TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART 1: GETTING STARTED

1 Thinking Songwriting Is Easy

2 Don’t Expect Miracles

3 Not Knowing Your Job Description

4 Not Recognizing Your Limitations

5 Not Sticking To A Daily Writing Schedule

6 Not Having A Special Writing Place

7 Not Setting Yourself Deadlines

8 Not Laying Foundations For The Creative Process

9 Letting Good Ideas Get Away

10 Bad Organization

11 Not Keeping Your Writing Style Current

12 Imitating Instead Of Innovating

13 Not Giving Music Companies What They Want

14 Thinking Your Song To Death

15 Limiting The Appeal Of Your Song

16 Your Title Doesn’t Inspire

17 Stop Writing ‘Album Tracks’

18 Not Doing Enough Artist Research

19 Ignoring 12 Tests That Decide Your Fate

PART 2: SONG CONSTRUCTION

20 Not Understanding Song Structure

21 No Well-Balanced Shape and Form

22 Not Knowing The Basic Elements Of A Hit Song

23 Avoiding A Tried And Tested Form

24 Not Taking Time To Learn How Hit Songs Work

25 Forcing The Development Of A Song

26 Making Your Song Too Personal

27 Being Too Self-Indulgent

28 Making Your Song Too Complicated

29 Making Your Sections Too Long, Or Too Short

30 Getting Your Song Length Wrong

31 You’re Boring Us… Get To The Chorus

32 Not Using The Verse As A Stepping Stone

33 Not Making Your Song Stand Out

34 Failing To Make An Emotional Connection

35 Being Too Predictable

36 Not Giving Your Song A Killer High Point

37 Too Many Ideas In Your Song

38 Lack Of Focus

PART 3: COMPONENTS OF A HIT SONG:

TITLES

39 Your Title Won’t Help the Song Sell

40 Not Positioning The Title Correctly

MELODIES

41 Forgetting The Tune’s The Thing

42 Making Your Melody Hard To Remember

43 Melody And Lyrics Aren’t Compatible

44 Your Melody Range Is Too Wide

45 “Too Many Notes, Mozart”

46 Too Much Repetition (Or Too Little)

47 Your Repeated Sections Aren’t Consistent

48 No Contrast Between Verse And Chorus

49 Where’s Your ‘Call To Action’?

50 Imbalance Between Chords And Melody

51 Your Chords Have No Direction

52 Avoiding Minor Chords A Major Mistake

53 Your Songs All Sound The Same

54 Don’t Be Ordinary, Be Extraordinary

HOOK

55 Where’s The Hook?

56 Putting Your Hook In The Wrong Place

57 A Lyrical Hook That Doesn’t Stick

58 Relying On A Good Hook To Save A Bad Song

59 Don’t Forget Your Secondary Hooks

INTRO

60 An Intro That Doesn’t Attract Attention

61 An Intro That Is Too Long

BRIDGE

62 Not Admiring The View From The Bridge

63 Not Building On The Verse And Chorus

64 Building Your Bridge In The Wrong Place

PRE-CHORUS

65 Not Using A Pre-Chorus To Build Tension

CHORUS

66 Failing To Make Your Chorus Stand Out

67 Lyric Imbalance Between Verse and Chorus

LYRICS

68 Thinking Poems And Song Lyrics Are The Same

69 Thinking Lyrics Don’t Matter As Long As The Music’s Good

70 Your Lyrics Don’t Support The Song Form

71 Your Lyric Lines Aren’t Balanced

72 Too Many Words In Your Lyrics

73 Not Painting A Picture

74 A Cliché Too Far

75 Your First Line Could Be Your Last

76 Not Letting Your Song Move Forward

77 Writing Lyrics People Can’t Relate To

78 Not Maintaining A Consistent Viewpoint

79 Getting Tense About Tense

80 Your Rhymes Are Too Predictable

81 Not Varying Your Rhyme Patterns

82 Your Lyrics Won’t Motivate An Artist

83 Too Many Tongue-Twisters

PART 4: RE-WRITING

84 Not Using Enough Polish

85 Not Making A ‘Memo’ Demo

86 Hey Buddy, Can You Spare Some Time?

87 Beyond Reasonable Doubt

PART 5: RECORDING YOUR DEMO

88 Not Seeing Your Demo As A Selling Tool

89 Spending Good Money On Bad Songs

90 Relying On A Demo To Fix A Song

91 Not Knowing What You Want Before Going Into The Studio

92 Failing To Make An Impact

93 Your Demo Is Over-Produced

94 Vocals And Lyrics Aren’t Clear

95 To Sing Or Not To Sing

96 Wrong Vocal Style On The Demo

97 Don’t Let Your Ego Get In The Way

98 Putting An Instrumental Break In Your Demo

99 Not Tailoring A Pitch Demo

PART 6: OUTRO

100 Forgetting You’re In The Music Business

101 The End Of The Beginning