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In today's environment, be accustomed to
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the idea that when you say songwriter,
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what you actually mean is song
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maker. And your ability to create
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something in its most professional
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capacity is going to be synonymous with
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your ability to pay yourself. Right? So,
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in that way, yes, you are too a
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professional producer and you're a
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professional arranger and lots of these
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things, but you're a song maker. So,
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let's the the most simple way to say it,
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Anthony, is if a customer, client,
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person, networking, artist, whomever,
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says, "Hey, I love this song and I want
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something that's like that." And, you
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know, this thing happened to me and I
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want to tell a story about that. The job
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is not just to sit on a flattop guitar,
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write that song, pitch it back to them.
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There was a time when that was the job.
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Absolutely. And for the longest time,
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that was the job. Now, the job is to
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bring that song to fruition. That's the
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job. So, how do you begin to do that? I
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think the first thing that's necessary
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is that you, you know, like it's obvious
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that you learn the stuff that you love,
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but you've got to learn the stuff that
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has
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been the most permanent, right? The most
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permanent. It's easy for people to pick
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apart cataloges of the uber famous, the
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Eagles, Aerosmith, Genesis. It's easy
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for people to to pick apart these
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cataloges and then find all of these
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qualms by which to to infuse into their
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cataloges, but ask yourself another very
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important question. Why do they work and
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why do they last? Why is it you can turn
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on any adult contemporary station in in
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the world right now and Bill Collins is
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singing? What's going on with that?
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Right? For all of these people who
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supposedly dislike all of these, you
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know, very super famous artists, boy,
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they sure do get played a lot. So
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somebody's listening and somebody's
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asking. So what's going on with that?
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Perhaps perhaps there's something a
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little bit deeper going on underneath
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the hood. Perhaps there's a language
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that's reaching into people that it's
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plainly stated. And maybe through that
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plain language, there's actually a
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multitude of stories being told. So the
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first thing you've got to do is you've
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got to start to pick apart language and
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understand what's the nature of the
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cliche. When the cliche gets played on
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its head to mean two things, what's the
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nature of that? What is the double
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entandra? And not not just in its most
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nefarious of ways, but but what is the
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way to play the double entandra? If I
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have a metaphor in this song, how do I
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both speak to the metaphor throughout
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the entirety of the song while also
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making a point? What is the three-act
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structure? What's the hero's journey?
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What's the purpose of this? Why do we
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learn that? Right? All of those things
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are crucial in songwriting and the most
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famous of all songs will always include
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all of that that I just said. Then from
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your musician
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perspective, it just it's just true,
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man. The better musician that you are,
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the better songs that you write. And
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that doesn't mean you have to make them
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as complex as possible. What you'll
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notice is the best musicians in history
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are masters of space. They're masters of
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space. The note they don't play will
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punch you in your face and throw you a
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back. It's the thing you wait to happen.
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The expectation that's subverted
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suddenly, right? It's where BB King
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stops the note and the emptiness that
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you hang on to. That's what the blues
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means, right? That's where it lives.
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Space is where really good groove lives,
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right? There's a reason why all the soul
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guys are also the jazz guys are also the
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R&B guys are also the most capable guys
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because they're guys who love to play in
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the groove and in the space. You can
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hear their decisions, right? When you
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start to write songs, learn about space.
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Learn about what space says as a lyrical
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device. Learn how what you're saying
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melodically is also what you're speaking
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lyrically. Right? It's the same thing.
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Learn about the redundancies of it. take
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on the challenge of the biggest
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cataloges of all time with their
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judgment cast aside and all of this to
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really to figure out why is this true,
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right? Why is Fly Me to the Moon still
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featured in in movies right now? How is
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that possible? And if this is such a
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simple little tiny song and it's meaning
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is so decipherable and easy to
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understand, then why does it still
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resonate? Well, perhaps perhaps there's
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a multitude of analogies that are
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happening in that song. And maybe the
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genius of the song itself is not just
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simplicity. Maybe the genius of the song
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itself is that depending on who's
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listening to it and depending on their
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familiarity with great with great
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standards, they're listening to
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different words with different meanings
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and different understandings. And a lot
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of that happens in country music way
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more than people are comfortable with
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with um with realizing, right? Country
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music is made is made to be simple on
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this level and it's made to have these
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layers that are underneath it. You need
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to look no further than Willie Nelson to
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establish that that is true. Right?
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There is a host of metaphor that's
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happening and then the metaphor never
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stops. It plays it all the way through
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which is a difficult game to
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play. If you're beginning
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now, don't go right to YouTube. I tell
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this to my to my kids all the time, man.
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I
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say YouTube is this amazing thing where
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I would have been able to learn
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everything and nothing all at once,
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right?
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Because there is no bigger weapon in
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your repertoire than your ear. None.
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You've got to sit in front of the music
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and learn the music. Do it until your
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hands do it right and then do it again.
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And when you know the song front to
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back, then learn the bass players part,
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right? Understand every single choice
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for why the thing works. That thing that
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you love, do it until you hate it. And
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then you'll love it in a way you never
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knew you could love it before. You'll
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love it for reasons that you don't even
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realize exist yet. Don't use YouTube.
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Don't use the tutorials. Don't use
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charts. And don't use any of that yet.
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Pull it apart for what it is. Get into
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it. really dig it for what it is. Find
00:06:19
all that stuff yourself, right? Do it
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again and again and again and you have
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no other route than to be a great
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writer. That's the process. The process
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if you learn the process of it, right?
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Because I can assure you of this. All
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that advice I just gave you was business
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advice. That's business advice. People
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don't think that. I have songwriters who
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who reach out to me maybe once a day,
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right? At least once a day. And
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sometimes it's a ton, but at least once
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a day, somebody says, "How do I how do I
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become uh how do I write music for a
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living?" And my answer usually comes
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across as condescending and they hate
00:06:57
it. I say, "Learn to write better
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music." They don't want to hear that.
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What they wanted to hear was, "Well, if
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you here's my email uh my email list
00:07:07
that I put together, and there's this
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section of clients who live on this
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forum, and they just can't wait to give
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you a bunch of money, and it's not that.
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That's not the job. the the job is that
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you have to you the more that you learn
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about writing and and look and again I'm
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I'm not making I'm not saying
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that mine is a professional studio on
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music row and my productions are or the
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the caliber of quality of the $100,000
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production. It's not about that. It's
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about the distinction between whether or
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not you write good music, right? Because
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a good song can beat a bad production,
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but a great production cannot save a bad
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song. That is the facts, right? All
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those songs from the 40s and the 50s and
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a lot of songs from the 60s, you really
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listen to them right now, they sound
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like they could be recorded on your
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iPhone and you don't care. You don't
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care, man. Cuz that's not the game. The
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game is, is the song good? And the
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answer is irrefutably yes. And in fact,
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you you trust more that that song is
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good. You trust it more because you know
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that the technology is less, right? And
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that's they are you are me are are
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people sitting in front of something
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just learning how to do the thing and
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beating their hands. If you want to be
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if you want to be of making a living out
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of songwriting the first game is learn
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how to write really really good songs.
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You'll know if it's a good song because
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people will tell you. If they tell you
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that they don't get it and they tell you
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that they don't like it, be honest with
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yourself. 99.9% of every single
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songwriter I ever met in my life when
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confronted with the idea that the song
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they wrote is not any good goes well you
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just don't get it right and you know hey
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some people like this and some people
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like that that's true but if three
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people out of three people tell you that
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the thing's not very good or they go I I
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don't understand or what's the purpose
00:08:52
of this or what are we doing or you know
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be honest with yourself if something
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needs more time it needs more time it's
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fine right the difference between the
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professional songwriter and the amateur
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songwriter is editing
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That's the difference. The difference is
00:09:05
in the edit. The difference is not in
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the in the ability to do it right the
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first time. First time what that you
00:09:11
didn't earn that. Yes, inspiration does
00:09:13
strike. Yes, inspirational moments do
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happen. That's fine. That's why they
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make good stories. They shouldn't be
00:09:19
every single time. Everything you said
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the first time doesn't make it true,
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right? And it doesn't make it right.
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Then the next step is to put yourself
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into situations where you can write with
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other people and know whether or not
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those people actually have the
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credibility to be telling you when a
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line is good and bad or indifferent.
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Right? Then that's at the point where
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you start once you've once you've
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intersected with those worlds enough,
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then you can start to take people's
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money. I'm not one of these who thinks
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you should take people's money in real
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time to learn on the job. No, that that
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is not the way that this works. You've
00:09:50
got to be at the point where you can
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impact people. You'll be at the point
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where you can humble yourself and learn
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even when you don't necessarily like the
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thing that that person is teaching you.
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The person who's done it before. And by
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the way, those resources are easy to
00:10:04
find. They're out there, right? Some of
00:10:07
them cost money. A lot of these number
00:10:08
one hit songwriters, they have websites
00:10:10
right now where you can go and they'll
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say, "I'll write you a song. I'll write
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a song with you. I'll teach you how to
00:10:13
write a song." Because a lot of those
00:10:14
guys, that's how they supplement their
00:10:16
income. Do it. Scrunch the money up and
00:10:18
do it. That resource didn't exist when I
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was when I was young. I'd have blown
00:10:22
everything. I'd have played gigs just to
00:10:24
do that. You know what I mean? Because
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they're going to say things that are
00:10:29
going to change your world. And the last
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thing you want to do is disagree with
00:10:32
them about it. They've proven it.
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They've proven it. There's nothing to
00:10:35
disagree with, right? Once you're at
00:10:38
that point and you've sort of learned
00:10:40
about the combination of production and
00:10:41
arrangement, what chord structures do,
00:10:43
what the purpose of them is, how you can
00:10:44
write a song, how you can write a song
00:10:46
that's underneath that song, what that
00:10:48
even means, you start to get this
00:10:49
understanding with other professional
00:10:50
songwriters, what is dualism in music,
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what is the dual narrative songwriting
00:10:55
technique, what is, you know, which, by
00:10:57
the way, is a very exclusive technique
00:10:58
and only some people use. I'm I'm of a
00:11:01
very thin lineage left. But once you're
00:11:03
at that point, your songs will be good
00:11:05
enough that when you go to these these
00:11:07
third-party environments and you offer
00:11:08
your services and stuff, something about
00:11:11
the way that you that your stuff hits
00:11:14
will resonate with people differently.
00:11:16
You can tell the difference between a
00:11:18
person who can navigate through a
00:11:20
professional song confidently and not.
00:11:22
You can tell an amateur from not. And it
00:11:24
doesn't matter what plugins you have,
00:11:25
man. It doesn't matter if you spend
00:11:27
$1,000 on plugins that sound like all
00:11:30
the other hit songs in the world. If you
00:11:31
don't know what you're doing, that will
00:11:33
be obvious just as it will be obvious if
00:11:35
you do know what you're doing. And there
00:11:36
might there might not be words for it,
00:11:37
but the clients will follow. It all
00:11:39
begins with with sitting down and
00:11:41
learning the fundamentals. The same
00:11:43
advice that your high school basketball
00:11:45
coach would give you when it comes to,
00:11:47
hey, you've got a ton of talent as a
00:11:49
basketball player. I sure wish that you
00:11:50
knew where to put your hands. I sure
00:11:52
wish you knew how to play defense
00:11:54
better, right? I don't understand why
00:11:55
you're watching watching the ball when
00:11:57
you should be watching the guy's hips. I
00:11:58
don't get it. and you learn fundamentals
00:12:00
and you start to to see the things,
00:12:02
right? And as those fundamentals grow,
00:12:04
it amplifies all of the other creative
00:12:07
parts to it, the parts that are that wow
00:12:09
people, right? That's where you should
00:12:12
start. And every guy that I know that
00:12:15
has been successful at this in some way,
00:12:17
shape, or form, right? Even if they're
00:12:18
not, they don't do it for a living, they
00:12:21
would tell you the same thing,
00:12:22
particularly if they're musicians. Okay?
