When I make art, I am in a state of free fall. Whirlwind, head over feet, air whooshing past my face and popping my ears. The sounds are purple and blue and green and my voice comes out like a tidal wave that washes over all of the things I think and feel, all of the loss and hurt. It carries me to shore.

Getting goosebumps when listening to music isn’t a sensation that everyone experiences, in fact it seems to be somewhere between 55 and 86% of people. This sensation is called “frisson” (free-sawn) and is a French word meaning “aesthetic chills”. Studies suggest that frisson is connected to activity in the brain’s reward centers and is most commonly found in people who connect to music emotionally.

At it’s very core, the phrase “show don’t tell” means that when you’re writing, it is best to use language that paints a picture and allows your listener to imagine the story. I think this is really good advice, especially for people who are just getting started with writing or for people who tend to write in a stream-of-consciousness way. Having said that, I don’t think you should “show” all the time. I think there needs to be a balance in order for your listener to both understand and enjoy your lyrics.

From October 10th - 24th of 2020, I took on The Songwriter Coach's 14-Day Lyric Writing Challenge and had a great time writing a song every single day. On this page, you'll find all of the songs I wrote during my challenge, along with my takeaways. I hope you enjoy them and best of luck with your own writing!

The arts are important and writing protest music is a great way to make your voice heard. Let's do our best to channel all of our rage and frustration into storytelling, writing music, and of course, voting.

Top-lining is the process of writing a song over a pre-made beat. Writing a top-line is a great way to create new relationships with producers and other musicians, and improve your songwriting.

Incorporating singing into your piano or guitar playing can be intimidating! Focusing on one might make you lose focus on the other, so how do we bring the two into alignment?

Lyric writing is the most challenging part of the songwriting process for a lot of great musicians. It requires the development of skills that we don't typically associate with music-making. The good news is that there are some easy, concrete steps to writing a compelling story in your song. I created this worksheet to aid you in the process!

Outlining is one of my favorite ways to start writing a song! This is the outline that I use when I write, including descriptions of the specific song sections. If you're feeling stuck, give it a try!