Even when I’m officially ‘teaching Songwriting’, I shy away from the idea that I’m ‘teaching’ Songwriting.  I think of it more as ‘helping songwriters get better’ (even beginners).  It’s not math: 2 + 2 doesn’t always equal 4… it’s not that clearcut.  There’s no International Supreme Court of Songwriting to adjudicate questions (fortunately).

What a songwriter has to work with are choices that depend on context.  ‘Moon‘ and ‘tune‘ make a perfect rhyme.  ‘Moon‘ and ‘room‘ is not “perfect”, but can work even better, depending on the song.  ‘Moon‘ and ‘sure‘ is a distant rhyme, but in the right place could also work (depending on context), because the vowel sound is very close.

We’re trying to tune our ears to sound – not to what’s ‘right’ or ‘wrong’.

Let’s say 4 bars of a song’s melody might be harmonized with 3 bars of a ‘C’ chord and 1 bar of a ‘G’.  Alternatively, those 3 bars of ‘C’ could instead cycle through several other related chords (maybe A-, E-, D… depends on the melody and the key) before going to the ‘G’.  Which is better?  Which is right?  It’s a judgement call; a matter of taste.  There’s never a definitive answer.

The main thing I can do is to help songwriters (including myself) to become more conscious of the choices.  That rhyming ‘tune‘, ‘room‘, and ‘sure‘ with ‘moon‘ all sound and feel different – and I think a good songwriter will feel those as significant differences.  Having a couple of chords go by instead of just staying on ‘C’ feels different and adds a different emotional subtext to the words and melody.

Much of learning about songwriting is about developing awareness of and then sensitivity to the different choices… and then knowing (feeling) which one is right for your song.  So there’s a lot to learn… but you learn to expand your palette, to be less predictable – not to get it ‘right’.

And that brings us to the other important part, and another reason why I think ‘teaching’ songwriting is best done with a light touch.  The writer ultimately has to call upon their own taste and feeling to decide what’s ‘right’ for their song on that particular day.  When trying to understand a particular area of craft, or doing technical exercises, or trying to imitate someone, say, it’s helpful to try to do it ‘right’.  That way you learn what a specific device sounds and feels like.  I believe doing that is really useful and important.

But writing is ultimately a creative act, a wandering in the wilderness searching for something that only you can find.  A teacher or mentor can point you in the right direction, they can help you learn the survival skills, but you still have to stay in contact with that feeling in your gut that tells you, ‘This – not that – is it.’