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10 Melody Mistakes that Peg You as an Amateur Songwriter

SongTown

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In this week’s SongTown Songwriting Podcast episode, multi-hit songwriters Clay Mills and Marty Dodson, who've critiqued thousands of songs at SongTown, break down the 10 most common melody mistakes that peg a songwriter as an amateur. Correct these 10 simple things and you will be quickly writing your best songs!

✅ GET THE MELODIC CONTRAST CHECKLIST at:
👉 https://songtown.com/melodic-contrast...

No matter how small (to have fun!) or big your goals are, writing better songs is the answer.
Our world-wide member-based community of songwriters and artists have achieved #1 Billboard songs (Pop & Country), major sync placements (All Genres), Grammy/Emmy nominations and awards.

📒 Show Notes and Resources 📒

⭐️ Songwriting Books:
►Mastering Melody Writing: https://amzn.to/3wC5ipE
►Song Building: Mastering Lyric Writing: https://amzn.to/36t3kMy
►The Songwriter's Guide To Mastering Co-Writing: https://amzn.to/2Idev3R
If Amazon is sold out, grab it here:
https://store.bookbaby.com/profile/so...

⏰ Time Codes ⏰
0:10 Mistake #1: Same Line Direction Everywhere
2:20 Mistake #2: Failure to Repeat Melodic Ideas
5:15 Mistake #3: Ignoring Emotional Rub Notes
8:21 Mistake #4: Only Singing Chord Tones
12:03 Mistake #5: Not Setting Up the Hook
14:13 Mistake #6: Avoiding Triplets
15:40 Mistake #7: Starting Every Line on the Same Beat
19:40 Mistake #8: Same-Length Vocal Phrases
23:05 Mistake #9: Verses That Are Too Big
26:19 Mistake #10: Only Listening to One Genre

📱 Subscribe and Listen to the SongTown on Songwriting Podcast HERE:
=================
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/38mVFuZ...

20 Comments

@SongTownUSA Creator 7 months ago (edited) Pinned

✅ GET THE MELODIC CONTRAST CHECKLIST at: https://songtown.com/melodic-contrast-checklist

@ZackkZackkk 7 months ago

While most songwriting teachers just explain things with text, graphics, and audio examples, you actually practice what you preach and show us how it’s done. This is so valuable and helpful. Best songwriting channel!

@tomforsythe7024 7 months ago

How about analyzing why songs like "Sweet Home Alabama" or "Snowbird" work? They repeat the same melodic line for the entire song, but aren't boring.

@WizardOfArc 7 months ago

That tip about the setup for the hook… that’s class

@transformationgeneration 10 days ago

I occasionally come back to these and I catch something new, something I missed the previous time, every time. Thanks fella's.

@boomboomnation 5 months ago

Lewis capaldi also geniusly uses the chorus melody “blue (da be di)” as his pre chorus. 😎

@MatthewChambersMusic 1 month ago

The Kloss is nice. I like carbon fiber for its durability and resistance to humidity and temp issues. My Rainsong is a little big to sit back in a chair with, the Kloss looks comfy there.

@aaronlarsen7447 6 months ago

Im so happy this channel found me.

@briancannon1704 2 months ago

Thank you guys! I love seeing you work on the spot like this.

@TheSurrealWheel 1 month ago

Great examples for each topic. I watched this a while back, glad I watched it again.

@kenbusbyJr 5 months ago

Another great episode thanks guys!

@dynamicalan 6 months ago

Music often uses duplets and triplets in the same section.

@Thomas-y7u5b 7 months ago

"That's the rub." --Shakespeare. As usual, great stuff, guys. (-:

@dylangeiger454 7 months ago

Thank you I needed this

@thearkphoenixproject 7 months ago

The most important thing that you need to know is this: a song it's a living entity, it needs to breathe and it needs to be (and feel) unique

If your song is not unique or all your songs feels the same...then you're wrong

@pawelkorbel9443 7 months ago

Thank you guys, as always very helpful hints. :)

@alexpick2028 1 month ago

proper technicians. excellent class. thank you. rub notes .... who knew! ,)

@dalehawkins7187 7 months ago

Another excellent one. Marty throwing out one great line after another and Clay dropping some killer melodies like it's going out of style. I wish it was as easy as y'all make it look!

@ChuckRichelGaming 7 months ago

Awesome video and there’s so much to learn from you guys it’s amazing! Hearing you play the guitar and then come up with a verse and chorus was so cool and I really learned a lot from this video so thank you so much! The way you switch chords and improvise on the spot is so cool and I would love to have a deep enough understanding in music/theory to be able to do that one day!!