Songwriting is one of the essential parts of creating music. Without the lyrics, muscians would have no words to sing over instrumentation.
Many newbie musicians that have never written a song in their lives are often faced with the challenge of evolving to become not only a songwriter, but a good songwriter.
In this post I’m going to address how difficult It is to be a songwriter because it’s a question that comes in most music production forums. I hope this information I provide here helps you in your journey.
With that said, how difficult is it to be a songwriter?
On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d rank the difficulty of being a songwriter as an 8 or a 9. It’s pretty difficult to become a good songwriter because there are many things involved in song writing. And most people just aren’t willing to keep up with the learning process, therefore, they quit.
The many things to know about being a songwriter.
Practice
A lot goes into developing any skill and this is the case for songwriting.
Not all people are born around music or songwriting to be influenced enough to be considered “naturally gifted or naturally inclined” writers.
For most writers, learning songwriting is a hustle.
This is the case for most people.
It takes a lot to thrive in this industry and without rigorous practice to be above par, you simply cannot be a good songwriter.
For one looking to get into songwriting, it’s only right that you prepare yourself both mentally and physically for the hardwork that you’ll have to put in.
Performing music is as much an art as songwriting so don’t be fooled.
You will need to put in the work to get good at this craft.
With that said, the sheer amount of work that goes into developing songwriting as a skill is one of the reasons why it’s considered difficult.
In reality, all skills are difficult because you certainly have to put in the work.
Industries and careers may differ but what remains the same is that hardwork is necessary for anyone to succeed in any industry or career.
Musical understanding
Writing music demands a deep understanding of music.
In essence, you’re writing songs and to do that, you need to know what makes up a song and how to write them.
Part of the learning curve in songwriting is developing an understanding of music.
This musical understanding is what acts as the foundation on which writing skills can grow.
As you practice, you’ll become better with your words and music as an art.
This also takes time to develop, but the good news is, it’s much easier to follow how others approach songs and music when writing.
You can Google some of your favourite writers and figure out how they mesh lyrics with instrumentation.
You have to be unique
What separates the best in a career from the average is authenticity.
Being unique can only come from you being yourself because there are no two people who think and experience reality the same.
Therefore, as you go about learning and picking up various nuances and concepts that come with writing music, always remember to be who you are.
You can get inspired by the writing of other great songwriters but you should never try to copy them.
Try to understand the process by watching the best, then become the best at what you do by applying process in your own unique way.
Not everything you write will be liked
One thing you have to accept as a new songwriter is that not everyone will like your stuff.
This is one of the reasons why this career is difficult.
People have different tastes and while your writing may appeal to a specific set of people, It may not appeal to others.
Therefore, you need to know this and come to terms with it because taking things personally just makes it very difficult for you to succeed as a songwriter.
Final Thoughts
One other reason why being a songwriter is difficult is because its so competitive.
There are many songwriters out there that are talented and above average.
To succeed in this industry, you have to compete with people at your level and with people that you would consider outside your league.
It’s for this reason that practicing has to be your priority because one thing you can be sure of is that, you’ll need to write many bad songs before you start writing good ones.
And even after you start writing good songs, it’s going to take you a while to build a reputation that will get you gigs and get you paid.
