Songwriting Zen
Songwriting Tips, Songwriting Ideas & Songwriting Help In One Songwriting Resource
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The 50/90 Challenge Is Here Again
Today is the start of one of the greatest songwriting challenges ever constructed IMHO. The 50/90 challenge. Run by the good folks at FAWM (February Album Writing Month), the premise of the challenge is really simple: Write 50 songs in the 90 days starting July 4th until October 1st. Its a simple …
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Corey Stewart – “Shadows”
Shadows was written after the breakup of a pretty messy relationship, a relationship which was characterized by me having to walk on eggshells for most of it. In the song I try to conceptualize the feelings of nervousness and anxiety I was going through at the time. Having your words and actions que …
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I Wish I Wrote That #4 – “Under The Milky Way” By The Church
This song by Australian band The Church is a great example of what can happen when a bolt of divine inspiration comes your way. Apparently this song was written in about 15 minutes from start to finish, not a bad day at the office I remember when I first heard this song saying to myself this has g …
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Corey Stewart – “Honey Child”
The last originals band I put together was a funk/groove outfit called Orangutang back in 2004 (hence the name of my business Orangutang Music). The music we played wasnt the acoustic singer/songwriter stuff that you can listen to on my Music page however, this song demonstrates how one idea and a b …
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Corey Stewart – “Billboard Angel”
I know, I know. Some of you are thinking when is that Corey Stewart guy gonna put up more of his songs? Well, Ive been going through my songwriting archives and old demo recordings and Ive found some songs to put up on Songwriting Zen. This is the first of many. The song is called Billboard Angel an …
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I Wish I Wrote That #3 – “Falling Slowly” By Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
If there ever was a movie that makes me want to pick up my guitar and play it to an inch of its life it would be Once. If there ever was a song that makes me want to do the same thing it would be Falling Slowly. I fell in love this song the first time I ever heard it. From the tinkling acoustic gu …
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Corey Stewart - “Shadows”
Shadows was written after the breakup of a pretty messy relationship, a relationship which was characterized by me having to walk on eggshells for most of it. In the song I try to conceptualize the feelings of nervousness and anxiety I was going through at the time. Having your words and actions que …
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I Wish I Wrote That #4 - “Under The Milky Way” By The Church
This song by Australian band The Church is a great example of what can happen when a bolt of divine inspiration comes your way. Apparently this song was written in about 15 minutes from start to finish, not a bad day at the office I remember when I first heard this song saying to myself this has g …
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SSA Top 10 Songwriting Contest Now Open
The Songwriting Society Of Australia (SSA) is holding its Top 10 Songwriting Contest at the moment. From what I can see there are no genre categories to speak of so all songs submitted regardless of genre will be judged on its merits in one group. The prize breakdown is as follows (all money in Aust …
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FOOM Song Competition 2009 Is Now Open For Business
A few days ago SCALA (Songwriters, Composers & Lyricists Association) launched its 16th Annual FOOM (Festival Of Original Music) Song Competition for 2009. This competition has been running every year since 1993. The sections on offer for this year are: Live Demo Open Demo Instrumental Studio O …
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A Song Is Never Finished, It’s Always Evolving
Jeff Oxenford, in his songwriting blog recently wrote a post called Songwriting: Youve Got The Song, Now What? in which he discusses some points to look out for when youve finished a song. The one thing that really stood out for me in his post was the following quote at the beginning of the last par …
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Songwriting Zen Forum Is Now Closed
A couple of days ago I decided to take down the Songwriting Zen Forum. The reasons for closing it down are twofold: First of all, I didnt have the time to devote to it anymore. For all of its good points, phpBB (the software I was using to produce the forum) gave me too much of a steep learning curv …
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Corey Stewart - “Honey Child”
The last originals band I put together was a funk/groove outfit called Orangutang back in 2004 (hence the name of my business Orangutang Music). The music we played wasnt the acoustic singer/songwriter stuff that you can listen to on my Music page however, this song demonstrates how one idea and a b …
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Corey Stewart - “Billboard Angel”
I know, I know. Some of you are thinking when is that Corey Stewart guy gonna put up more of his songs? Well, Ive been going through my songwriting archives and old demo recordings and Ive found some songs to put up on Songwriting Zen. This is the first of many. The song is called Billboard Angel an …
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A New Format For SCALA Songwriting Workshops
Songwriting association SCALA (Songwriters, Composers & Lyricists Association) have been running something called the Join Us songwriting sessions since March 2004 in which Ive had the pleasure of hosting a few times. Essentially, a guest speaker would take the first hour on a specific topic and …
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I Wish I Wrote That #3 - “Falling Slowly” By Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
If there ever was a movie that makes me want to pick up my guitar and play it to an inch of its life it would be Once. If there ever was a song that makes me want to do the same thing it would be Falling Slowly. I fell in love this song the first time I ever heard it. From the tinkling acoustic gu …
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29th Australian Songwriting Contest 2009 - Entries Close April 30th!
Hi everybody, I just wanted to let you all know that the 29th Australian Songwriting Contest 2009 run by the Australian Songwriters Association (ASA) is in full swing. Entries for this songwriting competition (the longest running in Australia) close April 30th. You can enter your songs in one of two …
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Songwriting Zen - One Year On
Well, its been a little over a year since I started Songwriting Zen (on February 29th, 2008) and I must say Im very proud of my songwriting blog. Its given me a forum to share with you my thoughts and feelings about the wonderful craft of writing songs. Its also enabled me to get to know other from …
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“11 More Ways To Eliminate (Song) Writers Block FOREVER!” Is Finally Here
I know its been a while but my new FREE eReport, the long awaited 11 More Ways To Eliminate (Song) Writers Block FOREVER! is finally here for you to download and share with others. Talk about hot off the virtual press and ready to be devoured by songwriters everywhere. Feel free to download it and g …
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Songwriting Zen Article Directory Is Here
I love songwriting articles, I love writing them and I love reading and learning from them. Theres so much free songwriting information around that youd have a huge songwriting resource if you somehow bundled it all together. The main problem is that, at the moment, you have to search high and low …
Songwriting Zen
