Write songs ‘in session’
Photo by Andreas Forsberg on Unsplash
A ‘writing session’ is essentially a creative meeting, but the ultimate goal is to create great music with the end goal being to release it.
Typically a writing session is combined of a producer and an artist, and sometimes an additional writer or other musicians.
As a young musician, a writing session can be a fairly overwhelming and terrifying prospect...but here are some honest pieces of advice that I learnt along the way:
01: Prepare some ideas
Never go to the session with nothing. Even if it’s just a creative concept, a few lyrical or melody ideas, prepare something you can pick up and run with.
02: Research your collaborator’s previous work
You’ll probably only be in the session together because your styles are a good fit, but it’s not a bad idea to have a proper listen to their showreel so you can pick out the elements of their style you want on your track.
03: Get to know each other
Spend some time chatting and opening up. You want to be comfortable with this person, so you have the confidence to share your thoughts and bounce ideas off each other, so don’t approach the situation like a robot.
04: Know how you work best (and make it known!)
Everybody has their own creative process. A formula they typically like to write songs in. For example, you may like to start on the piano or guitar, and mess around with some chords and build it from there. Or you may prefer to vibe around a beat and improvise some melodies. Quite often your creative process is something you’ll discuss early on, but don’t make them work it out for themselves - let them know! You don’t want to waste half the day noodling on the guitar if that’s not how you create best.
05: Define a concept / vibe
Some people like to go with the flow, but identifying some clear reference and defining a concept / direction for the track before you really get going, could prevent time wasted off in the wrong direction.
06: Be confident and voice your opinion
If you’re not feeling a lyric or a chord progression, don’t just sit and bite your tongue, dying inside because you aren’t happy with the song. Let them know (politely of course) and the best collaborators won’t take it to heart at all.
07: A writing session is for writing
Try not to get too caught up in the finer details that are easy to waste time on. At the end of the day, if the song is great then that’ll sell it enough and you can come back another day to tidy up the vocal takes etc.
08: Voice note as you go
I do this religiously. Never forget a lyric or melody again! I have hours saved of total sh*t, but the amount of times this has saved my arse is ridiculous. It’s amazing what you can forget in 10 mins whilst you make a coffee!
And there you have it! Whether you’re an aspiring singer-songwriter or seasoned pro, feel free to reach out to the community and we’ll support you however we can!
