5 Ways to Diversify Your Songwriting

source: songtrust by Jon Ostrow

After a year(s) of songwriting, you may find that your songs aren’t feeling as fresh as they once did. Whether it’s the lyrics, the melodies or simply the chord progressions that you use, once your process begins to feel stale, you need to find a way to diversify your songwriting to keep your new music interesting.

Thankfully, the secret to a fresh, diversified sound doesn’t have to be an extreme music makeover. There are many simple tweaks that you can employ to your songwriting process that can give your songs the lively feel you’re looking for.

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Songwriting contest slides into Aspen

aspenpost.net1/17/12 by Andre Salvail

The fourth of six preliminary rounds for a songwriting contest associated with this year’s 7908 Aspen Songwriters Festival will be held tonight in Aspen at The Red Onion. Contest coordinator Amy Kaiser, who also is the …

Rusty Wier songwriting contest, 1/15/12

sceneintown.com1/17/12 by Mary Jane Farmer

Round one of the 2nd Rusty Wier Songwriting Contest, (week 2) Sunday, Jan. 15, was a full four-hours of solid songs, presented three at a time by 16 songwriters. Each played solo, using acoustic guitars. Host Brett Dillon …

Song writing Contest – A great opportunity for pursuing a career

showamerica.com1/15/12

For new songwriters wanting to get discovered, a song writing contest provides a great platform. These days, there are many online singing and songwriting contests, which present huge scope to these new song writers. …

Songwriting Contest

joepeckblogarhythms.wordpress.com1/4/12 by Joe Peck

Now I know that – in large part – all songwriting contests are designed as income sources for their sponsoring organizations. But that doesn’t stop thousands of hopefuls, including myself, from entering. Nor should it. Thus, I’ve …

Inside Home Recording Songwriting Contest! Win PreSonus Stuff!

www.presonus.com1/6/12

January 6, 2012. Inside Home Recording Songwriting Contest! Win PreSonus Stuff! Contest announcement! If you play your cards right, you could win a PreSonus AudioBox and a copy of our Studio One DAW for a song… …

A Dad-or-Daughter Songwriting Contest

www.freakonomics.com10/5/11 by Ian Ayres

So today I’m announcing a contest where you could earn a chance of winning an iTunes gift card worth somewhere between $50-$500. To play, just click through and listen to these three songs – Friend Zone, Longer, & Your …

Tips to get selected in a songwriting contest

ganm.org12/28/11

Songwriting contests offer the biggest platform for aspiring songwriters to transform themselves from amateurs to professionals in the world of music. The songwriters achieve popularity, exposure and many music brands …

Songwriting Contests: Dallas Songwriters Song and Lyric Contests

songcontests.blogspot.com1/7/12

Now in its 22nd year, The DSA 2011 Song Contest is one of the longest running international song contests for amateur songwriters. Offering over $5000 in cash and prizes this year, the DSA has EIGHT categories in all. …

Zoo Lion Music :: VOTE for Zoo Lion!!! Song writing contest 2012 …

www.zoolionmusic.com1/5/12

Song writing contest 2012!! Hey all! Our song ‘Lost In Translation’ has been entered in the Canadian Radio Star national songwriting contest, and we need your votes!!! Click on the link below and follow the directions to VOTE! …

Guitar Center’s Singer-Songwriter competition

www.ellenwood-ep.com1/11/12

the world’s largest retailer of musical instruments and equipment– announces the top ten finalists of Guitar Center Singer-Songwriter, the artist discovery program which aims to find the nation’s best unsigned singer-songwriter.

Lyric/Songwriting Contest!

josieshow.com12/16/11 by Josie Passantino

Lyric/Songwriting Contest! « on: December 16, 2011, 09:05:10 AM ». Find out about the Lyric/Songwriting Contest brought to you in collaboration with Conscious Music Entertainment & The Josie Show

The best aspect about Songwriting Contests

vistapointatbreckenridge.com1/9/12

Theere are a lot of benefits of entering a free songwriting contest. However, some writers are skeptical to participate and send their songs for a variety of reasons. While competition usually brings out the best in aspiring songwriters, you need to consider the other side of the coin a well.

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If you believe the gang over at the Grammy Awards, it’s whatever sort of music is being made by anyone who happens to be a member of The Allman Brothers Band.

Earlier this month, new albums by Gregg Allman, Warren Haynes and the Tedeschi Trucks Band (featuring Allman Brothers guitarist Derek Trucks) were nominated for Best Blues Album Grammys. Of course, only one of those releases — Gregg Allman’s Low Country Blues — was a straight-ahead blues record.

But to be honest, we like the Grammy approach because it opens the door to blues, roots-rock and blues-rock albums — and it makes for a more interesting and dynamic list that highlights blues in all its ever-evolving forms.

Looking ahead, it’s safe to say we’re looking forward to a full album by Gary Clark Jr., who made it onto this top-15 list with just a promising four-song EP.

And, of course, no talk of blues in 2011 would be complete without remembering two true legends of the genre who passed away this year: Delta bluesman David “Honeyboy” Edwards, who died in August at age 96; and Hubert Sumlin, Howlin’ Wolf’s storied guitarist, who died earlier this month at age 80.

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Eddie Van Halen, Photo: Wikipedia

One of the most influential artists in the history of rock made a significant contribution today to help support public school music programs. According to a press release, the Van Halen founder and guitarist Eddie Van Halen donated 75 electric guitars from his own personal collection to the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that provides schools across the country with quality musical instruments.

Per Van Halen’s request, the foundation will dispense the guitars to music programs in public schools throughout the Los Angeles, CA area where the demand of students enrolled exceeds the number of instruments.

“Music is the universal language. It has the ability to transcend and convey every human emotion that exists without saying a word. Music kept me off the streets and out of trouble and gave me something that was mine that no one could take away from me,” Van Halen explained. “Music education and families are dealing with the economic times, and I wanted to help them. If I can help a kid discover a liking, or even a passion for music in their life, then that’s a wonderful thing. Music has provided a good life for me and hopefully it can help make life better for others with this donation.”

The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation donates new and refurbished musical instruments to under-served schools in an effort to give kids the myriad of benefits provided by music education, help them to be better students in general and inspire creativity and expression through making music. Hundreds of thousands of students across the country have benefited and thousands of instruments have been donated to more than 1,100 school music programs across the country. More information can be found at www.mhopus.org.

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Click Image to Buy from Amazon.com

Clapton: The Ultimate Illustrated History by noted rock author, Chris Welch, landed in our shop a short while ago and at first glance, we knew it was worth checking out. Sure, there’s the Clapton connection, but the book exudes high quality and we’re familiar with past books by Welch that have always been well-done and highly regarded by music enthusiasts.

The heavy hard bound book presents a quick look at Eric’s history on its cover with a fine triptych photo display of Clapton during his Cream days, his time with Delaney and Bonnie and his contemporary solo days.

Sometimes you actually can tell a book by its cover, contrary to the old saying that says you can’t. Between the covers the book proves to be as classy and well done as its first impression.  Clapton: The Ultimate Illustrated History does not disappoint with an insider’s account of the life of Clapton tethered to over 400 photos of Eric and his fellow music brethren that have included The Roosters, The Yardbirds, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Cream; Delaney and Bonnie; Blind Faith and a constellation of other notables who fall within the inner sanctum of music royalty.

Some of the more fascinating photos include early shots of The Yardbirds with Keith Relf, Chris Dreja, Paul Samwell-Smith, Jim McCarty and Eric, a group that helped define British Blues and later evolved into what is considered by many to be more commercial rock,. It was a move that would disappoint Clapton and cause him to split from the group in order to grow as a blues man, and to remain true to his roots. There are other photos of Clapton during his days with Cream, a group that many consider one of the best rock groups of all time. Throughout the book, Welch offers up a remarkable stream of photos that reflect Eric’s musical journey.

Chris Welch has known Clapton since 1964, when Chris landed a job at Melody Maker in the U.K. and met during his first week on the job. Eric was with The Yardbirds and where Yardbird’s vocalist and harp player, Relf, told him that the band hoped their first single wouldn’t be a hit.

Welch carries the story along by having an inside track on the life and times of Eric, at a time when music became an insatiable cultural staple and kids would find their way to places like The Fillmore (East and West), The Grande Ballroom, and other concert halls to see the likes of Cream, Vanilla Fudge, Blue Oyster Cult, Jefferson Airplane and other groups for a few bucks.

Click to Buy Clapton: The Ultimate Illustrated History from Amazon

The selection of photos and images of album art, concert photos and photographs of rock royalty adds a colorful and period texture from the early days of the British Invasion, to an era of flowers, paisley and mind expansion, and on to Eric’s own journey that has led him to become one of the most masterful of blues musicians on the planet.

Although the book is highlighted as an “illustrated” history, there’s a strong balance of biography that parallels the hundreds of photos. And the history not only gives us Eric Clapton, but, tells us about the world of music that engulfed and influenced him. The author takes us back in time and feeds us the emotions that are at times exciting, but also traumatic; times and experiences that forged the man that we’ve come to admire and respect and one who is not merely a musical icon, but one who has fought his own demons, and fought hard to recover and reclaim his dignity.

Clapton fans will probably be compelled to seek out other books to discover more about the legendary Eric Clapton, especially hardcore fanatics. But, for most of us,  Clapton: The Ultimate Illustrated History is so exceptionally well done and comprehensive that it’s enough for us to consider our Eric Clapton reading appetites satisfied and digested – allowing us to find our way back home to his music.

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Guitarist and educator Matt Warnock has recently announced that he will be giving away his new eBook “5 Essential Jazz Guitar Scale Techniques” free to readers who sign up to his free weekly newsletter.

Readers will also get a free copy of his previous eBook, “10 Essential ii-V-I Licks for Jazz Guitar,” when they sign up to the newsletter, which goes out every Monday at 6am EST.

The weekly newsletter contains lessons, which are not published anywhere else, that discuss topics such as:

• Improvisation
• Technique
• Ear Training
• Rhythm Playing
• Comping
• Chord Voicings
• Playing in the Style of Legendary Players
• Licks and Patterns
• And much more

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“You really need to know every detail of your song, and you need to be able to translate that into language terms that musicians will understand,” said Dr. Joe Ferry, a faculty member of SUNY Purchase’s Conservatory of Music who has been producing records for over 30 years. “The outside world is not like making beats inside your house; you have to interact with other human beings.”

Ferry, whose work has earned him multiple Grammy nominations, chairs the Studio Production department at Purchase College and had worked with artists such as The Skatalities, John Hammond, and even The Beatles’ George Harrison.

“What George Harrison started out with and what ended up on the album are equally great, but worlds apart,” Ferry said. “What happens when you get into the studio is that your song begins to evolve.”

Once you have your material well rehearsed and are able to communicate it thoroughly, record a rough demo. This can be done with software such as Pro Tools and Apple’s Garage Band, and doesn’t have to be fancy.

“When you’re in a rehearsal space, you don’t hear things the same way,” said Dan Berry, a Studio Production senior at Purchase who has recorded other students’ work in the on-campus studio spaces. “That’s the biggest problem for bands that have never recorded before. You don’t hear every little thing each person is playing, and when it’s recorded everything is exposed.”

Before booking studio time, it’s important to do your homework and research different recording engineers. According to Berry, there are engineers that are specialized in different genres, so it’s important to find one that can produce the sound you want.

“There are some genres, like indie rock for example, that have different engineering techniques and tricks specific to that genre,” he said. “Someone else might not be able to get those tones.”

Since time is money when it comes to studio recording, it’s crucial to do the most you can with the time you have. Guitar players should position themselves in the control room whenever possible while recording, says Richie Castellano, who has been playing guitar with Blue Oyster Cult for the past seven years.

“You and the engineer are looking at the same thing, so it’s a time saver,” said the Purchase alumnus, who recorded Regina Spektor’s first album, and recorded his first CD from home at the age of 17. “You can just say ‘bring it back to measure 59’ instead of struggling with the language. And a lot of studios will let you do that.”

Other than a suitable engineer, another factor when looking for a studio is latency, which is the time it takes for the computer to process a sound and spit it back out to the artist or engineer.

“Make sure you ask about latency and how you’re going to be hearing the guitar,” said Castellano. “You can barely perceive it, but that millisecond is a enough to throw of your timing. And as a guitar player you’ll compensate for that.”

And above all, be comfortable. Work with people that make you feel comfortable in a space that isn’t intimidating.

“Sometimes you’ll get an engineer that does everything you’ve hired them to do, but you’ll just get a vibe that they don’t care,” said Berry. “That makes you feel rushed, and it’s very much an atmospheric type of thing. If a recording is technically done horribly but its one of the best performances the band has ever done, it’s still going to sound awesome.”

It’s The John Lennon Songwriting Contest, Not The John Lennon Enunciation Contest
16-year-old Eliza Callahan got a nice surprise on Good Day New York when she learned that she took the top prize in this year’s John Lennon Songwriting Contest. (She becomes the youngest winner since the contest began in 1997.) On hand as the already-declared winner in the Rock category, she performed her winning “Bridge Song,” an swinging, jazzy romp with an itchy walking bassline and solid energy throughout. It’s not a bad little song.
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“Platinum Hit” — “The Winner Takes it All” — Finale Highlights
The assignment for the week? To write the hit of their lives. No predetermined subject, no finished track, not even a Hook Challenge. Instead, Sonyae, Jes and Scotty get writing tips from hit writer Evan “Kidd” Bogart and production help from J.R. Rotem (Rihanna, Britney Spears.) A full backup band and backing vocalists are provided for the Final 3 when they perform their songs in front of music industry insiders, families, the jury made up of Jewel, Kara DioGuardi, RCA/Jive’s Keith Naftaly and guest judge Leona Lewis, and the eliminated contestants.
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Showcasing North Bay songwriting talent (Petaluma, CA)
The West Coast Songwriters North Bay Competition Playoffs is set to be a night of fresh, original music by up-and-coming musicians. Ten winners of the monthly West Coast Songwriters North Bay Competition are ready to compete for the “Song of the Year” title in the playoffs to be held Wednesday, Aug. 10 at the Mystic Theatre. For the past 20 years, the West Coast Songwriters Association has hosted a competition designed to not only showcase the best songwriting talent, but also to offer support and advice from musicians in the industry as well as networking opportunities.
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Songwriting contest’s deadline approaching (Bend, OR)
The deadline to enter the Dave Carter Memorial Song writing Contest will close Sunday. Contestants can submit up to three songs to be judged for originality, uniqueness, structure, prosity (the fit of lyrics and music) and memorability. Finalists will perform a 15-minute set to determine a winner. The contest winner will be selected mid-August and will perform a short set at the Sisters Folk Festival. The winner will also be invited to perform at the 2012 Sisters Folk Festival. Finalists will receive two nights lodging, meal vouchers and one all-event pass to the festival.
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Ann Hampton Callaway, Neil Sedaka, et al. to Judge Songwriting Competition
The Concerts at Tudor City Greens is sponsoring a songwriting contest of songs celebrating New York’s parks and green spaces, and the different roles they play in the lives of New Yorkers. THe jury will incude: Neil Sedaka, Amanda McBroom, Ann Hamton Callaway, Michael John LaChiusa, David Friedman, and Matt Parillo.
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“How do you deal with self doubt as a songwriter?”

Good question. It is something all creative people face.

First, let’s take a look at some of our great creative types and their battles with self doubt:

The famous painter Agnes Martin said: “An artist is the one who can fail and fail and still go on.”

The writer John Keats said just before he died, “I have left no immortal work behind me—nothing to make my friends proud of my memory.”

“A bad word from a colleague can darken a whole day,” Orson Welles once told Peter Bogdanovich. “We need encouragement a lot more than we admit, even to ourselves.”

Do these feelings go away once you achieve success or recognition? Let’s take a look:

The first time legendary jazz drummer Gene Krupa played Carnegie Hall, he said, “I never expected to get into Carnegie Hall…I never even expected to get into the front door, let alone come through the back door the way all the really great artists have.”

Jazz trumpeter Harry James, also when playing Carnegie Hall for the first time said, “I feel like a whore in church.”

After returning from his first tour of England and France in 1933, the legendary Duke Ellington said, “If they think I’m that important, then maybe I have kinda said something, maybe our music does mean something.”

Leonardo da Vinci said, “That painter who has no doubts will achieve little.”

So here’s the thing songwriters:

Doubt, while scary, is normal. Realizing it is normal can be a freeing experience. Take comfort in the fact that – as long as you are attempting to create something (i.e. working hard) – self doubt will come, and the more you push yourself the more that doubt may creep to the surface. That means you are on the right track. You are following in the footsteps of the great ones.

Songs come from a place that can’t be described logically. When an interviewer asks famous songwriters how they write songs, they often respond with jokes, or how they just let go and let the song come to them.

You see, anything creative comes from that un-explainable place, from the muse. Since it is mysterious and illogical, all you can do is channel that spirit and have faith. Yes, faith. That is how you combat the creative self-doubt.

Learn to build faith in your creative process. It is a daily, lifelong process. Think of it like yoga, a martial art, or anything that takes a lifetime to master.

It’s a practice of faith for what you believe in – that magic combination that brings together the song.

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