Some thoughts on song writing

The magic's in the minor... Major to minor etc. eg. (Dm)
Say it all in a line
Great use of metaphor... eg, I'm a motorway traveling to you...
The song must have appeal, in the lyrics and some other hook
Keep it simple, voice to the foreground with guitar, bass and drums
Get your ideas down in Song Factory by Notorious Notes
Rigth, right, right songs, and then pick the best stuff, or pick and mix into a new song

I found a really useful piece of software to help with song development. Take a look at the SongFactory at http://www.notoriousnotes.com There is a two week trial version to try out. Happy writing!

I discovered www.tunecore.com for publishing songs up to Itunes and Amazon. I was also looking at www.dittomusic.com which also uploads songs for you and has the option of creating an independent label. I have not tested that one though but I know Tunecore gets a good name.

Create the lyrics for a song using four large circles

A good way to come up with lyrics is to get an empty sheet of paper, draw four large circles and place a theme idea in each of the circles. Once you've done that, create branches off the circles with sub ideas. Don't think too hard about it, just do it. This then can become a spring board for writing four verses. But first, come up with a big fat hook chorus!

The I wrote the song 'Lament for a Season'

Lament for a Season was written during a very difficult time in my life and this is reflected in the sad mood of this instrumental piece. The good news is that it was just for a season, and now I've written it, I can move on to write some upbeat, joyful songs. If you want to hear Lament for a Seaons, it's on http://www.andydouglas.com/