WRITING THE SONG - Part 2

The songwriter is writing for a definite market. It is important, therefore that he study the demands of this market and the accepted means of advertising, promotion and distribution. By this means, he will know what standards his material must meet and he will be able to view his work more objectively in the light of what is or is not commercial. One of the most common errors made by a new writer is to seek the comments of friends and relatives who mistakenly feel that they should hand out encouragement regardless of the merit of his work,, or—and this is more often the case—do not know enough about music, publishing or the commercial value of songs to be competent judges.

The songwriter who seeks such criticism also distrusts any criticism that is in any way derogatory. He will spread tales of concerted plots among the publishers to discourage new talent and to steal song ideas. He is the type that will become a ready victim to the obvious blandishments and trickeries of any fly-by-night "song-shark" or fake publisher. He is, moreover, the type that will excuse his own failure on the basis of any one of a multitude of reasons except the true one—that his material is just not good enough to make the grade. Any creator having this outlook upon his own work, is bound to fall by the wayside. His work will not improve since he will admit no faults. He is too egocentric to seek honest criticism or to apply it if it is given to him.

Fortunately, this type of songwriter is in the minority. The average new writer has sufficient "horse sense" to ignore flattery, to seek out imperfections in his technique and to strive for constant improvement of his work. He is not too downhearted by rejections because he knows that the market is limited and that he must compete with songwriters who have, through past successes, firmly entrenched themselves in the industry. He knows that he must write, and write, and keep on writing until he finally meets recognition.

A songwriter who meets success by this method is far better off in the long run than one who skips the hard road and whose first song becomes a published hit. In the majority of cases, this quick leap to fame has no repeat performances. The songwriter has usually won this initial success by a mere fluke and lacks the experience, background and training to maintain his spot in the sun.

The successful songwriter—the man or woman who turns out a steady run of published numbers and who bats out a regular average of hits—has, through trial and error, evolved a formula which has proved successful and which can be depended upon to produce songs that meet or surpass the required standards. This does not mean that the songwriter employs the same melodic or lyric idea in every song he writes, although in many cases a definite "signature" may be detected. More particularly, such a formula consists merely of a combination of working habits which has proven, through experience, to produce the desired results. The formula is highly individual in character. For example, one songwriter may find that he achieves better results by first writing the tune and then the lyrics; another, by just the reverse methods; another, by using certain melodic or harmonic combinations, etc. These formulas are not arrived at overnight. Based upon experience and consistent hard work, they are achieved only when the actual technique of songwriting has been thoroughly mastered and assimilated.

One of the first steps in attaining successful song-writing technique is to understand the many ramifications of the term "popular song." The term, although loosely used to describe almost any song that is not in the "classical" category, actually refers to a specific type of song that must meet certain requirements.