Top 10 Tips For Writing Hit Songs

1.) Keep a Journal/Diary

Whether you use an electronic gadget or a pen and notepad, record your thoughts, and ideas regularly. Ideas for song titles, lyrics, melodies, subject matters etc will pop into your head and you need to have a place to put them for future reference. Keep everything that you write and record because although you might not like the finished product there might be a line or two in a song that you can use in another song.

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2.) Originality

The key to the attraction of sound is known to be distinction. There are many examples of artists with little talent enjoying far greater success than artists with an abundance of talent, Why? There are many reasons that you could cite but one of them will be that they have a sound that is instantly recognizable as being theirs. It is not a case of being better but of being distinctive. Furthermore do not take that too far; if you sound too wacky you will alienate your target audience. Distinction needs to be applied in a subtle fashion.

3.) The Craft of Songwriting

You need to study songwriting as you would engineering if you want to build a car or carpentry if you want to work with wood. Understand the nuances of writing not just what a verse and a chorus is. Are your verses in the right order? No. Really this is a common error. If there is a story, and I hope there is, the lyric needs to flow and make sense. The bridge isn't just there as a musical interlude it is there to give you an opportunity to evolve and develop your lyric. Don't try to be too clever with arrangements or you will lose the attention of your listener. The attention span of human beings in 2010 is shorter than ever.

4.) Listen

Listen to those that have had the hits and not just Lady Gaga, Metallica or Usher. Listen to the true greats of songwriting whose music has resonated over decades. There is a reason why those songs still get played and listened to 60, 50, 40, 30 years later. They are classic examples of how to capture the attention of the listener and keep it.....forever. The Bee Gees had hits in the '60's, '70's, '80's,'90's and '00's. That is a hell of a period of time to continually make music that people want to play. Mozart never struggled to come up with an ending did he? He never needed to fade out at the end of a piece of music. Have you listened to the '50's recordings of Sinatra or Elvis Presley. All recorded live, no overdubs and stunning. Why? How? Because they were genuinely talented and LISTENED.

5.) Focus

When writing your lyric maintain your focus on the subject matter. Don't meander and hope the listener happens to be on your wavelength. It has to be a lyric they can make sense of at 7am in the morning on the way to work without having to think about it too hard. The 7am test is important, If you can make someone listen to your song at that hour without wanting to kill you then you have a hit.

6.) Educate yourself

I once managed a Thrash metal band of 17 year old kids. We had a meeting at the guitarist's house one day and I looked through his record collection. He had Django Reinhardt, U2, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Public Enemy. I encouraged them to infuse their music with those influences. Within 12 months we had a deal with EMI. Broaden your musical horizons. You may surprise yourself.

7.) Words

Don't be afraid to let your stream of conscience flow. I know one songwriter that went out with his friends for a few drinks, came home and wrote a song in 10 minutes. The writer was a guy called Paul Weller, the song was called That's Entertainment. Go and Google it. It was a huge hit in Europe and is an iconic song over there. It is as he wrote it. No edit. Sometimes you just have to let it flow.

8.) Are you still a fan

Are you writing songs from a perspective other than that of being the same fan of music that you were when you started? If you are then quit and go and work in a bank. You need to have enthusiasm, an unquenchable thirst for music and knowledge and an excitement when you hear a new band that you love that takes you back to the day when you heard the first song that you fell in love with. Stay fresh, inspired and inquisitive. Always.

9.) Be curious.

I am not just talking about being curious with music. Be curious about books, movies, people, life, culture, other art forms, the list is endless and will drive your imagination and the development of your songwriting.

10.) Skill

If you are a writer of music or a writer of words and melodies there are two things that you need to remember. The first is do what you do every day and then do it again. And again. The second is that sometimes it is not what you play that matters or throwing loads of words in that show how clever you are. Sometimes you need to leave words out to let the melody do the work, drop a chord to leave the listener some aural space to let the lyric sink in.

To put it simply it is not what you play that matters sometimes it is what you don't play.

Top 10 Tips For Writing Hit Songs