Jar of Hearts

Christina Perri's Jar of Hearts is the kind of incredible ballad that you rarely come across. It's also rare for a ballad to stay on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for long but this song managed to spend 23 weeks there. The song first came out on her The Ocean Way Sessions EP then her debut album Lovestrong.

General information

Writers: Christina Perri, Drew Lawrence, and Barrett Yeretsian
Producer: Barrett Yeretsian
Genre: AC (adult-contemporary), pop, rock
Tempo: 76 beats per minute
Key: C minor
Vocals span from E♭3 to C5.
Instruments: lead and background vocals, piano and strings
Duration: 04:06
The song ends without a fade out.

Jar of Hearts Chords

Christina herself shared the Jar of Hearts chords with her fans in one of her blog posts. She also mentioned that she doesn't read or write sheet music. This shows that you can be an amazing songwriter and not be very knowledgable about music theory. However, it does help you if you learn the basics of music theory. You'll be able to communicate more effectively with other musicians and co-writers.

Verses: Cm, E♭, B♭, Fm (play A♭ the second time)

Pre-Choruses: Fm, A♭, E♭, B♭, Fm, A♭, B♭sus

Choruses: E♭, B♭, Cm, A♭, (A♭m) and end with: E♭

Bridge: Cm (played with your right hand) and walk down C, B, B♭, A (bass note) A♭, G

Outro: A♭, B, F

If you need help with reading chords, visit the piano chords chart page.

Structure

Jar of Hearts has a pretty usual hit song structure: Verse 1 / Pre-Chorus / Chorus / Verse 2 / Pre-Chorus / Chorus / Bridge / Chorus / Chorus / Outro. I like outros a lot because they always summarize the song's message really well and give you a closure while leaving you wanting to hear more. They do all this, really :)


Melody
The melody is very simple but powerful. You've probably noticed that often the simplest songs are the ones that most profoundly move you. Another amazing thing about the simplicity of the melody and the chords that they almost "disappear" in the background and help Christina Perri show off her amazing, melanchoic vocals.


The dynamics are really well-crafted: the intense and calmer periods follow each other in the proper places.


The transitions from verse to pre-chorus to chorus also work great. They are the kind of transitions we are already familiar with from other successful songs but that's something to like about it. It's part of why it's so sticky and gives you an ear worm for hours :)


Lyrics
The lyrics to Jar of Hearts are amazing. Anybody can see that. But what's so special about them? First of all, there is a perfect 'repetition vs. new' balance. The song breaks a couple of "rules", however. For example, in the last two choruses the last lines of the lyrics are changed to give it more impact. This works great in this song. You get the repetition and something new at the same time.

The title "Jar of Hearts" summarizes the song's message perfectly. When you hear the title, you can literally see the guy with a jar of hearts in his hands. The lyrics do a really good job involving you in the scene from the first line. You immediately start asking questions like "why can't you take one more step towards him?" or "why is there so much regret?".
The verses don't have a very consistent rhyme pattern but you can't notice that during the performance. The pre-choruses have an AA, the choruses have an AAAABBCD and the bridge an AABBCC rhyme pattern.


The number of syllables is more in the verses (usually 11 and 8) and less in the choruses (around 7-8). This is a great strategy because you can give plenty of contrast to your song this way. It makes the verses faster and the chorus more heartfelt, melodic.


Jar of Hearts if full of great metaphors. First of all, the title, of course. Then there is my favorite one: "you're gonna catch a cold from the ice inside your soul". I love such clever, graphic and telling lines. There is also the "who do you think you are" expression which is very conversational therefore it's easy to imagine and empathize with it.


What Can We Learn From All This?
This is a love song like almost all other songs on the charts. But it approaches the theme in a completely new, different, creative and unpredictable way. There are several metaphors, action verbs and scenes described in Jar of Hearts that the listeners can imagine with no effort on their part. The dynamics, the contrasts, the melody all work perfectly together and they feel like they are inseparable. The song sounds as if it has just been written at the time of its performance because it's very natural and raw. But if you look a little closer, you'll realize that it's a professionally crafted song and you can find an amazing amount of talent and passion in it.


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Born This Way

Born This Way is an awesome song that you start enjoying immediately when you first hear it. It's dynamic, motivational with a well-crafted melody. It is performed by Lady Gaga, whose style and voice is very unique. She is also an amazing and prolific songwriter who has broken several records.

General information


Writers: Lady Gaga (aka Stefani Germanotta) and Jeppe Laursen
Producers: Lada Gaga, Jeppe Laursen, Fernando Garibay and DJ White Shadow
Genre: electro-pop and dance-pop song
Tempo: 120 beats per minute
Key: B major
Vocals span from F♯3 to F♯5.
Instruments: electronic guitar and drums, bass and guitar synth, synth strings and keys, some sound effects, lead and background vocals
Duration: 04:20
The song ends properly, without a fade out.
It was the 1000th number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Born This Way Chords

Intro: F#, E, B, F#

Verses: F#, E, B, F# (four times)

Choruses: F#, E, B, F# (three times), F#, F#, E, B (twice)

Bridge: F#, F#, E, B (four times)

Structure
What is interesting about the structure of this song is that it starts with a spoken intro and ends with a spoken outro. Very few artists can get away with it but Lady Gaga has been an exception in all arenas. Between the the intro and the outro there are Verse 1 / Chorus / Verse 2 / Chorus / Bridge / Chorus. This is a typical popular format.

Melody
The melody of some of bridge and the outro is basically a variation of the chorus. There is a lot of dynamics in this song. The intro is quite intense then when the first verse starts, it becomes calmer. Then it becomes more intense again when the second part of the first verse starts. And you can find all this dynamics in the first quarter of the song. The transitions do a great job introducing the choruses.

Lyrics
The title of the song is really good because it totally summarizes what the song is about. It also makes you think when you first hear it: "you were born what way? is this going to be about something positive or negative?" There is a lot of repetition in the lyrics. "Born This Way" is repeated 22 times! This is quite typical in contemporary popular songs, especially in mid-tempo and up-tempo numbers. The verses have an ABAB rhyme pattern. The number of the syllables range from 7 to 10 a line. Still they work really well, you don't feel like there is any inconsistency. The chorus is similar in this respect, the number of the syllables range from 5 to 7. The spoken intro and outro are very short. Born This Way is full of action and descriptive words which work great and really help us imagine a picture: "put my lipstick on", "subway kid"etc.


What Can We Learn From All This?
At the top of charts you can usually find romantic songs only.
Born This Way is about motivation and it shows this theme in a completely new and unique, bold way. You're more likely to get a cut with a song about love but this track proves that there are exceptions to the rule. Also, there is a lot of repetition in this song, which might look funny if you just read the lyrics. But when you're listening to the song you don't get bored of it. I guess it's party because of the great dynamic variety in this song.


More Hit Song Secrets

I saw Alicia Keys up-close!!!

A HitJerker reader's experiences with famous singer-songwriter Alicia Keys:

Alicia Keys giving autographs before attending The Late Show with Letterman (2008)

I can tell you, she is exactly as beautiful as she looks on TV!

It happened back in 2008 (but I've just found this site - I love it!). Alicia was signing photos before the The Late Show with David Letterman where she performed Teenage Love Affair. I've managed to get an autograph too! That's been one of my most treasured possessions ever since! I wish I could have chatted with her a little bit...

We Found Love

We Found Love is an extremely popular dance song written by Calvin Harris and performed by Rihanna. It was the first single off Rihanna's 2011 album Talk That Talk.

General information

Writer: Calvin Harris
Producer: Calvin Harris
Genre: dance pop
Tempo: 120 beats per minute
Key: G♭ major
Vocals span from C♯4 to C♯5.
Instruments: lead vocal, sound effects, synthesizers, organ, bass synth, electronic drum kit
Duration: 03:35
The song ends properly, without a fade out.
It reached the nr. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

We Found Love Chords

Since the song is very repetitive, the chords are easy to learn even for beginners. You need to memorize the same four chords for the verse and the chorus. Then the same sections repeat several times.

Verses: Am, F, C, G (four times)

Choruses: Am, F, C, G (twice)

Structure
We Found Love has a really simple structure: Verse 1 / Chorus / Verse 2 / Chorus / Verse 1 (first part repeated) / Chorus / Chorus. The last two lines of the verses could also be considered Pre-Choruses. But they are quite similar to the first four lines so I think they should rather belong to the Verses. The structure of the song couldn't be more simple. Most of the hits out there include a pretty obvious, distinct Pre-Chorus, longer Verses, and some more "meat" in the Choruses as well. Often there is an Outro, too, which is also missing here. A lot of people criticize the structure of this song saying that it's too simple, it can't really be called "art". I don't know if they are right. But We Found Love does a great job making you want to go out and party. And I guess that's the main purpose of this song.

Melody

We found love has a simple chord progression that repeats throughout the song (both in the Verses and the Choruses): Am, F, C, G.. They say that often the simplest songs become the greatest classic hits. Well, it couldn't be simpler than this but I don't think the song is going to become a timeless classic. Not because there is anything wrong with it but because of the genre which probably won't be this fashionable in a couple of years. The instrumental parts in this song might have an even more important role than the lyrics. The instrumental sections occupy a huge percentage of the song (compared to other hits) and there is a part after some of the Choruses where the energy gradually increases, I would call that part the "peak". In the third Verse (which is a half repetition of the first Verse) the melody changes a little. The Bridge is also short and consists of instrumental music only. We Found Love definitely doesn't let you get bored, a new section of the song begins every 10 or 15 seconds.

Lyrics

The title completely summarizes what the whole song is about. It's not always a wise choice since if we know everything from the title, who wants to listen to the song itself? But We Found Love is performed by Rihanna so many people do. And together with the rest of the line "We found love in a hopeless place", it's a really strong theme. The same four lines are repeated in the Chorus, which is a risky move. But it works great in this song, since it's not the story we are so interested in but the party mood it puts us in. The Verses are rather short and there are only two of them. The third one repeats the first part of the first Verse. There is great imagery in the Verses like "yellow diamonds in the light" and "your shadow crosses mine". The first Verse has an AAAAAB, and the second one an ABABBB rhyme pattern, therefore it's quite satisfying to the ear. The Choruses make up only about a quarter of the song, which is rare on contemporary charts. Usually it's about 45%.

What Can We Learn From All This?
This song will probably never become a classic, which is OK. It's a little too simple and too fashionable for that. When I first heard this song I thought they couldn't be seriously putting it out as a first single. But after listening to it two or three times, it grew on me. It always makes me wanna party. It goes to show that sometimes you don't need very complex chords, melodies or even lyrics to write a hit. The performer and the vibe of the song may be more important factors sometimes. Still, the more typical hit song elements you include in your song, the more likely it is that it'll become a hit. We Found Love is definitely an exception to the rule.


More Hit Song Secrets

Famous Songwriters

It's essential that you study the life of famous songwriters if you would like to get better at songwriting. Reading about these people is not only interesting but also tremendously useful. You could get ideas on how to get ahead or what else you need to do to get better at your craft. Being an artist is not the easiest profession. It's a journey. And reading about successful artists' lives, their achievements and quotes from them will help you see you're not on your own on this journey. Their lives are great sources of inspiration.

Some of the Greatest Songwriters:

Kara DioGuardi
Katy Perry
Lady Gaga
Ryan Tedder

There are also some songwriting teams who inspired us like no other. Just think of the magical songs created by John Lennon and Paul McCartney (Yesterday, Let It Be), Elton John and Bernie Taupin (Candle In The Wind) and many more. Some songwriters get lucky and find a partner they have a really special connection with. How do you find these partners? By co-writing with as many songwriters as possible. Read about how these songwriting teams became "songwriting teams".

Katy Perry

Katy Perry is an incredibly successful and unique singer-songwriter. This page is dedicated to her career as a songwriter.

Katy Perry was born in 1984. She started her singing career like many other musicians: she sang in a church choir. Since her family was very religious, her parents didn't let her listen to the kind of music she wanted. Her parents preferred when she listened to gospel music. Katy decided to leave high school very early because she wanted to become a professional musician. When she was 15 years old, some Nashville veteran musicians heard her sing in the church. They decided to help her move to Nashville, master the art of songwriting and learn to play the guitar. Soon she started recording demos. However, her breakthrough didn't come easily because after being signed to then dropped by Red Hill and Columbia Records, Katy was waiting to find another label. That's when she worked for the independent A&R company, TAXI Music as a screener.

In 2007, she was signed to the newly created Capitol Music group. She started collaborating with the writer-producer Dr. Luke (aka Lukasz Gottwald) and they wrote the smash hits I Kissed a Girl and Hot n Cold together. Her album, One of the Boys was released in 2008.

In 2010, Katy released her second mainstream studio album, Teenage Dream. The following singles were released from this album: California Gurls, Teenage Dream (the song), Firework, E.T and Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.).

Katy is involved in writing her songs. Immediately when she learned to play the guitar, she started writing and submitting songs to her producers then continue working on them together. Katy has a very unique, quirky style of songwriting. She says that she likes to write mainly about important, specific moments in her life.

Katy Perry has mentioned Alanis Morissette, Cyndi Lauper and Freddie Mercury as some of her biggest musical influences.

Her most important releases include:

▪ One of the Boys (I Kissed a Girl, Hot n Cold)
▪ Teenage Dream (California Gurls, Teenage Dream, Firework, E.T., Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.))

More about Famous Songwriters 

Kara DioGuardi

Kara DioGuardi is one of the greatest songwriters of our time. She grew ip in New York. Kara has a degree in political science from Duke University. At the beginning of her career, she worked for Billboardmagazine. She was an assistant there then later became a sales representative at the same magazine.

Kara writes most of her songs for pop, R&B, dance and rock artists. She also often collaborates with performers such as Christina Aguilera, Pink, Britney Spears, etc. For two seasons she was a judge on American Idol, and the head judge on Platinum Hit (a Bravo singer-songwriter talent show). Kara DioGuardi deals with talent development at Warner Brothers Records. One of her most successful talents is Jason Derülo.

Kara's writing and co-writing credits include

• Ain't No Other Man (Christina Aguilera)
• Ooh Ooh Baby (Britney Spears)
• Sober (Pink)
• I Do Not Hook Up (Kelly Clarkson)
• Had It All (Katharine McPhee)
• Undo It (Carrie Underwood)
• Spinning Around (Kylie Minogue)
• No Boundaries (American Idol season 8 single)
• and many more.

They say you need about 10,000 hours of work and practice to become really good at something. And Kara definitely hasn't been lazy. She has written hundreds of songs and has had almost 200 cuts on mega-selling albums. She has been nominated for a Grammy and received the BMI Pop Songwriter of the Year award in 2007.

She has recently released her book A Helluva High Note: Surviving Life, Love, and American Idol. It's a "soundtrack to Kara's life". The book is about success, failure, picking yourself up again and again and then ultimately succeeding. You'll learn what it was like for Kara to collaborate with some of the most popular recording artists, and find out about her personal journey so far. A MUST READ for any future or present hit songwriter!

More about Famous Songwriters 

Lady Gaga

Who doesn't know who Lady Gaga is? I don't have to introduce her to anybody. This page is dedicated to her songwriting career.

She was born and named Stefani Germanotta in 1986. When she was only four years old, she started learning how to play the piano. She was only thirteen when she wrote her first song. At seventeen she started the music major at New York University. While studying, she wrote several analytical essays about music and several important social issues.

Lady Gaga was a songwriter intern at Famous Music Publishing, which was later taken over by Sony/ATV Music Publishing. She wrote some songs for Britney Spears's new CD (including Telephone - which was rejected by Britney), New Kids On The Block (Full Service) and The Pussycat Dolls (Elevator).

A little later Akon recognized her amazing vocal abilities and soon she was signed to Kon Live Distribution, which is Akon's label. She then released her very first studio album, The Fame (2008), with the internationally successful songs Just Dance and Poker Face. Her follow-up album was called The Fame Monster (2009), which included mega-selling singles such as Bad Romance and Telephone. Her third studio album's title is Born This Way.

A little later she was introduced to RedOne and they started producing songs together. More and more people recognized her singing and songwriting abilities and the rest is history. She has won several Grammy Awards, including Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (for Bad Romance) and Best Pop Vocal Album (for The Fame Monster).

She cites glam rock artists like David Bowie, Elton John, Queen and pop artists Madonna, Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse as her inspirations.

Her releases include:

▪ The Fame (Just Dance, Poker Face)
▪ The Fame Monster (Bad Romance, Telephone featuring Beyoncé)
▪ Born This Way (Born This Way)

More about Famous Songwriters 

Ryan Tedder

Ryan Tedder is a singer-songwriter and record producer. He is also the frontman of OneRepublic.

He began learning to play the piano at the age of 3 using the Suzuki method. His parents supported his early interest in music and coaxed him into practicing piano in exchange for candy corn. A self-taught vocalist since the age of 7, he began mastering the skill at the age of twelve by imitating his favorite artists (The Beatles, Peter Gabriel, Stevie Wonder and Sting). He said, "I sang for two hours a day every day of my life until I was eighteen." He also continued to perform musically during his teens through church, school, and personally formed groups.

Ryan attended Oral Roberts University and began to showcase his own material there. He graduated in 2001 with a BA in Public Relations and Advertising. He interned at DreamWorks SKG in Nashville and sang on demos to break into the music scene.

At the age of twenty-one, he competed in a singer-songwriter competition and was selected by N' Sync singer Lance Bass as one of five finalists to perform on a one-hour special on MTV, performing original material in front of millions of viewers.

Ryan is a multi-instrumentalist. During OneRepublic's performances, he often switches from singing lead vocals to playing guitar, bass guitar, glockenspiel, tambourine or piano. He sometimes even plays drums along the band's main percussionist.

Ryan Tedder's songwriting credits include:

• Apologize (OneRepublic)
• Bleeding Love, Happy (Leona Lewis)
• Already Gone (Kelly Clarkson)
• Battlefield (Jordin Sparks)
• Brighter Than The Sun (Colbie Caillat)
• Halo (Beyoncé)
• Turning Tables (Adele)

Apologize (performed by his band One Republic was the best-selling and charting single of the decade in 2008. Leona Lewis's Bleeding Love (also written by him) broke this record.

His most important releases include:


▪ Dreaming Out Loud (Apologize)
▪ Waking Up (All The Right Moves, Secrets, Good Life)

More about Famous Songwriters

Songwriting Teams

The following songwriting teams have been the most significant in the 20th AND 21st centuries. It's worth studying how they met, how they work and how they became who they are today. There is a lot to learn from them. Moreover, almost 100% of the songs on the charts have been written by two or more people. This shows that if some songwriters put together their talents, magical songs can be born.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney

They are one of the best-known and most successful songwriting teams in history. Between 1962 and 1969, they wrote and published approximately 180 jointly credited songs, the majority of which were recorded by The Beatles. Both Lennon and McCartney wrote words and music; often, however, their songs were the work of one of the two writers. Their songs have been covered on a numberless occasions. According to the Guinness World Records, Yesterday has been recorded by more artists, than any other song in history.

Lennon's and McCartney's first musical influences were the Everly Brothers, Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly. They learned several of their songs and got better at their craft by imitating their idols' sounds. First they wrote songs at McCartney's home, at Lennon's aunt's house, or at the Liverpool Institute. They often invited friends such as George Harrison, to listen to performances of their new songs.

Although John Lennon and Paul McCartney often wrote independently (and many Beatles songs are primarily the work of one or the other), they usually didn't complete songs without some input from each other. In many cases, one of them would sketch an idea or a song fragment and take it to the other to finish or improve. On some other occasions, they brought together two incomplete songs or song ideas (that they had worked on individually) and combined it into a complete song. Lennon called it "Writing eyeball-to-eyeball", and "Playing into each other's noses".
This method included elements of competitiveness and mutual inspiration as well as straightforward collaboration and creative merging of musical ideas. It is often considered to be a key reason for The Beatles' innovation and popular success.

As time went on, the songs increasingly became the work of Lennon's or McCartney's, often with the other contributing only a few words or an alternate chord. In 1980, Lennon said about their songwriting team: "he [McCartney] provided a lightness, an optimism, while I would always go for the sadness, the discords, the bluesy notes."

Elton John and Bernie Taupin

Bernie Taupin is an English lyricist, poet, and singer, best known for his long-term collaboration with Elton John. Bernie has written the lyrics for the majority of Elton's songs, making his lyrics some of the best known in pop-rock's history. The two have collaborated on more than 30 albums so far.

In 1967 Taupin answered an advertisement searching for new talent. The ad was placed in the New Musical Express by Liberty Records A&R man Ray Williams. Elton John answered the same advert and although neither Bernie nor Elton passed the audition for Liberty Records, Ray Williams recognized their talents, put them in touch with each other, and the rest is history.

Taupin's lyrics include such tunes asRocket Man, Levon, Crocodile Rock,Honky Cat, Tiny Dancer, Candle In the Wind, Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting, Bennie and the Jets,Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Don't Let the Sound Go Down on Me, The Bitch is Back, Daniel, Your Song, The One,Simple Life, The Last Song andBelieve. In September 1997, Taupin rewrote the lyrics of Candle in the Wind in tribute to the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

The 1991 film documentary Two Rooms described the the songwriting team's writing style. It involves Taupin writing the lyrics on his own and John then putting them to music, with no further interaction between the two. This however changed considerably over the years. The process is still basically the same, but the two of them interact on songs far more today. Bernie Taupin sometimes joins Elton John in the studio as the songs are written and occasionally during recording sessions.

The songwriting team had their first Broadway musical open in March 2006 with Lestat: The Musical. Bernie Taupin wrote lyrics for 10 songs for Elton John's 2006 album The Captain & The Kid and appeared on the cover with him for the first time marking their 40th anniversary of working together.

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards
The songwriting team that consists of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote the majority of the catalogue of their band, The Rolling Stones. They have also produced and co-produced numerous Rolling Stones albums under the pseudonym The Glimmer Twins.

Jagger and Richards credit manager Andrew Loog Oldham as the catalyst for the start of their collaboration. Although most Jagger/Richards numbers have been collaborations, some of the songs credited to the famous partnership have been most often solo songwriting from either Jagger (Sympathy for the Devil,Brown Sugar), or Richards (Happy,Little T&A). This is similar to the Lennon/McCartney songwriting team. In addition, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards also adhered to a tradition of joint credits even on songs that were written by just one of them. Mick Jagger said that "I think in the end it all balances out."Most often Jagger wrote most of the lyrics while Richards focused on the music. Mick Jagger also stated that this technique was more prevalent in the early 1960s, while in their later collaborations their roles have overlapped more, with both songwriters contributing both lyrics and music.


Stargate
Stargate is a Grammy-winning Norwegian record producing and songwriting team. It's composed of Tor Erik Hermansen and Mikkel Storleer Eriksen. They write in the R&B, pop and hip hop genres. Stargate was established in Norway.


Stargate broke into the American music scene in 2006, with the release of the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, So Sick, produced and co-written by the team and performed by singer Ne-Yo. They also produced and co-wrote with Beyoncé Knowles her worldwide hit singleIrreplaceable, which also topped the Billboard Hot 100 - for ten consecutive weeks.


Stargate began in 1997 as a song-writing trio, consisting of Tor Erik Hermansen, Mikkel Storleer Eriksen, and Hallgeir Rustan, in Norway. When they first met, Hermansen was a talent scout for the Norwegian branch of the record label Warner Music Group, Eriksen owned a studio, and Rustan was a mechanical engineer before becoming involved in music.


The songwriting team's first successes were in Great Britain. The Stargate team has produced many Top 10 hits in the United Kingdom for acts, for example Blue, Miss-Teeq, and Atomic Kitten. They also worked with Javine, Shola Ama, Five, Samantha Mumba in Europe.The team wanted to be successful on the American market. They remixed American hip-hop and R&B songs, adding layers of melody to suit the European radio audience. Soon they felt that the team could be more successful if they relocated to the United States. But only Hermansen and Eriksen were willing to do that. That's how the trio became a duo.


In 2005 in New York, Stargate started to work with singer-songwriter Ne-Yo at Sony Music Studios. Ne-Yo had been working on his debut album, In My Own Words, and he decided to collaborate with the team. Soon they wrote So Sick, which topped the Bilboard Hot 100. Later they also collaborated on the hit single Unfaithful for Rihanna's 2006 album, A Girl Like Me. In the same year, Stargate again collaborated with Ne-Yo for the single Irreplaceable, recorded by Beyoncé Knowles. The single topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for ten consecutive weeks in 2007. Also in 2006, Stargate wrote American Lionel Richie his first R&B hit, I Call It Love. In 2007, Beautiful Liar, a Beyoncé Knowles/Shakira duet became another hit for Stargate.


The songwriting team received Grammy nominations for five separate songs in six categories for the 2008 Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year for Irreplaceable, Best R&B Song for Hate That I Love You and Best Dance Record for Don't Stop the Music. Stargate received nominations in more than 10 categories for the 2009 Grammy Awards.They won their first Grammy in 2009 in the Best R&B Song category for Miss Independent, performed by Ne-Yo.


Other Notable Songwriting Teams
• The Motown team of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland: Holland–Dozier–Holland is a songwriting and production team. The trio wrote, arranged and produced many songs that helped define the Motown sound in the 1960s.


• Rodgers and Hammerstein:Richard Rodgets and Oscar Hammerstein II were a well-known American songwriting duo. They created several popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s. Rodgers composed the music and Hammerstein wrote the lyrics. Their most successful shows included Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The Kind and I and The Sound of Music. They received thirty-four Tony Awards, fifteen Academy Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, and two Grammys.

More about Famous Songwriters 

Songwriting Resources

The songwriting resources you will find on this website have all been tried and tested. You can't imagine how many things I've tried that didn't work. That's why I thought it would be a good idea to collect those resources that really do help you get better at your craft.

There are some obvious songwriting tools. For example, a pen and a piece of paper. You might also use books, software, instruments, etc. Then there are those tools that are less obvious but just as powerful. Think about how important a collaborator, a proper place or the perfect time to write can be.

There is so much songwriting gear you might want to own. Start with a thing or two. Don't get everything on the first day of your songwriting career because you won't need everything. Too much stuff might even distract you from achieving your goal. Getting only a small amount of equipment at first is more sensible and better for your wallet.

The best songwriting books are written by those who've been there, done that. Luckily, there have been many great amazingly successful songwriters who decided to put pen to paper to share their knowledge and experiences with budding songwriters.

Then there are some videos on the internet you may find interesting. Video interviews with songwriters about their working principles and habits are also awesome to watch. If I were you, I'd watch each one of them and learn. The information in these interviews is invaluable.

I love reading articles about songwriting and songwriters. Sometimes I even print them, or copy them to my Kindle. You probably have some free time to read these every day while you're commuting, waiting for someone or having lunch. In addition, some of the articles are not only useful but funny too.
Some of the best songwriting resources include websites about music, writing, artists, music business. I suggest visiting at least one or two every day to keep in touch with 'what's going on in the world of songwriting'.


Have fun and learn!

Songwriting Books

There is a countless number of songwriting books out there. It's difficult to choose which ones to read. You can find some reviews online but some of (or most of) them are written by the authors themselves or their friends (in my opinion).

I have read most books about this topic available on the market today. And I'll keep reading songwriting books. Just because I enjoy them. But some of these books are either written for idiots or the content was copied from another already successful book. At least sometimes it feels like that. This is why I decided to compile a list of those songwriting books for you that I found to be the best.

Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting
This book by Robin Frederick consists of "126 proven techniques for writing songs that sell". This is the best book for you if you want to write hits. If you don't care about being marketable, don't buy it. It covers everything from song structure, writing lyrics and melodies to hit chords. The only downside is that there is no digital version. The author said that she would like the readers to take notes on the margins, etc. and you can't do that with an ebook. I don't agree with that… at all...



Six Steps to Songwriting Success
This is another book that covers it all. It was written by Jason Blume. There is so much information in it that it'll take some time to digest it all. But it's written in a very down-to-earth style so it's easy to understand. There is also a lot of information about the music business, persistence and realistic expectations in this book.






The Craft and Business of Songwriting
Don't expect to carry this book around with you. It's huge and heavy. When I was reading it on the subway, the people sitting on my two sides had to make a little room for it when I opened it. But this much good information needs space. It covers similar topics to the previous books but somehow it's even longer. And the letters are small in it. What I'm trying to say is that the book by John Braheny is amazing but the quality of the printing isn't. I think there is a digital version sold somewhere. Get that one if you can.


FutureHit.DNA
This book was written by music industry professional Jay Frank. It has a very different approach compared to the three books above. It's not only about songwriting as a craft but also about the role and consumption of music in this digital age. You'll find out how the way people listen to music has changed - and what you should pay attention to when writing a song to accommodate this change. Jay Frank also says that currently there are more opportunities for making money from your music than ever. But you need to be aware of the "how". If you would like to write songs for the contemporary market, FutureHit.DNA is a MUST read!

Hack Your Hit
"Hack Your Hit: Free And Cheap Marketing Tips For Musicians" is another bestseller by Jay Frank. It's been written mainly for musicians but the marketing tips are invaluable for songwriters as well. The book contains 40 tips for musicians about making your music stand out in the digital age and how to become famous :) Similarly to FutureHit.DNA, this book also has a very modern and different approach. Even if you "only" write songs, you'll learn a lot from the music marketing tricks shared in it.

These are the very best songwriting books currently out there but I will expand this list when I find other great ones. If you have any recommendations, feel free to contact me!

More Songwriting Resources 

Songwriting Videos

I love looking for and watching songwriting videos. These are usually interviews with famous musicians and songwriters. They tell you about their songwriting process, their secrets and what is going through their head when they are working. I think these videos are invaluable resources for us who would like to get as good as we can at writing hits!

In this video Kesha talks about being prolific and what she thinks songwriting is all about. It's worth checking out!

In this awesome video Sharon Corr (from The Corrs) talks about her songwriting habits and even shows how she wrote her latest song, Butterfly.

In this interview, Matchbox 20's Rob Thomas talks about his songwriting process.

In this one, the lovely Colbie Caillat discusses songwriting and the beauties of collaboration.

I hope you found these short videos as useful and inspiring as I did. Besides reading books and studying the hits, listening to great songwriters is one of the easiest and fastest way to get better every day.
Let me know if you find other awesome vidz!

More Songwriting Resources 

Songwriting FAQ

The Songwriting FAQ section of this site is a collection of questions that readers have asked. If you still have any questions left in you about songwriting, feel free to contact me or submit a question through the Songwriting Help page.


I own some of the most popular songwriting books. Are there any that have a "different" approach?

Most well-known and deservedly popular songwriting books like Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting, Six Steps to Songwriting Success and The Craft and Business of Songwriting have a very similar approach. They are amazingly useful but if you've read one or two of them, you'll feel that the next one repeats most of what you read earlier. But it's worth reading as many of these essential books (and many more) as you can because there are always some little tricks, ideas, etc. in each of them that are new, unique and vital to know.

However, if you're interested in a "different approach", I recommend Futurehit.DNA by Jay Frank. It's the most ground-breaking songwriting book out there now.

How can I find a songwriting partner / collaborator / co-writer?

It's quite easy to find a co-writer locally or from foreign countries these days. You just need to know where to look. On the "How to find a songwriting partner" page I've listed the best and most common methods and resources.

Do you have any tips on how to submit songs to music industry professionals or record companies? What's the next step after writing and recording your demo?

There are several ways of submitting your song to music industry professionals, music libraries and/or record labels.


1. The easiest method I know is an independent A&R company called TAXI. On the 1st and 15th of every month they release some (industry listings) that you can submit your demos to. TAXI screeners then listen to your song, review it and decide if it fits the requirements of the listing. If it does, they forward it to the record company/manager/music library... The service costs $299 the first year and later $199 if you renew your subscription (plus $5 for each song submitted). TAXI also organizes the Road Rally each year, which is a great songwriting lecture/seminar series (free for members). If you can attend (it's in Los Angeles), you will meet several fellow songwriters and industry professionals there, which can be very helpful for your career.


2. I'm also familiar with the Song Submit service of ModernBeats. It's cheaper than TAXI but has similar services.


3. You could also network with other musicians who have some connections in the industry. And it's a great idea to co-write as much as you can. It not only makes you a better songwriter but you can get your songs to places you might not have without a collaborator.


4. There are songwriting competitions all year. Some are scams but the ones I write about have a good reputation: Songwriting Contests


5. Be proactive and spread the word about your music. You might want to have your own website, Facebook and/or MySpace, Twitter page. You can also create a YouTube channel, upload your songs then promote them. If you're not an established singer-songwriter, it's best to give away a couple of songs for free and once you have a fan base, you can start asking for money.


Other resources:


• There is a site that compares song pitching services. It's definitely worth checking out.
• There is also a great page on LifeHacker about releasing your music online.


If you don't know where to begin, I suggest that you start with a website, a Facebook page (so your fans can "Like" your music) and a YouTube channel then promote these.


I hope that this list of Songwriting FAQ answered your questions, if not, feel free to ask for Songwriting Help. I will add more and more questions and answers to this Songwriting FAQ page so make sure you check back every now and then!