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Five Songwriting Tips Inspired by Leonard Cohen
A poet, a brilliant guitarist and composer, an unconventional artist. Leonard Cohen was all of this and more. His unique approach to songwriting, mostly inherited by a passion for poetry and a natural tendency for deep reflections, gave us legendary songs like Suzanne, Hallelujah, and I'm Your Man, just to name a few. His razor-sharp voice, intricate arpeggios, and crystal-clear verses all contributed to the several masterpieces he has released throughout his long career, which abruptly ended with his death, in 2016. During several interviews, Leonard Cohen highligthed how he did not have a clear songwriting method or approach to teach. On one of these occasions, he said that being a songwriter is like being a nun, as songwriters are married to a mystery. Moreover, he identified his methods as obscure and not to be replicated. Yet, his influence on many of us, younger songwriters, is undeniable. It would be a mistake not to consider his reflections, ideas, and scattered pieces of advice on our craft. In fact, his methods might have been obscure, but his songs and his words are still a great source of inspiration for a lot of artists. In this article, I will go through five songwriting tips inspired by Leonard Cohen. Some of them are taken from his contribution to the book Songwriters on Songwriting, by Paul Zollo. Others are taken from bits and pieces of different interviews, while most are my own interpretation of Leonard's view. Are you ready? Let's start with the most important topic: motivation.
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Five Songwriting Tips Inspired by Sixto Rodriguez
At the age of 80, Sixto Rodriguez is finally a music legend. A rockstar. After years spent in obscurity, without even knowing how famous he was, the musician can now enjoy some spotlight (and his well-deserved royalties). Rodriguez is far from being a mainstream phenomenon. He recorded a few albums in the 1970s, but he soon went back to his job in construction when he realized he could not support his family with his profits from music. Until very recently, when the documentary Searching for Sugar Man came out in 2012, very few people in the Northern hemisphere knew about his songs. Things were different in the Southern hemisphere, especially in South Africa and South America, where his tunes became the soundtrack of rebellions against racism and segregation. A shame that, in the pre-internet world, he had no idea of the impact his songs were having. Rather than keep pursuing music in the States, where he could not make ends meet with record sales and live gigs, he decided to change direction and embrace what seemed to be his destiny as a working-class, second-generation Mexican immigrant. After all, as he likes to say, nothing beats reality. However, that very reality came back knocking on his door. Thanks to the producers of Searching for Sugar Man, he discovered how big his music had been for decades. This way, he had a chance to recoup the royalties he was owed, get back on stage, and finally pursue a music career. To celebrate his birthday, and his amazing story, I decided to dedicate this week's article to his songwriting style. Due to his reserved nature and the circumstances under which he became famous, I couldn't find much about his take on songwriting. So I decided to have my own take on the matter and isolate five songwriting lessons from some of his best songs. Let's get started!
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Five Songwriting Tips Inspired by Paul McCartney
In celebration of his 80th birthday, I decided to dedicate this week's article to Paul McCartney. Both as a solo artist and as part of the brilliant songwriting duo Lennon-McCartney, the ex-Beatle gave us some of the most popular and powerful rock and pop songs ever written. Moreover, he was and still is a crazily prolific writer. His love for songwriting and dedication to the craft seems to be the real spark behind his enormous success, so I thought we could all learn a lot from his advice. Let's see how Sir McCartney has managed to keep producing tons of amazing tunes in the span of his more-than-sixty-year career. These are five songwriting tips inspired by him.
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Five Songwriting Tips Inspired by John Lennon
This week, I decided to write about one of my favorite artists, and my favorite Beatle: John Lennon. I had to shoo some doubts away before getting started, not because Lennon could be quite a controversial character sometimes, but mostly because it is very hard to find some structure in such a huge personality. When we talk about any member of the Beatles, we are dealing with some legendary material, so it can be very easy to jump to commonplace conclusions or just feed some sort of worshipping. Instead, I wanted to dig out five practical and useful tips that any young songwriter can learn from John Lennon, surely a legend, but also a man, and an artist like you and me. So I started going through some old interviews and demo recordings, trying to find a pattern in the work and the process behind so many great songs. Here are five tips I came up with.
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Five Songwriting Tips Inspired by Kurt Cobain
Love them or hate them, Nirvana was one of the most influential bands of the 90s. With his enigmatic songwriting style and suffered lyrics, bandleader Kurt Cobain inspired a whole generation and more, becoming a true rock icon that still impacts musicians and music lovers around the globe. Kurt Cobain still has a lot to teach to young songwriters, especially the ones who feel they can't fit in the mainstream world or the traditional approach to writing. On the other hand, many musicians argue that Kurt Cobain was not so great after all. Since he didn't follow the rules and chose a very personal songwriting method instead, they feel he should not be followed as a good example. My view, however, is quite different. Of course, Kurt didn't write following the rules of music theory. He wrote pretty enigmatic and incoherent lyrics that he couldn't really explain either. He used his guitar in quite a peculiar way too, but all of this doesn't make his songs any less interesting, influential, and relatable. We could criticize the technical aspect of Kurt Cobain's songwriting (although, in doing so, we should probably apply the same strict meter to a lot of other rock icons too), but we cannot deny how generations of young people related to those songs in quite a strong, almost visceral way. Kurt Cobain's songs influenced my adolescence too. I would dare to say that Nirvana's albums are a sort of rite of passage for some people. Teenagers who dig rock music and who feel somehow "out of place" often find a comforting home in those peculiar guitar riffs and enigmatic lyrics. This is why I think it is worth studying Kurt's songwriting style and finding some inspiring tips in his work. Let's get started!
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Five Alternate Guitar Tunings Inspired by Joni Mitchell
Your guitar can be an amazingly flexible instrument. This comes in handy when you want to break your songwriting habits and experiment with some new sounds. Alternate tunings can be a powerful tool to expand your sound palette and make your songs more interesting. After all, the number of popular hits based on alternate tunings is quite high. Some examples include You Can't Always Get What You Want, by The Rolling Stones, Iris, by the Goo Goo Dolls, and Simple Twist of Fate, by Bob Dylan. Among the many artists and songwriters who frequently used alternate guitar tunings to expand their sonic and harmonic possibilities, Joni Mitchell is probably the undisputed queen. With more than 52 different guitar tunings in her repertoire, Joni is an endless source of inspiration for any songwriter who would like to experiment with a different approach to the instrument. In this article, I will guide you through five alternate tunings inspired by Joni Mitchell. I am sure these will help you in finding new interesting solutions for your next song. Before moving on, let me send a huge thank you and give a shoutout to the amazing community behind Joni's official website, where some amazing musicians took the time to transcribe all of her songs and classify them according to their tuning. It is a great resource for beginner songwriters and guitarists. Make sure to check the website out and maybe send them some love.
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Five Songwriting Tips Inspired by Tom Waits
Tom Waits is one of the best songwriters of all time. If you don't believe me, you probably haven't heard songs like Hold On, I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You, or Jersey Girl, just to name a few of my personal favorites. Tom Waits has a very peculiar way of delivering his storytelling. Maybe this is due to his "second job" as an actor (remember him in Bram Stoker's Dracula?), but, to me, many of his songs almost sound like movies. While listening to his voice, singing verse after verse, I can picture vivid scenes in my head. It's just like reading a great novel or immerse myself in a beautiful film. After all, he is so great at describing even the dumbest things with the most brilliant images or metaphors. But Tom Waits is a great storyteller even when he doesn't write songs. Have a look at some of his interviews (there are a bunch on YouTube): you'll notice that he is just great with words, even in that context. Going down the rabbit hole of Tom Waits' quotes on the art of songwriting, I realized how precious his advice is. So I decided to write this article. For more insight on Tom Waits' songwriting process and other random thoughts, have a look at the book Tom Waits on Tom Waits, Interviews and Encounter.
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What Songwriters Can Learn From Joni Mitchell
If you know me, you also know that I am obsessed with Joni Mitchell. My first encounter with her music happened when I was 14. My singing teacher suggested I listened to Goodbye Porkpie Hat to realize what I could do with my voice. Not a great start for a kid who considered herself a punk! Years later, at around 18 or 19, I gave that song a second chance and it simply blew my mind this time. When I discovered the rest of her discography, I understood that I wanted to sound just like her. There are so many things young songwriters can learn from Joni Mitchell. From her personal and innovative approach to her impressive musical instinct, the list of golden nuggets we can uncover by studying her work is quite long and useful. Let's start with the very first lesson we can all learn from her.
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What Songwriters Can Learn From David Bowie
As one of the most eclectic and bold artists of our time, David Bowie left a huge void when he passed away in 2016. Only a few other songwriters had dared to experiment as much as he did. His discography is full of innovations, plot twists, and nuggets of inspiration for aspiring songwriters. In case you are not very familiar with his tunes, here is a non-exhaustive list of songs you should check out (and why)!
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