THE ART OF SONGWRITING Grace Hasson
Doodles by Simi Singh There are a few people automatically associated with the word “songwriter.” Maybe you think of Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, or a more recent artist like Taylor Swift. A good songwriter takes time on each song they write. What makes a song good depends on what the listener likes, but there are of course some standards that make a song worth listening to. For me, a good song needs specific details, great rhymes, and needs to make me feel something. But what many people don’t know is that songwriting is a skill, not a talent. According to lyricworkroom, “Talent isn’t born, it’s made.” For example, learning an instrument in reality comes down to how much you practice. Learning how to write music and lyrics is 99 percent work and 1 percent inspiration. The only way to get better is to focus on your craft and persevere. Most people will concur that music has a sort of power, but they may not be aware of just how healing music can be. In fact, songwriting can be therapeutic for many people. Felicity Baker, author of Therapeutic Songwriting: Developments in Theory, Methods, and Practice, writes in her book that, “The songs that people create become a tangible record of their
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journey or a representation of their transformed state.” When I look back on songs I wrote in the past and compare them to more recent songs, I can see how I’ve not only progressed as a songwriter, but as a person. I believe songwriting can also be considered cathartic, it’s a true way to express emotions and heal through creating.
