Co-writer Characteristic #7 of 10: Preparedness

Know yourself. It's that easy, and it's that complicated.

Knowing yourself allows you to best be prepared to show up and create with another person. Not only will you have a clear view of your own strengths and weaknesses, but you'll sense how your unique creative vision and voice can blend with a collaborator's. You will be able to mutually enhance the song by entering into each other's creative space.

Being prepared includes: 

• Getting a good night's sleep 
• Keeping an organized schedule 
• Researching your co-writer's style and voice 
• Keeping a list of melody and lyric ideas to use as a launching point for a song 
• Showing up on time 
• And the list goes on... 

The most prepared songwriter will write the best song possible. 

Keep writing (and preparing),

Ben

------ Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Co-writer Characteristic #6 of 10: Teachability

Brittany's grandparents have always been a great example of what it means to be teachable. They are in the 80s and are still open to learning new things every day. The key to their teachability is their openness to things that don't necessarily fit into their paradigm, an uncommon trait for people their age who have "seen it all."

One of my favorite lines from any song is in "What a Wonderful World." I love hearing Louis Armstrong sing these words:

I hear babies cry
I watch them grow
They'll learn much more
Than I'll ever know
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world



This is what it means for me to be teachable: understand that I don't understand everything, and that my lack of understanding is something wonderful. I mean, who wants to live in a world without mystery or wonder?

Keep writing (and being teachable),

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Creative Speed Bumps

When trying to get into a creative flow, it is essential to identify and remove any barriers along the way. A creative speed bump is anything that distracts your artistic focus, in the same way that an alarm clock pulls you out of your dreams. Creative speed bumps include, but are not limited to:

Incoming text messages, phone calls, emails, interruption by a passer-by, a smoke break, a bathroom break, a snack break, lunch break, a funny story, a side comment, brain-shaped popcorn (see photo), etc.

Obviously there are times where some of those examples could be appropriate during a co-write. However, the timing is of utmost importance. Instead of a speed bump, an interruption could function as more of a rest stop along the creative highway. Sometimes the best thing you can do for the song (and for your relationship with your co-writer) is to get out and stretch for a few minutes.

(In unrelated news, Speed Bump happens to be my favorite comic.)

Keep writing,

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Co-writer Characteristic #5 of 10: Discipline

Discipline sounds scary. Maybe it reminds you of getting being sent to the principal's office. Or maybe it sounds restricting. Who wants to do something they don't feel like doing?

Once you get into the habit of writing, whether alone or with another person, you will inevitably encounter days where you wake up feeling like you don't want to create.

In that moment, you have an opportunity to either follow your feeling (and cancel your co-write) or to show up. In almost every situation, the right choice is to show up. You may feel uninspired until you sit down at the piano; until you talk to your co-writer; until you play around with two dead-end ideas.

Dictionary.com defines discipline as an "activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill; training."

It reminds me of high school basketball off-season, where we were encouraged to attend optional weight-training sessions at 8:00am on Summer mornings. Who wakes up wanting to go subject themselves to something they don't feel like doing? The dedicated. Be dedicated, and don't be afraid to show up even when you don't feel like showing up.

Keep writing (and showing up),

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Solomon's Co-writing Wisdom

Living about 3,000 years ago, King Solomon may have been the first co-writer we know of. Yes, that may be purely speculation, but here's why I think so:

“Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help.”

“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”

Keep writing (and co-writing),

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Co-writer Characteristic #4 of 10: Patience

Patience is kind of boring. I want to write a song in the morning, email it to my publisher in the afternoon and hear the song on the radio by evening. That, of course, isn't how it works. "Hurry up and wait" is the saying on Music Row.

To a farmer, a watched seed never grows. It's not our job as songwriters to mull over every single detail pertaining to where our song ends up after it leaves the pencil and hits the pad. There are just too many factors that go into the journey of a song to easily understand how to make a tangible difference in how well a song does.

My friend Cliff Goldmacher says it well in his recent post. Read it on BMI's website here.

Keep writing,

Ben

------ Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Two Prettiest People in the Room

Ken and Barbie; the knight and princess; the quarterback and cheerleader; the prom king and queen - the list goes on. We have the idea that the two best-looking people in the room should be sitting at the same table. Likewise, it only seems obvious that the two best songwriters in town should always be working together. The truth, however, is that the two most beautiful people in the room often don't get along well. You could put the two most successful writers in the same room to write a song, and the outcome could be a mediocre offering. The exciting flip side of that reality is that two good songwriters could easily produce a great song. As Solomon points out, the sum of the two is greater than twice what each of them could accomplish on their own. It's like two imperfect people falling in perfect love.

I believe it was veteran writer Jeffrey Steele who used a baseball metaphor to describe co-writing relationships. He said the healthiest relationships involve both a pitcher and a catcher. Two pitchers will just spout ideas, never completely honing in on a focused idea, while two catchers will sit there quietly watching the clock. It's imperative to know where you fall in the equation, and to also recognize this as a legitimate explanation as to why some co-writes just don't click.

The NBA Finals this year was another example to me of pure talent not being a substitute for working well with one another.

Keep writing,

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Co-writer Characteristic #3 of 10: Gracefulness

Sometimes it's hard to stand up for what you believe. Occasionally one of my co-writers suggests a line containing vulgarities. One thing I always strive to do is create art that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Usually family-friendly songs aren't vulgar. So what options do I have in that moment?

1. Tell them their idea stinks.

2. Ignore them.

3. Offer a better solution.

If I truly believe that great art doesn't need to stand on the crutches of vulgarity, I should be able to come up with a better alternative line every time. Telling them their idea was bad or just ignoring them is in no way honoring, but acknowledging their idea and gently adjusting it is a way to make them feel valued and understood.

In my experience, most writers admit they don't really want to be vulgar anyway, which leads me to believe they are trying to appease someone else's expectations rather than their own. A good collaborator will try to speak 100% truth in 100% grace at all times.

Keep writing (and speaking truth gracefully),

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Co-writer Characteristic #2 of 10: Servant Attitude

Congratulations, David & Laura!

It's hard to serve someone or something other than myself, but I believe it's essential for a songwriter's growth. Serve the song first, then the collaborator/publisher/label/fans/spouse second.

Serving the song involves a willingness to get rid of your favorite line if it's for the good of the entire song. Serving the co-writer involves a willingness to follow them down a path you may have never gone down before. Interestingly enough, it can also mean a willingness to lead the other writer down a path they have never been down. It is possible to serve and lead at the same time.

In serving others, we are actually serving ourselves. And this isn't necessarily selfishness. By focusing on others first we are no longer holding so tightly to what we think to be right and true that we miss what is actually right and true.

Keep writing (and serving),

Ben

Co-writer Characteristic #1 of 10: Humility

This is the first in a series of ten posts about the characteristics of a good co-writer. Though things like humility, discipline and joyfulness may seem to have little to do with creating music, they has everything to do with working well with others. The first characteristic of a successful co-writer is humility.

A practiced songwriter is a humble songwriter.

The reality is that 95% of a professional writer's work usually has the lifetime of a helium balloon. It may stay afloat for a few days, but it gradually loses its air. Most of the time we don't get much recognition for the hard work we do. That's humbling.

Keep writing,

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Questions - When?

As songwriters, it's essential to be ready to capture an idea at a moment's notice. The best and most natural song titles, stories and melodies tend to appear out of the thin air of everyday life.

When do you write songs?

I've often been asked how I'm able to schedule inspiration. Most weekdays, I meet with another collaborator around 10:30am to write a song. It would be impossible to convince my soul and mind to be running full steam ahead at 10:30am on the dot, five days a week. The reality is that instead of showing up already inspired, I show up ready to be inspired.

One tangible thing that helps is keeping a list of ideas that may catch my attention throughout my day. This allows me to look back at a list of inspiring launch points at 10:30am.

Keep writing,

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Scheduled Inspiration

“How is it possible mark your calendar to be inspired?” I often get asked this question when I tell people what I do four, and sometimes five, days a week.

There's nothing more draining than showing up somewhere like a co-write and feeling like you've somehow failed because you don't feel inspired or creative. I've been there. And I learned something very important as a result.

At first I thought the key was coming up with some profound musical or lyrical idea to bring to every co-write. But I quickly ended up with more co-writes than "profound" ideas.

Thankfully, one of the days that I was short on ideas was a day where my co-writer and I ended up writing one of my favorite songs to this day, "Bare Feet" (track #2 on my EP, The Way I See Her). What I came to realize was that, instead of my initial song idea delegating the direction, in this situation the song grew organically as a truer collaboration.

I've actually erred on the opposite side of the spectrum, showing up to co-writes more often than not without any song title or lyric idea. But I've also realized there's a certain level of creative accountability that comes with taking ideas to co-writes. If I know I want to take an idea, then I'll keep my antennae up for things that inspire. And as John Wooden said, “Failing to prepare meant preparing to fail.”

So to answer the original question about marking my calendar for inspiration, I do it by showing up ready to be inspired rather than showing up pre-inspired. And that mindset keeps the anxiety levels way down.

Keep writing (and preparing),

Ben

What is a Co-write?

A co-write is a process in which two or more songwriters collaborate on writing a song. Generally, each writer gets an equal amount of credit for their effort (2 people, 50% each; 3 people, 33% each, etc.).

Co-writes usually consist of about 20% talking, 10% creating and 70% editing, often in that order. The 20% talking portion allows the songwriters to catch up on life, effectively getting on the same page. Sometimes an idea for the song will be born out of these conversations. The 10% creating portion is where the writers share from their notebooks of potential song ideas, or they fiddle around on instruments and create something out of nothing.

When the writers get inspired by the same melody, lyric or chord progression, the song has begun, and continues developing in a type of ping-pong-style conversation. This can be the most nerve-wracking and intimidating part of collaborating creatively with someone else, but I find it the most exciting and energizing at the same time.

As mentioned before, editing is 70% of the co-writing process. This is where a song goes from good to great. This is where the music and lyric are married, creating an inseparable bond. For more on the editing process, read my previous post here.

Keep writing,

Ben

Songwriting Article in The Tennessean

Last week there was a pretty interesting article about the business of songwriting in Nashville's newspaper, The Tennessean.

Read it here.

Also, I found this video on The Tennessean's website helpful:



Keep writing,

Ben

Editing - the Key to Songwriting?

I used to wait for lightning to strike. And when I did find inspiration, I was afraid to change anything about the original way I would write a lyric or melody. I thought, "Who am I to mess with something that's been inspired?!"

As a result, I spent far more time creating than editing. I could just wait until an idea slapped me across the face and then go sit at the piano. The result was a lot of OK songs.

However, I’ve learned that it’s more important and beneficial to be willing to throw out my favorite line than to make the rest of the song suffer. In songwriting, everything is expendable. If a line doesn't support the song as a whole, there is a better way to say it.

With more experience comes the ability to edit on the fly. I've even stopped halfway through vocalizing a line because I realized it wasn't the right direction for the song. Even our initial instincts, when it comes to how a line should be written, are sharpened with practice. The stronger the editing muscle, the more effortless the creative process can become.

Keep writing (and editing),

Ben

Five Times

I recently wrote with a guy who had written a song that was recorded by one of the most successful female country artists of our time. We met at his place where he had a room dedicated to writing and recording. In addition to some family photos, I noticed a plaque hanging on one wall, congratulating him on the sales of over 5,000,000 records. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: “What an accomplishment!”
Him: “Yeah, my wife encouraged me to put it up, but I think it needs to come down.”
Me: “But why wouldn’t you want to display that?”
Him: “Because it just reminds me that I haven’t done it since.”

You see, he had written that song about five years before the day we got together to write. It made me sad that he must come into that room five days a week to create, but immediately feel the pressure not to fail again.

Photo by rafaelmarquez. Used with permission.

I realized that it is my human tendency to always be looking forward to the next thing. I naturally am always focused on reaching the next mountain peak. But I believe the key to enjoying a career as a songwriter is to write songs because you enjoy writing songs, and for no other reason. Everything else is icing on the cake, including a big hit or a #1 song.

When I think about looking back at the end of my career, do I want to remember being happy five times (when I made it to the mountain peaks)? Or do I want to remember being happy five times a week?


Keep writing,

Ben