Q. What style of songwriting is LyricPro best suited for?
A. Although I am primarily a Country songwriter and live in Nashville, I also write Rockabilly, Pop, and Irish songs. LyricPro lets you work with any style of song. There is a form to input your own style of music for selection in a drop-down list at various other points in the program. The 12 Steps to Competitive Songwriting section is also geared to Country, but that entire section is included in this site, so if it doesn't help you, you can easily ignore it. I think there are plenty of tips that are appropriate to any style of songwriting.
Q. Is LyricPro only a lyric-writing program?
A. Yes and No. LyricPro is basically a songwriter's secretary, a simple to use program which does everything from store your title ideas to record all the profits from your first big number one hit! It won't help you with the actual music of the song, but it will help with the structure, and without the proper structure, your song will never get off the ground. It will also allow you to create and store Number or Chord Charts. These are the type of charts most used by showcase bands, demo and final session musicians. To get an idea of all the other stuff it does, click here.
Q. What won't your program do?
A. I"m thinking, I'm thinking... no, seriously. It won't force you to sit on your fanny hours every day to write. It won't force you to call that Publisher. But if you want to do either of those things, it will make your job a heck of a lot easier by organizing and inspiring your entire songwriting life.
Q. What if my song doesn't fall into the regular verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus pattern?
A. Each tab on the Write Lyrics page represents one verse, or chorus, etc. Usually you would work on each part separately and when viewed, they would appear as a properly formatted lyric sheet. If your song doesn't have a bridge, you would ignore that tab and the lyric sheet would flow normally from chorus to verse. You can also "fudge" the whole system by "cheating". Let's say you are writing a ballad with endless verses but nothing else. You might just write everything into one or two of the verse tabs. You can preview the results and adjust accordingly.
FURTHER QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE ABOUT SONGWRITING AS A CAREER (I did):
Q. What is the biggest mistake a songwriter can make?
A. Exposing their songs to publishers before they are ready. It's not all that difficult to get a door open, but keeping it open... that's a different matter...
Q. I know my songs are as good as anything out there? How come this %*&@$ Publisher didn’t jump on them like fleas on a dog?
A. Generally, Publishers reject songs for one of three reasons.
Q. Do I need to move to Nashville to be successful in Country Music?
A. Great songs are everything, but it’s very difficult to judge how your songs stack up if you're not part of the Nashville scene (plus, if you love music, it’s Hog Heaven). A successful songwriter once told me that if you want to climb mountains, you have to go where the mountains are. That’s true, but let me add this: don’t go to the mountains until you have become a competitive mountain climber. Don’t try to tackle Mount Everest until you’ve learned at least how to scramble up the local quarry.
Q. How do songwriters get their money?
A. By working as waiters and waitresses (until they have their first number one hit, then all they have to do is walk to the mail-box).
A. Although I am primarily a Country songwriter and live in Nashville, I also write Rockabilly, Pop, and Irish songs. LyricPro lets you work with any style of song. There is a form to input your own style of music for selection in a drop-down list at various other points in the program. The 12 Steps to Competitive Songwriting section is also geared to Country, but that entire section is included in this site, so if it doesn't help you, you can easily ignore it. I think there are plenty of tips that are appropriate to any style of songwriting.
Q. Is LyricPro only a lyric-writing program?
A. Yes and No. LyricPro is basically a songwriter's secretary, a simple to use program which does everything from store your title ideas to record all the profits from your first big number one hit! It won't help you with the actual music of the song, but it will help with the structure, and without the proper structure, your song will never get off the ground. It will also allow you to create and store Number or Chord Charts. These are the type of charts most used by showcase bands, demo and final session musicians. To get an idea of all the other stuff it does, click here.
Q. What won't your program do?
A. I"m thinking, I'm thinking... no, seriously. It won't force you to sit on your fanny hours every day to write. It won't force you to call that Publisher. But if you want to do either of those things, it will make your job a heck of a lot easier by organizing and inspiring your entire songwriting life.
Q. What if my song doesn't fall into the regular verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus pattern?
A. Each tab on the Write Lyrics page represents one verse, or chorus, etc. Usually you would work on each part separately and when viewed, they would appear as a properly formatted lyric sheet. If your song doesn't have a bridge, you would ignore that tab and the lyric sheet would flow normally from chorus to verse. You can also "fudge" the whole system by "cheating". Let's say you are writing a ballad with endless verses but nothing else. You might just write everything into one or two of the verse tabs. You can preview the results and adjust accordingly.
FURTHER QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE ABOUT SONGWRITING AS A CAREER (I did):
Q. What is the biggest mistake a songwriter can make?
A. Exposing their songs to publishers before they are ready. It's not all that difficult to get a door open, but keeping it open... that's a different matter...
Q. I know my songs are as good as anything out there? How come this %*&@$ Publisher didn’t jump on them like fleas on a dog?
A. Generally, Publishers reject songs for one of three reasons.
- The song is not competitive.
- The song is good but not great, and not what a particular Publisher is looking for.
- The song is great, but the Publisher is having such a bad day, week, month, year, life, that he was only being polite in listening in the first place.
Q. Do I need to move to Nashville to be successful in Country Music?
A. Great songs are everything, but it’s very difficult to judge how your songs stack up if you're not part of the Nashville scene (plus, if you love music, it’s Hog Heaven). A successful songwriter once told me that if you want to climb mountains, you have to go where the mountains are. That’s true, but let me add this: don’t go to the mountains until you have become a competitive mountain climber. Don’t try to tackle Mount Everest until you’ve learned at least how to scramble up the local quarry.
Q. How do songwriters get their money?
A. By working as waiters and waitresses (until they have their first number one hit, then all they have to do is walk to the mail-box).