Here's How I’m Going To Write 10x More Music This Year

Ben Sword

New member
The simple idea of this article is that if you can keep making progress with your songwriting each day and have a system for coming up with great work, you will wake up one morning and realize that your music has reached the tipping point of quality.

Then...rather than having to spam your stuff all over the web to try and get some attention, all you have to do is just send a simple Tweet out or post up a YouTube video and your fans will spread the word like a viral cupcake.

Step 1 – The Music Ideas Recharge

Jump onto Ultimate Guitar and play through songs that you love.

Notice the chord structure and how the melodies work together, and get a feel for why the song has such an impact.

You can also look at news websites and Twitter to see what’s going on and affecting people in the world.

As you recharge you need to actively be taking song ideas down in some kind of notebook.

Step 2 – 25 Minutes of Music Fun

When you’re feeling all inspired set a timer for 25 minutes and hit record on your dictaphone.

Now you just let it all out, start to play with lyric ideas, melodies and chord sequences...after a while you will hit upon something that makes sense and can run with it.

But you should never judge what you write at this point...we’ll polish things off in the editing stage.

Step 3 – Editing

The trick is to leave what you have recorded overnight and forget about it. If you try to turn it into a song right away you will get burnt out.

The editing process is simple…

You just sit down with your recording and write up everything that you came up with using Google Docs or your word processor of choice.

There will be a lot of different options for choruses, verses and lyrics to choose from, and also listen for half mumbled lyrics that you can rewrite and turn into something profound.

Once you have all your ideas down you want to start moving things around and looking for the very best bits. This is the point where your natural perfectionism might creep in so get it done ASAP.

IMPORTANT: Don’t move onto another song until you’ve finished.

Step 4 – Post It

The final step is to make a simple recording and post it on YouTube.

This will be a cool document of your progress, and will also be a great promotional tool as you start to dig up some musical golden nuggets.

Almost everyone who got popular online just woke up one day and decided to start posting!

The other great reason to put your work out in the world is that it’s a good feedback mechanism to see what connects well with your audience.

There will usually be a couple of songs that get way more attention and you can then go to town on those and make a real nice recording, because you know that the track has great potential.

Final Thoughts


I was trying to think of a sexy way to end this, but I’m going to keep it simple...

Because if you work on a song everyday of your life chances are that you’ll end up writing a couple of hits.

To me that’s all the motivation I need.

Just remember that what you write might suck at first and that’s cool because the same thing happened to John Lennon :-)

Your only mission is to turn up everyday and keep making progress.

So go get your timer and GET TO WORK!

Good luck, I’m rooting for ya.

- Ben
 
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"dictaphone"?? :facepalm: I'm sure posting these unpolished/edited music pieces on youtube will really do wonders. 2X :facepalm:
 
You've got some decent ideas on how to optimize your writing process. You've also got it padded with a bunch of fluff. (The implication that this process will somehow make you a successful/popular musician is pretty goofy.)

Also, you write with an authoritative tone, but we have no reason to believe that you're an authority on this. Why not write this more as a personal journey? Spend some months writing songs using this technique; post a few key songs from throughout the process; and use that to show how you've grown as a songwriter.
 
I don't think it is hard to write 10X more. The question is, what is that 10X more? For me, and completing a song is important, getting 15-20 good songs, well recorded and mixed a year is pretty aggressive goal.

I could do 10X with no effort. I can't do 10X better songs (not 100% sure I can do one). But I d think there is value in pushing one's self to write more and complete more.
 
Yeah, I guess one can really try and crank out 10X songs, but what do they sound like? I'm thinking of the current FAWM and RPM Challenge things where people are cranking out a whole album's worth of tunes in one month. I heard a CD last month from a group of folks who did it as part of last year's RPM Challenge - this was 5 or 6 people, not neccessarily working together, so it was 'kind of cheating' , but even so, there were issues with many of the recordings - tracking and mixing - that would have been easily avoided by taking some time to do it right.
Although I have personally set time goals when working on a new album, it's realistic, not rushed, with the goal of forcing me to consider a mix 'finished' rather than the inevitable tiny tweaking that can go on forever.
 
Yeah, I guess one can really try and crank out 10X songs, but what do they sound like? I'm thinking of the current FAWM and RPM Challenge things where people are cranking out a whole album's worth of tunes in one month. I heard a CD last month from a group of folks who did it as part of last year's RPM Challenge - this was 5 or 6 people, not neccessarily working together, so it was 'kind of cheating' , but even so, there were issues with many of the recordings - tracking and mixing - that would have been easily avoided by taking some time to do it right.
Although I have personally set time goals when working on a new album, it's realistic, not rushed, with the goal of forcing me to consider a mix 'finished' rather than the inevitable tiny tweaking that can go on forever.

Your approach seems more realistic. Set a time frame, have an objective (finish the thing), be realistic and work towards completing the project. Otherwise, one would just fuss about forever.

While my songs could be better, my recording could be better, I try to strike a balance between perfect (that is not going to happen) and a reasonable quality output. As I do this more, I hope that i will improve, but I am a firm believer one has to complete the full cycle.

The idea of this concept I agree with, the end results need to be understood. 10 good quality songs in 30 days is very hard to do.
 
we have no reason to believe that you're an authority on this. .

Exactly. Does anyone know who "Ben" is and why anyone should give a fuck about what he says? I mean, he could be David Bowie or something, or he could be just another nameless nobody shmoe like the rest of us. Why listen to another nobody?
 
Exactly. Does anyone know who "Ben" is and why anyone should give a fuck about what he says? I mean, he could be David Bowie or something, or he could be just another nameless nobody shmoe like the rest of us. Why listen to another nobody?

Guess he felt like he had something to say and we were the lucky few to read about it.:confused:
 
Guess he felt like he had something to say and we were the lucky few to read about it.:confused:

I can appreciate people sharing their ideas. That's fine. But don't tell me or us what to do if you can't do it better than me/us already. If Iggy Pop came here and said "hey Greg you need to do this and this, etc" I'd listen with wide open ears. If joe nobody tells me what to do, I'm gonna ask "why the fuck should I listen to you"?
 
I can appreciate people sharing their ideas. That's fine. But don't tell me or us what to do if you can't do it better than me/us already. If Iggy Pop came here and said "hey Greg you need to do this and this, etc" I'd listen with wide open ears. If joe nobody tells me what to do, I'm gonna ask "why the fuck should I listen to you"?

Greg, you really should do it this way, ... :eek:

I have the same thoughts. There are a lot pf people that have proven experience. I have ways I work, but to tell someone this is the way to do it, yea who the hell would listen to me. I'm just some schmuck in a basement making noise. That hardly qualifies to tell someone how to do it other than, here is one way that works for me, might help you.
 
IDK, good ideas can come from anywhere (as well as bad ones) Artists who are already successful are like a Jet already in flight, it only takes a little power for them to fly. Guys like us need the power to take off which is so much more.

I think the idea to write more and be less selective is a good idea. Releasing it Im not so sure.
 
I don't know, I just don't buy that writing more means you get better. I'm sure that if someone writes 10x more songs there might be something good to come out of it. But isn't that simply a result of volume as opposed to actual improvement? I look at it sort of like playing golf. I can go to a driving range and hit 100 balls. Some of those shots might be very good. Does that mean I suddenly got better, or was it just because I was bound to hit a few good ones eventually? I won't consistently get better without some kind of correction. But with songwriting, where does the correction come from? That's up to the writer I guess. The OP suggests you post up rough recordings and solicit opinions. I guess that's one way if you really care what others think, as most songwriters do, but is that making you a better writer, or just better at appealing to masses? This is where I take issue with people proclaiming that songwriting has to have rules and regulations and some songs are good and some are bad. It all depends on your end goal. If sales and mass appeal are your end game, then you're gonna have to write something that appeases the masses. That means you will have to consider their opinions over your own. That means you might have sacrifice a little of yourself to reach your goal. For some people that's simply not acceptable and they go their own way, staying true to themselves but never really getting anywhere. And for a very select few, they win both ways. So yeah, maybe the OP has a point. Just write a bunch of shit, churn that shit out, throw it at the wall, and see what sticks. One of those pieces of shit is bound to stick like I'm bound to eventually hit one good golf shot.

For me personally, I'd rather take my time and write songs that I'm 100% happy with. Quality over quantity. Until someone that I feel is better than me tells me otherwise, I'm staying the course.
 
I can appreciate people sharing their ideas. That's fine. But don't tell me or us what to do if you can't do it better than me/us already. If Iggy Pop came here and said "hey Greg you need to do this and this, etc" I'd listen with wide open ears. If joe nobody tells me what to do, I'm gonna ask "why the fuck should I listen to you"?

Ignorance. As if every songwriter in the world can be a wealthy multi platinum songwriter. Being successful in songwriting has as much to do with timing, networking, paying dues, getting a break, as it does actual writing. I know a songwriter who is a great writer and he's homeless.

The odds are stacked against you anyway, if somebody offers advice, it's on the writing, what that leads to is up to you and more up to fate.

Guitar teachers teach guitar, 99% of them are not known, they dont have careers in music, they teach, if you dont like them, you change teachers.

They dont teach you how to be a rock star, they dont teach you how to become a successful musician playing on records etc, they teach you how to play guitar

I dont think anybody is telling you how to do something, they are showing you how to get better as a writer, not that it means you will get anywhere beyond this forum with it.

Punk Rock is not the music to be discussed in songwriting, it's music designed on raw energy, raw songs, raw singing and playing. meant to be juvenile and fun, no need to know anything just play with us! it's fine, it's fun, it;s cool, but it's the wrong route for a songwriter, but if you want to be a punk artist or punk band it makes sense to learn from the people that have suceeded in it
 
Ignorance. As if every songwriter in the world can be a wealthy multi platinum songwriter. Being successful in songwriting has as much to do with timing, networking, paying dues, getting a break, as it does actual writing. I know a songwriter who is a great writer and he's homeless.

The odds are stacked against you anyway, if somebody offers advice, it's on the writing, what that leads to is up to you and more up to fate.

Guitar teachers teach guitar, 99% of them are not known, they dont have careers in music, they teach, if you dont like them, you change teachers.

They dont teach you how to be a rock star, they dont teach you how to become a successful musician playing on records etc, they teach you how to play guitar

I dont think anybody is telling you how to do something, they are showing you how to get better as a writer, not that it means you will get anywhere beyond this forum with it.

Punk Rock is not the music to be discussed in songwriting, it's music designed on raw energy, raw songs, raw singing and playing. meant to be juvenile and fun, no need to know anything just play with us! it's fine, it's fun, it;s cool, but it's the wrong route for a songwriter

Ahhh, my little lap dog has followed me into a new thread. I knew it wouldn't take long.
 
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