Lyric Contests

You might want to enter lyric contests if you are a lyricist. It's a great way of letting the world know about your talents.

Becoming successful as a lyricist can be tricky since nobody goes into a record store to buy lyrics. The best thing to do is to find a collaborator who writes music to your lyrics THEN try to market your finished song. But if you'd like to be judged based on your lyric writing talents only, I highly recommend these lyric contests below.

Beware of websites that claim that they will buy your lyrics, pay you royalties, make you rich in no time, etc. These are mostly scams. So be cautious!

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Lyric Contests

To find out more details about the songwriting contests below, visit the Songwriting Contests page.

Great American Song Contest

This annual contest has a "Lyrics Only" category.

• You can send them your lyrics by mail or online.

• Submission fee is $30 per song ($25 for the third and additional songs).

• You can enter maximum 10 songs.

• You'll get a professional, written review for each of the entered songs.

• The prizes include cash, memberships, software and more.

• The judges are acknowledged songwriting professionals and experts, like John Braheny and Robin Frederick.

• International entrants are welcome.

International Songwriting Competition

This annual contest also has a "Lyric Only" category.

• You can send them your lyrics by mail or online.

• Submission fee is $30 per song and $22 for additional songs (if your enter before July 15, after that, every song is $30).

• You may enter as many songs as your want.

• You don't get a song review.

• The prizes include cash, memberships, recording equipment and more.

• The judges change every year and there are always some famous musicians among them like Rihanna, Adele or Kelly Clarkson.

• International entrants are welcome.

American Songwriter Magazine's Lyric Contest
• Established in 1984.
• 6 contests a year.
• You can send them your lyrics online.
• Submission fee is $12 per song.
• You don't get a song review.
• The prizes include a guitar, a microphone and the lyrics will be published in the American Songwriter magazine. There is also a yearly grand prize: a trip to Nashville for a co-writing session with a professional songwriter and a demo recording session.
• International entrants are welcome.


The U.S.A. Songwriting Competition
This annual contest also has a "Lyric Only" category.
• You can send them your lyrics by mail or online.
• Submission fee is $35 per song.
• You don't get a song review.

• The prizes include cash, merchandise and some services.
• The judges are industry professionals, like label publishers, producers, A&R people and more.
• International entrants are welcome.


The UK Songwriting Contest

This annual contest also has a "Lyric Only" category.
• You can send them your lyrics online.
• Submission fee is £15 per song.
• You don't get a song review.
• The prizes include cash, merchandise and some services.
• The judges industry professionals.
• International entrants are welcome.


More Songwriting Contests

Slash Chords

Slash chords (also known as slashed or compound chords) are those kinds of chords where we show the bass note with a slash then the name of the bass note after it. Often these bass notes aren't even part of the chord. They just add a special flavor to your music.

What is a bass note?

It's the lowest note in your chord (or the lowest note added to your chord), usually somewhere on the left side of the piano or keyboard. So the compound chord consists of "the name of the chord"/"the name of the bass note". Alternate bass notes often give your song a totally different feel.

Does "/" mean the note is optional?

If you see a compound chord, it doesn't mean that you have a choice of which bass note you want to play though. The indicated bass note is not an option but compulsory.

For example:

Let's take a simple chord that's probably the most common in popular music, the C major chord as an example. (By the way, if you need help with figuring out and learning chords, you may want to visit the "how to learn chords quickly and easily" page). The C major chord consists of three notes, C, E and G. But maybe you would like to add a bass note, G to these notes. You will indicate this C major chord plus the G bass note as "C/G". When you read it out loud, you should say "C-slash-G" or "C-over-G". Again, it means that the bass note will be a G note.

Getting Creative with Slash Chords

There are some common slashed chords used in popular music, like D/F#, A/C# or C/E. You might also "invent" new slash chords. Try experimenting at the piano or on your guitar. Sometimes you can come up with some really great and modern sounding chords using usual or even unusual, dissonant bass notes. They can make your song sound even more unique. You may also start your song with some simple chords like C, G, F, etc. then as the tension builds, you could add some bass notes to the chords to make your music sound deeper and more intense.

More Music Theory 

Songwriting Contests

Entering songwriting contests is a great way of getting the word out about your work. There are usually quite a huge number of competitors but the few who win - win a lot. The prizes usually include money, memberships, musical instruments, recording equipment, etc.

This page contains those songwriting competitions that I've found to be genuine. There are several contests, however, where they just take your money and never even listen to your song. So be cautious, enter only those songwriting competitions that have a good reputation, like the ones below.

If you'd like to enter your lyrics only (i.e. no music), there are a few lyric writing competitions that have a "Lyics Only" category.

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Songwriting Contests

Great American Song Contest

Frequency: annual

Started: in 1999

Enter: by mail or online

Price: $30 for the first and the second song and $25 for each additional song (there is a separate fee for each song). The maximum number of entries is 10.

Categories:

▪ Pop/Top 40
▪ Rock/Alternative
▪ Adult Contemporary (AC)
▪ Country/Bluegrass
▪ Folk/Americana
▪ Instrumental
▪ Christian/Inspirational
▪ Hip-Hop/R&B
▪ Special Category Music (Children's, Christmas, Patriotic, Novelty)
▪ Lyrics Only

Song review: Everybody who enters will get a professional review of their song in writing. This is the only competition here that offers this service.

Prizes: $1,000 cash grand prize together with a free TAXI, SongU.com membership, gift cards, software programs, CD Baby discount certificate, books and more. Other winners get similar but smaller prizes.

Judges: Professional songwriters and experts, like Pat Pattison, Robin Frederick, Rand Bishop, John Braheny, Pat & Pete Luboff and more.

International participants welcome: yes

International Songwriting Competition

Frequency: annual

Started: in 2001

Enter: by mail or online

Price: $30 for the first song and only $22 for each additional song (but only if you enter before July 15, if not, every song is $30). There is no maximum number of entries.

Categories: any kind of music, you don't even need to specify the genre.

Song review: no

Prizes: $25,000 cash grand prize together with a free TAXI, SongU.com membership, recording equipment and more. Other winners get similar but smaller prizes.

Judges: There are always several famous judges in this competition. There are some new judges every year. Past judges include: Kelly Clarkson, Ozzy Osbourne, Tori Amos, Alejandro Sanz, Adele, Joss Stone, Jerry Lee Lewis, Rihanna, Ricky Martin, Nelly Furtado, Timbaland and many more.

International participants welcome: yes




John Lennon Songwriting Competition
Frequency: semi-annual
Started: in 1997
Enter: by mail or online
Price: $30 per song


Categories:
▪ Rock
▪ Pop
▪ Jazz
▪ Country
▪ Latin
▪ Gospel/Inspirational
▪ Hip-Hop
▪ R&B
▪ World
▪ Electronic
▪ Folk
▪ Children's
▪ Instrumental


Song review: no


Prizes: $20,000 cash grand prize, recording equipment and more. Other winners get similar but smaller prizes.


Judges: There are some famous judges in this competition: Fergie (from the Black Eyed Peas), The Veronicas, Natasha Bedingfield, Lamont Dozier and more.


International participants welcome: yes




The U.S.A. Songwriting Contest

Frequency: annual
Started: in 1995
Enter: by mail or online
Price: $35 per song


Categories:
▪ Latin
▪ Lyrics
▪ R&B
▪ Dance/Electronica
▪ Folk
▪ Country
▪ Rock/Alternative
▪ Pop
▪ Hip-Hop/Rap
▪ World
▪ Instrumental
▪ Jazz
▪ Gospel/Inspirational
▪ Novelty/Comedy
▪ Children


Song review: no


Prizes: $50,000 cash, merchandise and services grand prize. Other winners get similar but smaller prizes.


Judges: Label publishers, producers, A&R people and other industry professionals.


International participants welcome: yes




The UK Songwriting Competition

Frequency: annual
Started: in 1995
Enter: online
Price: £15 per song


Categories:
▪ Pop
▪ Rock
▪ Adult Contemporary (AC)
▪ Jazz/Blues
▪ Singer/Songwriter
▪ Country
▪ Love Songs
▪ Christian/Faith
▪ R&B/Urban
▪ Lyrics Only
▪ Instrumental
▪ Open Category
▪ Acoustic/Folk
▪ Show Songs


Song review: no


Judges: The judges are industry professionals.


International participants welcome: yes




These are the most serious and quality songwriting contests. Feel free to let me know about your experiences regarding these or other songwriting contests or tell me if you've encountered any other great ones!


Lyric Contests

Musical Terms Glossary

This Musical Terms Glossary will probably give you the definition you are looking for. But if you come across any sheet music terms that I haven't included here, feel free to let me know so I can add them!

Musical Terms Glossary

Accelerando: gradually increase tempo

Accent: stress specific notes

Accidental: sharps or flats added to the notes

Agitato: excitedly, i.e. with agitation

Alla breve: cut time (2/2)

Allegretto: quickly (but allegro is quicker)

Allegro /əˈleg.roʊ/: quickly, lively

Allegro agitato: quickly, with agitation

Allegro con molto spirito: quickly, with a lot of spirit

Allegro energico: quickly, with energy

Allegro Moderato: faster than moderato but slower than allegro

Andante /ɑːnˈdɑːn.teɪ/: walking, slow tempo

Andantino: a bit quicker than andante

Animato: in an animated, energetic style

Appassionato: with deep feeling

Attacca: begin the next piece immediately

Ben marcato: well accented

Brillante: brilliant, bright

Cadence: chord progression that means the end of a section

Canon /ˈkæn.ən/: a round

Cantabile: in a singing style

Chord: three or more notes played together


Clef: a symbol at the beginning of the staff to show which notes go on the lines and spaces (e.g. treble clef, bass clef, alto clef, soprano clef, mezzo-soprano clef, baritone clef)

Coda: concluding section of a piece of music

Common time: time signature of 4/4

Con amore: with warmth and feeling

Con fuoco: with fire

Con moto: with motion

Con spirito: with spirit

Crescendo /krɪˈʃen.doʊ/: gradually get louder

Da Capo or D.C.: from the beginning


Dal Segno or D.S.: go back in the music to the sign

Diminuendo: gradually get softer

Divisi: divided, i.e. two or more notes notated, where each note is played by a different performer

Dolce: sweetly

Dotted note: a note plus half of its value

Finale: last movement of a piece of music

Forte: loudly

Fortissimo: very loudly

Giocoso: playfully

Glissando: slide from one pitch to another

Grace note: a quick note that comes before the main note

Grandioso: in a grand, elegant style

Grave: slow and solemn

Grazioso: with grace

Harmonic: notes played at the same time

Interval: distance between two pitches

Langsam: slowly

Larghetto: slowly (bur largo is slower)

Largo: slowly

Largo ma non troppo: slowly but not too slowly

Ledger lines: extra lines added to the staff to write additional lower and higher notes on

Legierro or Leggero: lightly

Maestoso: majestically

Marcato: strongly accented

Melodic: notes played after each other

Meno: less

Mesto: sadly

Mezzo /met.soʊ/: medium

Mezzo forte: medium loud

Mezzo piano: moderately soft

Middle C: the note C found around the middle of the piano/keyboard

Moderato: at a moderate tempo

Molto: very much

Mosso: motion

Octave: interval of eight notes

Pesante: heavy (i.e. play each note long and emphatically)

Piano: softly

Piu adagio: slower

Poco a poco: “little by little”

Poco lento: a little slower

Poco piu mosso: a little faster

Pomposo: majestically

Presto: very quickly

Prestissimo: as quickly as possible

Quasi /kweɪ.zaɪ/: in the style of

Rallentando: slow down gradually

Religioso: religiously, with reverence

Rest: silence in music

Ritardando: slow down

Rubato: play with free tempo

Satz: movement

Scale: a certain pattern of notes going upward or downward by steps

Scherzo /ˈskert.soʊ/: playful composition


Scerzando: play an instrument playfully, jokingly

Score: a piece of music that shows all instrumental parts

Semitone: the shortest distance between notes

Semplice: simply

Senza: without

Sforzando: strongly emphasize a note

Sordino: mute

Staccatto /stəˈkɑː.toʊ/: short, detached notes

Staff: 5 lines and 4 spaces used for writing and reading sheet music

Stringendo: gradually gain energy by increasing tempo

Subito: immediately

Tacet: be silent

Tempo: speed of music

Tempo di Valse: in a waltz tempo

Tempo primo: original tempo

Tenuto: hold the notes for their full value

Tie: a curved line which shows that we have to add up the value of the tied notes

Tonality: key

Tranquillo: peacefully, with tranquility

Transpose: move all pitches up or down by the same number of notes

Triad: three-note chord consisting of a root, a 3rd, and a 5th note

Triplet: three notes in cases where normally only two notes would be found

Tutti: all instruments play

Unison: the same pitches played together


Vivace: very quickly

Waltz /wɑːlts/: dance in 3⁄4 time

Whole note: two semitones, i.e. two half notes




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What If You Can't Find a Word in This Musical Terms Glossary?

Most of this Musical Terms Glossary consists of Italian and German words that you often find in sheet music. Others are definitions of terms musicians often use when they communicate. If there is a word or expression you didn't find in this Musical Terms Glossary, don't hesitate to drop me a line so I can tell you the definition and add it to this list.

Let's make this the BEST Musical Terms Glossary a musician can have!



More Music Theory