How did you get started?

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Permalink Reply by Diana on March 25, 2009 at 10:55pm

There are as many different ways of getting started as there are people. I have always been "into music, but am performance wise not very good, theory understanding is fair, have wanted to conduct and arrange but unable to go back to school. I have had ideas for songs for a few years but never thought I could do the music part yet I did wrote a piece of music in my 20's once ( I am now 56). Two years ago I began to be interested in a local songwriter/singer, and studied all of her stuff, I also have led worship in a home group for 8 years. well, on 1-1-07 after reading part of a songwriting book I got at Border's bargain books, I wrote my first lyric and put it to music . It was a simple ballad, and I was quite pleased. It started out as a friendship song ( I was thinking) but it turned out to be about that local artist who had strayed from the faith and I was praying for her, It was called Soul Search. Well I got into Bible study much deeper and that propmpted all kinds of songs about many topics, I connected with a songwriting coach in 8-07 and took lesson via ichar over the internet for about a year, also read lots of books on lyric, and songwriting, went to worship conferences where songwriting was emphasized and even went to a marvelous Christian Songwriter's conference in Santa Cruz California last summer( Paul Baloche, Don Moen, Phil Wickham, Mia Fields, and many others). I just recently after 2 years had 2 demos made...i write all kinds of songs about many topics and God is in every one. I can't write a song without God in it, its impossible for me . I have also interfaced and connected with professional artists and become friends with several, am on church choir now to learn more about singing songs, I don't plan to record my songs but want top bless others in some way, and I will be going by a pen name..... Hope that helps...try songwriting for Dummies, Idiots, and Morgan Cryar's e book called Strong Songwriting. You have to learn about song forms and other issues. You can buy critiques for 10-25 $ per song to tell you what they need...Hope that helps. and everyone says....keep writing !!!!!! Blessing to you!
Diana

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Permalink Reply by Moira on March 26, 2009 at 2:58pm

Thank you so much for your reply, I really appreciate it. I am excited about getting going and will look up some of those books you mentioned. I guess I am at the beginning of this great journey and it is really encouraging to hear your story, thanks again,
God Bless, Moira x

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Permalink Reply by Lara Marriott on March 31, 2009 at 8:39pm

Hi Moira. Writing your thoughts down is the best place to start. You can always go back to them and they might inspire you to write a song from them. When God opened the door for me to write. I gave it to Him as my offering. I decided to write songs from my heart and my times of personal worship. I read up on songwriting. I joined christiansongwriters.org and met wonderful Christ followers to encourage me and help me improve. I prayed a lot and still do about where God wanted me to go next. It has been a slow process, but such a beneficial one. I am learning about patience, about humility, about surrendering these songs to God, about meeting others and encouraging them in their process, as well as finding other songwriters to co-write with. The journey has been the most fulfilling for me.

I want to encourage you to be okay with the baby steps. To write and sing your songs to God throughout the day. He wants to hear you more than any other person. And listen to what He would like you to do with your songs. The christiansongwriters.org site is awesome to start at. It will connect you with other songwriters and has a plethora of info to spur you on. I wish you all of the best. All we can do is get better right? Take care. Lara~

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Permalink Reply by Lee Gunter on April 1, 2009 at 7:44am

A few bullet points of advise: I'm overdue to go to bed so I won't be long winded (for once).

- study music you like. try to write like that.
- study the Bible with the few words you scribbled down as the key words. A good Bible index is helpful here. sometimes you get new ideas for great lyrics. At very least you got in some Bible study time.
- baby steps are not only okay, they are absolutely necessary. You are not going to write the next "Shout to the Lord" in your first sitting.
- aim for a chorus, a simple jingle like thing. Then let them get bigger, better, more.
- when your writing in hopes of getting the big break, have your stuff evaluated by experts. When learning, get it evaluated by those who love you. They will build you up and be impressed by your progress.
- ask God for help. Other people to ask are king David, Solomon, Paul, Mathew, Mark, Luke, john... you get the idea.
- work on writng lyrics by puting new words to songs you know. work on music by setting new tuunesto lyrics you know.
- study your instrument and practice. it's hard to write good, creative music with three chords in your skillset. I can tell you this for sure based on personal expereince.
- enjoy it. if you don't love to write, don't bother.

hope that wasn't all complete rubbish...

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Permalink Reply by Todd Vaters on April 2, 2009 at 2:29pm

- Write from the heart. Say what YOU wanna say.

- Get over your fears of being vulnerable and putting your stuff out there. Doing it is the bast way to get past that.

- Test your songs on anyone who will listen and accept their feedback. You'd be amazed at how insightful people will be. If someone is tough, know that they're a Simon and seek out your Paula's to balance them.

- The Craft of Lyric Wiriting by Sheila Davis is a book that helped me a lot but I had written quite a bit by the time I read it. It's a bit technical at times.

- Go to any seminars and enter any contests you can. Have a tough skin and graciously smile and say "Thank you" when you disagree with your critiques. American Idol has made it look OK to openly disagree with judges (even argue) put pros consider it tacky and the mark of an amateur.

- If you are always agreeing with your critiques or always disagreeing (in your mind, not openly... see last point) you may be out of balance. Strive for that objective balance where you do both.

- Remember, your song is NOT you. Objectivity is hard but work on it. :o)

Hope that helps. Forgive me if I soap boxed you! lol

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Permalink Reply by Todd Vaters on April 2, 2009 at 2:31pm

Good advice.

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Permalink Reply by David Duchene on April 10, 2009 at 7:20pm

Excellent question!
Here's an answer that I hope will help!

1) Draw near to the Lord your God..study Him..seek His face. Read the Bible and meditate on Him. Do the things that please Him...He will reward you!

2) Take time to express yourself towards Him and how your heart feels about Him in music..have an instrument ready to use to get your thoughts in musical order...even if it's just your voice. Ask Him to help you..He will give you songs in the night..more so if you are making a sincere effort to praise His name and the name of His Son.
Write them down and SHARE THEM..you must not be afraid..okay, a little at first..you'll get over it and improve as you go along.

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Permalink Reply by Ronald Wong on April 13, 2009 at 5:10pm

I never have any training on writing, so for me the easiest way was to write out of my experiences... and that's how I got started... writing notes help for me as well... and sometimes I just expanded on something I jotted down earlier...

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Permalink Reply by Esther Mui on May 26, 2009 at 5:27pm

Hi! I'm just adding to all the great advice already given above.

Get inspired through reading the Psalms. If a particular psalm speaks to you, perhaps expresses how you feel or what you are going through, it would probably be a good psalm to use as the base/foundation of your song. You can't go wrong using Scripture as the base of your song. Ask God to give you new insights and revelations : )

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