Hello songwriters!
When talking with a group of songwriters recently about his album, Southeastern, Jason Isbell said, "This one, I knew I'd spent more time on it, and I knew I'd focused in more on the content of the record and saying exactly what I wanted to say...but I didn't know how it would be received."
He knew that what he'd done might work, but it might not. Consider what would have happened, how would it have affected his writing if he'd said instead, "This has to work."
In our Journey of a Song and Song Session videos, you'll often hear instructors say, "This might work, and it might not," as they suggest changes. They are so interested in the possibilities that they are willing to try out lots of different ideas.
Fortunately (for us!) their knowledge and insight often lead to suggestions that work brilliantly. But sometimes they don't -- in which case they move on to try something else.
As a songwriter, it is easy to get stuck in thoughts like, "This has to work," or "This part is already working, so I don't want to change it!"
Watch the masters at play in their classes, though, and you'll see them constantly exploring -- sometimes even if something seems to be working already.
It's easy to hear a completed song and believe it fell from the sky fully formed. (Don't we wish?!) Here are a couple videos that demonstrate a much more common -- and effective -- method. In both videos, the instructor walks us through their process of taking a song and experimenting with it until they get it where they want it to be.
Journey of a Song: The Things You Left Behind
Bonnie Hayes
(0:15:02)
Rewriting
Steve Seskin
(1:31:16)
Enjoy!
Warmest wishes,
Diana P.S. You can read past newsletters and check out other video recommendations on our newsletter archive page.
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