My Lyric and Songwriting notes

I recently just made my songwriting notes available for purchase. They are a collection of lyric and songwriting knowledge that I’ve learned or came up with on my own, and I thought I should explain them and how they came to be.

If you want to purchase them, simply go to products.

How my notes were created.

The way I created my notes is all based on how I turned one of my greatest weakness into a strength. I always struggled in school so I had to work around it by creating my own notes that were much more simplified and easier to read than anything i would find in textbooks.

Growing up, I always struggled with keeping up and learning the material in class because of things like what I thought was dyslexia. But back in 2019, when I was studying sound engineering, the material was way too technical for me to understand.

So, to remember and understand it better, I would use a notebook that was made for drawing and sketching, a fine liner pen, never a pencil or a normal pen, and I would sketch my own images to create a more visual explanation, with one or two sentences containing the most crucial information, so that I could understand it better.

Many people who would read my notes would also mention how engaging and easy to read they were. And the notes didn’t just work for me, they would work for other people, creating a visual explanation and quickly remembering it.

Then came 2020, when Covid started, and I was studying lyric and Songwriting. During my first trimester, I had to do Music Theory, and since we were all learning from home on Zoom. During the class, I would write notes of key information like the Base and Treble clef, the wheel of fifths, the major-minor degrees and the types of chords, and I would stick these notes above my computer so if I was asked a question like how many sharps are in B major, I could say 5 quicker than anyone else could.

My mum offered to take all of my music theory notes, scan them and put them all on a single page. Some of the notes on the page were repeated twice, and some were related to ear training rather than music theory, but I appreciated the thought. It gave me the idea to get an A4 sketchbook and a fine liner, and I wrote down all the music theory information I needed on the first page.

The page was so easy to understand and satisfying to read that I could spend 2 seconds looking for the information I needed to understand the theory. When it was later in the year, and lockdowns were getting less strict, I was coming in contact with people again. Since it was mostly for songwriting-related reasons, I would bring the notebook with me, and the people who read it would understand it and enjoy looking at it because it felt like looking at a piece of art. I would also let people take photos so they could get them through what they needed to know during most theory-related tasks in music.

Pat Pattison

During my course, I learned songwriting from videos and material by Pat Pattison. He’s a Professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts and an Author of books like Writing Better Lyrics, Songwriting Without Boundaries, Essential Guide to Lyric Form and Structure, and Essential Guide to Rhyming. He even Taught John Mayer how to write lyrics. He would also travel to Australia to teach at my University at least once a year. But, because of the lockdown, I could only attend a Zoom class he was teaching.

I bought one of his books, Writing Better Lyrics, and I read as much as possible. I don’t have the book on me now. I lent it to a friend who hasn’t returned it, but much of the book’s material was songwriting exercises and explaining specific techniques that improve your ability to write.

It’s a great book, and even though I would recommend it to anyone interested in songwriting. i wouldn’t say i would 100% agree with the subject of the material or how it was being presented. I’m probably really biased against songwriting exercises. I never saw a point to them, and I know that everybody is different regarding how they think. I would mostly say if songwriting exercises work for you, go for it, but if they don’t, don’t waste your time.

And I always hated how most books around education were mainly filled with overcomplicated explanations as to why you need to know a subject instead of just presenting the essential information upfront so you can have an easier time maneuvering around it. Because, unlike most subjects in university, songwriting isn’t rocket science. It often felt like they did it to fill the pages instead of being straight to the point and making it easier to understand.

I appreciated my notes more than any book on the subject because they didn’t contain any explanation of subjects that I already knew, didn’t discourage my thought process or made me waste time trying to navigate to where I needed to be. It just presented the exact information I required to easily maneuver my way through lyric and songwriting without any difficulty.

How it developed over time

during my third trimester, I started writing music for ensemble performances, and when I wrote music, I would sometimes discover something new, like writing songs in Lydian or Dorian, and I would be fascinated by how it worked; my university did teach me this kind of material, but it was done in the most technical and boring way, that it was too hard to understand or appreciate. It made it feel like something i needed to learn for a curriculum and not for the diversity it brought to music.

So, I would do my own research outside of Uni and create my own notes that were much more straightforward, informative and helpful than what I was learning in class. Most of my notes were my research instead of what I learned in class. And some of them were notes that I’ve created to battle specific problems I had when writing music. As I was creating them, I believed they could make songwriting easier, not just for me but for everyone doing it, so that we could have the ability to write anything we wanted and come up with new styles and genres with them.

Lyrical Elements

One of the most appreciated parts of the notes would probably be the lyrical elements, which started in a class called lyrical influences, taught by Charles Jenkins, an Australian songwriter and musician with an impressive career. He taught me about them in the first place, and I would feel guilty not mentioning him. He had the version that he taught to the class, and I wanted to include it in my notes and credit him, but I didn’t want to plagiarise his work, so the lyrical elements I have are from the research I’ve done on my own. And I’ve included literary elements as well.

list of words

The list would’ve probably been the most tedious and time-consuming thing I’ve created for these notes. It started with me creating a list of all the emotions, Positive and Negative, because emotion is important, and it gave me the idea to create other lists for song topics and ideas; it went through a lot of versions, but after a few years, I managed to compile a list of 4000 different Nouns, Verbs, Adverbs and Adjectives. that could all be related to topics to write music about. And I’ve added pronouns and contractions and learned the definition of Determiners and Conjunctions.

Conclusion

There is more to include to the songwriting notes, and I intend to add them down the line and learn about music so I can create more notes around it because I’m never gonna be done learning, and neither will you. I might add types of melodies, rhythms or basslines, but I would probably need to figure out how to simplify it into simple cheat notes first. But if you want me to add something, please let me know because any suggestions could help many people who buy the notes. And having a reason to update them is always exciting to me.

Things to always consider when writing a song that stands out.

There are millions of songs; over a hundred thousand get released on Spotify each day, and it’s hard to stand out from it all.

And the one piece of advice I would give to people who wish to stand out is Write Great Music. There’s a little more to it than that; you also need to think about marketing your music, but when running a business, people would say the most critical aspect is the product you’re selling to your customers, and that means the most important thing is the music you’re sharing with your fans. So it might as well be something they will love more than the others.

Melodies

Melodies are at the front of it all and are what people remember the most about your song. It’s also one of the main elements defining your song and what sets it apart. If the melody is not interesting, catchy or emotional, the song won’t be either. Many songs I make start out as simple voice memos of melodies that I discreetly hum into my phone whenever an idea randomly pops into my head. Usually, when I’m out getting coffee or in bed trying to sleep. And I would later start building a song around that melody.

Chords

Chords set the stage for a song and can play a prominent role in the tone and atmosphere. Chord progressions can have guidelines. You can stick with a simple 4 chord progression like 99% of pop music from the last 100 years, but there are no rules for where to go with them. But regardless of what you decide to do, I recommend anyone writing music to learn how to understand Roman numerals when reading chord progressions, The Wheel of fifths, how to use Borrowed chords, the different Types of Chords besides just Major and Minor, and the 7 different modes, like Dorian and Lydian. Understanding all this will help you navigate and write whatever chord progression you want without much difficulty.

Genre and styles

All genres have their styles and characteristics that define them. Whether it’s rap music or EDM, the decisions about a song's genre will depend on the artist’s preference or whatever is considered mainstream. This is a good time to research and figure out what is considered popular now so you could try and follow an algorithm that would help guarantee success in your music. Like Funk and Disco in the 70s, you need to figure out what people today are listening to so you can attract them to you and your music.

Hook

The Hook is self-explanatory; it grabs the listener’s attention and makes them interested in listening to the rest of the song. It’s the part that gets stuck in your head, and all the memorable songs have great hooks. It might be a simple melody, riff or a phrase of words that gets stuck in your head. It could be heard in the chorus or the intro. Like Espresso, with the phrase “I can’t relate, 'cause I’m a singer” or “H O T T O G O.” With Hot To Go. It’s what people remember the most in music. So, if you want to make a great song that people will remember, it’s got to have a decent hook.

Lyrics

It goes without saying that the lyrics are 50% of the song. It tells the story and expresses a theme and narrative. Lyrics have to have clever wordplay and metaphors that make sense of the narrative and words and rhymes that have real meaning. It can also be done with Lyrical and literary elements.

Story

The story is what makes the lyrics so important. It’s about creating a theme and a narrative that people will understand and relate to. And like the melody, it’s what you build a song around, whether it’s about a breakup, someone you love, a feeling you have or something you have to express. It doesn’t matter what the song is about, just as long as it’s worth writing a song about it.

Length

When the song is too short, it doesn’t give listeners enough time to enjoy it; if it’s too long, people will get bored after a while. The average time expected from most songs is anywhere between 2:50 and 3:40. If it’s any longer, then it better be catchy enough to stop people from getting bored. If it’s shorter than 3 minutes or longer than 4:30, it’s less likely to end up on the radio.

Emotions and reactions

It’s not just about what your listeners hear in your music; it’s about how your music makes them feel when they hear it. A great song brings out strong emotions in your listeners; I wouldn’t bother writing a song if I didn’t think it could bring out strong emotions in me and the people who listen to it, whether it makes them happy, sad or want to dance. And if your song is great, it could make your listeners lose themselves and their inhibitions in their headspace.

A great way to tell if a dance song is considered decent is if you unintentionally bop your head when you listen to it. The same can be said by mouthing the lyrics to the song, tapping a foot to the rhythm, or getting goosebumps. Many songwriters and musicians decide it won't be a good song unless it passes the Head Bopping test.

These are some of the things I consider when writing music that stands out. But be aware there will always be more to think about when writing music if you want it to stand out. Always keep an open mind about what makes a song successful; sometimes, you might be surprised about what makes a song great.

(This post will receive updates over time)

Reasons I want to write for other Artists

There are many reasons I write music for other artists; some might think it’s because I can’t sing, but I can, and many people pester me to start writing music for myself. I do plan to for myself, but there are a lot of other reasons why I also prefer to write for others.

I write music for the sake of writing music.

A lot of artists write music to express themselves and their emotions. And some people say you can’t write music unless you have something to say. I don’t believe that, and I hate thinking you must feel a specific emotion to write music about it.

There is some truth to that; people write breakup songs for autobiographical reasons, and I have written about my own personal experiences. For example, I once wrote a song for a uni assignment about being called a psycho because someone started a rumour that I was a psycho at Uni. The reason why was because of my appearance which is redicolous, but the experience gave me a good idea for a song that took me less than 6 hours to write and i scored a 98, which is awesome. But I’ve also written music about certain subjects that I don’t at all relate to.

I once wrote a song about being in denial, and it took me 2 days to finish. And after performing it, some friends approached me, asking if I was going through some form of depression because of that song. The only reason I wrote a song about being in denial is because I needed a song, and I liked the idea of it, not because I was actually depressed, and that annoyed me.

But my point is, I don’t write music because I need it to express my emotions or what I have to say or because I want fame or fortune. There’s a little truth to that, don’t get me wrong. But I mainly write music because I love writing music; I don’t need a better reason than that, so much so that I plan to write music until I die.

It gives me more creative freedom and diversity to write whatever music I want.

As a songwriter and an Artist, people often expect you to stick to a specific genre for your brand, and I consider myself a generalist when I write music. So, being able to write for different artists gives me more freedom and diversity, regardless of their preferred genre. I would love to write rap, jazz, rock, electronic, or anything else without feeling restricted, even if I’m not the one singing it. So, you won't get a straight answer if you ask me for my favourite genre.

It’s a great way to achieve success as an artist.

I know I’m not supposed to admit my true motives for a business and say that all I want to do is help people. But businesses who say that are often pretty sketchy and dishonest. I feel it’s obvious why helping artists become famous will help me, and regardless of why I’m doing it, I’m still helping people achieve their dreams, and I don’t see anything wrong with that. So, I might as well be as open and honest as possible to the people I work with, and I’m not lying when I say I want to help them.

Writing music for other Artists is a common business strategy in the music industry. Unfortunately, job opportunities for songwriters are minimal, and many people I know who have also studied Lyric and songwriting, like me, have continued working as baristas and retail workers even after getting their degrees, and I rather take the fate of my career into my own hands instead of waiting for someone else to care enough to give me any opportunity in my career.

So, writing music for other artists is a great way to build success as a songwriter. Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga and Sia started their careers by writing music for other artists, and look where they are now.

I admit that writing for different artists would mainly improve my chances of success. But I know doing so also helps bring attention to everyone I write music for and helps them achieve success, which makes it a clear system where everyone wins, and no one gets hurt.

I’m not a fan of how generic most people’s music has gotten.

I don’t want to insult anyone’s writing ability, but I feel many artists struggle to stand apart in music, especially with Indie artists. And I hate how desensitising and generic it feels as a listener. I know there are different ways to make it better, and I want to do something about it.

347Aiden

Recently, I was informed of an artist whose stage name was 347Aiden. I never heard the name before, but I had listened to the song “Dancing in My Room.” and I think I thought of it as a song that was just silly and fun. It was released in 2020 and went viral on TikTok sometime in 2021, making 347Aiden famous and landing him a record deal.

The song is about feeling lonely and filling the void with Cotten Candy Skies as he dances in his room, longing for someone to be close to in a messed-up world. The song has a lot of depth, and you would think that’s why it was so popular. But in actuality, I think it went viral because it’s fun, catchy, and made for a great sound for people to dance to on TikTok, and what’s more relatable, than dancing alone in your room.

The reason I bring this up is because 347Aiden doesn’t feel that different from the other millions of kids who make beats in their bedrooms. But the fact that he managed to stand out and become successful makes sense to me. Especially since so many musicians and songwriters have probably tried longer and harder to achieve the kind of success he obtained, and most haven’t even come remotely close to it.

I mostly believe the reason why so many musicians and artists struggle so much and get nowhere is because they create music that’s so generic and oversaturated and has been heard a hundred times over that it’s hard to tell them apart or not to be emotionally desensitized to it all. I used to pride myself on being able to remember every single song that I heard, but I think that was before I was old enough to go to bars and listen to local bands play and listen to songs that I would instantly forget after hearing because I’ve heard it so many times before by other bands.

Despite getting bored of the music, I listen to from common artists. It makes me believe that saying it takes years or even decades or that you have a million-in-one chance of making it feels like a huge misconception, especially now because it’s much easier to stand out by creating music that’s not boring or generically desensitizing.

You don’t always have to be good-looking or incredibly talented to be a successful artist, although it doesn’t hurt to be. You have to play it cleverly as a songwriter and artist, like 347Aiden did and write music that people will enjoy. He knew his audience; he made a relatable song with a hook that was insanely catchy and uplifting, and that’s what brought people towards him.

The song may not be for everyone; I mean, the person who brought this up to me said it was terrible, but to me, it’s a great example of how it’s not as hard as you think to become a successful artist in the music industry. You just need to know your audience. And create music that people aren’t gonna get bored of.

Why i write music for free

Recently, I was told that when I say I will write your music to make you rich and famous, completely free of charge, and in exchange for shared royalties and exposure. It sounds too good to be true.

And maybe they’re right. I was told I should consider charging a price for a collaboration, not to make a profit but to make my services look more realistic. But honestly, I didn’t want to do that for a number of reasons.

One thing I learned is that a good business idea is about finding a problem and coming up with a clever way to solve it.

And there are a lot of problems in the music industry, especially with songwriters looking for work. I knew that even though I had a bachelor’s degree in lyric and songwriting, it wouldn’t improve my chances of finding work in the music industry. In fact, I feel it’s only provided me with bragging rights and nothing else.

And the industry itself would most likely screw me over if I wasn’t conscious. It was already a pretty terrible system whether they took advantage of their artists and talent or came up with new ways to make more money at the expense of people like me.

I remember hearing one CEO of some record label say that Ghostwriting was the future of music, where record labels spend tens of thousands on music rights to make millions off them. But honestly, other than the stockholders and the CEOs, who’s actually benefiting from that future? Not the artists who receive the backlash for supposedly letting ghostwriters go unnoticed and definitely not the ghostwriters themselves who make pennies compared to what their music makes for other people.

If the future of music should belong to anyone, it should belong to the talented and creative people who write and perform the music that people love.

The bottom line is that there are a lot of problems in the music industry, and one thing I love to do is solve problems. And though I don’t think this formula can solve every problem in the music industry, I believe it can solve a few that currently exist, even for people who want to break into the industry.

The Business formula makes sense.

Even if I explain it to people who don’t know much about music royalties, they still understand why it’s a sound system. It’s built around helping artists succeed and assuring them of that by creating a mutually beneficial partnership that gives them every reason to believe that I will only benefit if I help make them successful, regardless of my intentions.

And it’s a formula I believe many other businesses should try to create for their clients, even outside of music. If they’re built around helping people, they should make a system where they only profit if they’ve managed to help their clients.

It’s hard to believe Businesses when they say they want to help you.

The problem with most businesses that are built around helping people is that they say they want to help you succeed, but only for a price and often it’s a hefty one, and in the end, most of what they do is take your money, do you a service and whether or not it helps you, it won’t matter to them because they’ve already taken your money. At least they provided you with a service you paid for, even if it doesn’t work out. And that still counts as legitimate, while other businesses are complete scams that say they want to help you, but all they want to do is take your money and leave you worse off than you already were. And they don’t care if their actions leave lasting emotional damage or financial strain on their clients.

At least this way, the worst thing I can do to my clients is create a song they don’t like, and if they don’t want it, it’s a good thing they didn’t pay for it. So at least, I can say I couldn’t screw over my clients even if I wanted to.

I’m not saying that businesses that say they want to help you aren’t trustworthy, a lot of them are. But it’s hard to believe they have your best interests at heart and it’s often better to work with people who benefit from helping you even if you’re not paying them.

For example, A close friend who is also someone I write music for was considering hiring a photography studio to do a shoot despite how expensive it was going to be. So since I studied film and photography, I offered to take them myself, and she ended up with amazing high resolution photos that didn’t cost her anything, and now she can use those photos to promote herself as an artist with the music I help her write. Because helping her with things like that also helps me. 

It provides me with assurance that my clients will be respectful.

Another reason I don’t take money from clients is because I’ve worked with some terrible people who think they can get away with abusing others because they believe they’re so invaluable that other people have no choice but to tolerate them. And I don’t want to be in debt to them or let them believe they have some power over me and that I have to write music for them even if they’re rude, entitled, lazy, unreliable, or physically, sexually or emotionally abusive towards me.

But since I don’t owe them anything, it’s clear that I don’t have to put up with them if I don’t want to, so they might as well be as respectful as they possibly can if they want me to keep writing their music for free.

It provides a service that a lot of artists need even if they don’t have money.

Even if artists have fantastic talent, they might not have the money they need to hire someone like me to make their music. or skills like composing or sound design. So, instead of selling my services for a hefty price that not many people are willing to spend. I would invest my services into artists for free and potentially make more money in the long run. It may be riskier for me, but that’s why I’m choosy about who I work with.

It makes clients feel they’re not alone in their journey.

Many artists have many supporters from friends and family and as great as they are at providing emotional support, It doesn’t stop artists from feeling like they’re on their own and not supporting themselves throughout their journeys. At least when they’re working with someone who benefits from helping them achieve their artistic goals, it makes them feel like there’s someone on their side taking care of them.

In conclusion

I know the formula isn’t perfect, especially not for me, who’s trying to run a business and make money. But I believe it’s the best thing for my clients and me, and I know it will work over time. And if I need money, I know I can find clever ways to make a profit. I know I can do digital design and create my own T-shirts that are not embarrassing to wear publicly.