Hey Reader, One of the prompts inside our current Songwriting Sprint is called "Listen Like an Anthropologist." The exercise is simple. Choose the current #1 song in your genre (or any genre you're curious about), then listen with one question in mind: "Why does this work?" As you listen, jot down every technique you notice—not whether you like the song, but what it's actually doing. Maybe it's the way the chorus melody stays on a single high note. Maybe the drums don't arrive until halfway...
about 20 hours ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, Benny here from How To Write Songs 👋 A few minutes before filming a recent tutorial, I sat down and asked myself a simple question: What's really on my mind? Not ‘writing from a title’. Nothing clever. No wordplay, or fancy chords. I wrote about the things that had been quietly sitting in the background of my life: worries about the future, family changes, the strange weight of getting older, and watching my children reflect back uncomfortable truths about myself. None of those...
17 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, Keppie here from How To Write Songs 👋 I just finished reading the new Arundhati Roy memoir (with a delightful music reference in the title). She wrote something that really struck a chord with me. In describing her complicated and surprising reaction to her mother's death (and an intersecting meditation on why people revere their persecutors), she said this: There is something knotty here, something puzzling about the human condition in all of this...I’m weary of endless theories...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
In last week's email, I promised to send you some of my favourite lyric writing exercises. This one is about clichés — and I know what you're thinking. Avoid clichés. Everyone says so. Got it. But here's what I actually think: Clichés are one of the most powerful raw materials a songwriter has. Not because they're good, but because they're known. When I say "my heart was broken," you don't have to work to understand me. That meaning arrives instantly, pre-loaded, ready. The phrase has been...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
AI can't actually write better lyrics than you. I want to tell you something important, songwriter to songwriter: AI cannot write better lyrics than you can. I'm going to tell you why, and it's not what you think. Not "AI can't feel," or "your perspective is totally unique" (both true, but easy to dismiss when AI spits out something that resembles feeling, and is a passable equivalent of lived experience). I went to AI school These past two weeks, I've been taking a short course on AI for...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader! On Sunday, the epic Early Bird access to the next 8-week Songwriting Sprint closes! Join now before the 33% discount disappears, and the Sprints become full-price (at $75). Register Now What really shows the impact of deadlines, accountability, and creative prompts aren’t my words—it’s the experiences of past Sprinters: Joan H. "I’m just so happy to have other ears to listen to my songs. It’s like a whole extra bonus, knowing that I can put something out there that’s not finished...
2 months ago • 1 min read
There’s a quiet trap most songwriters fall into. And it’s not about rhymes. Or melody. Or structure. It’s this: We assume the listener knows what we know. This came up in one of our live feedback sessions this week (the fully human kind. Real faces. Real songs. Real-time reactions. No sycophantic AI applauding everything you do as a "great choice"). One of our members shared a beautiful song about a lonely touring musician. The imagery was cohesive, the world of the song was clear, and the...
2 months ago • 1 min read
The June Songwriting Sprint is open for registration! Register Now Early Bird pricing ($50) closes May 17th What's a Songwriting Sprint? The Songwriting Sprint is a focused, 8-week creative experience designed to help you write more songs — consistently, simply, and without overwhelm. You’ll join a small group of up to 12 songwriters, receive a fresh songwriting prompt every two weeks, and use built-in deadlines, community support, and feedback to keep your songwriting moving forward. You can...
3 months ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, It's Keppie here! There’s a storytelling mistake that shows up in songs all the time. And it has nothing to do with rhyme schemes or chord choices. It’s this: We bury the most interesting idea. This came up inside one of our live feedback sessions this week — the real, live, slightly messy, beautifully human kind where we can actually move sections around and hear the difference instantly. A songwriter had written a strong verse with a compelling image buried halfway through: “He...
4 months ago • 1 min read