules. However, a lot of times songwriters don’t want to follow any of the standard tools of songwriting. There are certain elements that most successful songs have in common. A lot of writers want to stray from the tools used in successful songwriting, before ever writing their first song. That kind of ambition is fantastic, but the truth is it’s most beneficial for your writing, if you understand what tools are available to you, before you decide never to use them. It’s usually best to try out a technique before you simply toss it aside as something that’s not for you because it doesn’t “seem” like something you’d want to use. You’ll understand something the best by using it. And don’t worry, by using these tools, you won’t simply be conforming to a cookie cutter system. You always have the choice to use what you think works and discard what you think doesn’t, after you’ve tried it. Plus a lot of the techniques you’ll learn in this book aren’t cookie cutter approaches, but instead will help give you ways to think outside the box when it comes to writing your music. This book is broken up into five modules. Ideas, chord progressions, melodies, lyrics and even mindset are each given their own module to help you understand the tools for each of those basic elements of a song. Granted, mindset isn’t an element of song, but it will help you get into the right head space you need to be in, which is more much important that you may think. Success for your songs How to Write Songs That Sell 7 The point here being, if you start with your big idea and know what your song will be about, then you’ll know how to approach your chord progressions. When your chord progressions are laid down, you can write your melody, and when that’s done, you can shape your lyrics to fit that melody. Of course that’s not the only way to write a song, but it’s an approach that flows well. That will Special Report be the order of this book. We’ll start by talking about big ideas, then chord progressions, then melodies and finally we’ll get to the nuts and bolts of your lyrics. I like this approach because it lets you start with any idea and turn it into a complete song. However, if you write in a different order, you’ll still be able to apply what you use here. I believe breaking your patterns and writing in ways your normally don’t is a great way to improve at what you do. For that reason I think it’s important not to stick to the same order each time you sit down to write a new song. However, for the purposes of organization in this book, I’ve ordered them as previously mentioned, since I think it’s a great approach that allows you to write a song about anything you want. As an added bonus, what you learn in this book will also help you reduce any writer’s block you may be experiencing, since you’ll be shown specific methods for everything from coming up with ideas for your song to hammering out the details of your lyrics and melody. A great way to learn is to take in new information, then follow an example and then do it yourself. You’ll be learning a lot of new information, and seeing plenty of examples in this book, which is why I recommend you write (at least) one new song as you follow along with the material, in order to maximize what you’re learning. Success for your songs How to Write Songs That Sell 8 The Methods The information in this book will be presented in two methods. Each songwriting module will contain a “Find Inspiration Method” and a “Do It Yourself Method.” The Find Inspiration Method will show you how to specifically draw inspiration from other songs. Great artists are always looking to other artists for ideas, so this method will give you Special Report some concrete ways with which to do that. You’ll learn the ability to take an existing song, or a piece of a song, and apply massive modifications to it, to make it your own. You can use this method to study any existing song, whether it’s a hit, one of your friend’s songs, or one of your own. You’ll then be able to dismember it, examine the parts, change them and then put them back together to create a whole new song or idea of your own. You’ll never understand an existing song so well as when you take this approach. It’s also a good approach, because if you’re referencing a song that’s already successful, you know it has worthwhile elements already built into it. The Do It Yourself Method will show you techniques to use if you want to make sure all of your ideas come directly from your own head, without the outside influence of any other songs.