Whose style?

A quick question for songwriters and recording artists: Do you own your musical style?

If not you, who owns it? Who gets to decide whether your music is styled correctly? Who do you have to answer to?

Of course, as a professional you sometimes have to do music that isn't in your own style, if that's what the job requires. But, when that job is done and you return to your own style, are you as easy, confident, and comfortable as you are in your own home?

If not -- if you find yourself looking over your shoulder as you make music, if you feel self-conscious, if you're eager to please -- then you just might have some ownin' to do.

Say it with style (Songwriting tips)

It's not what you say, it's how you say it that matters.

You can prove this to yourself by picking a song that you strongly dislike, making note of its essential message, and then finding other songs with the same basic message. You'll probably find that some of them are pretty good. It's not the message that makes a good song; it's the skill and style that the songwriter and artist bring to that message.

K♦ This song is your song

K♦ King of Diamonds in The Rock Songwriter’s Deck: 52 Ways to Write a Song

Have you met the King of Diamonds? Let's just say he's pretty comfortable with who he is and with his level of success in life. Of, course, it's easy for him — he's a king! And he's loaded with diamonds!

But even if you don't have that same level of worldly success, you can learn from the King of Diamonds' example. Go ahead and write what's comfortable and natural for you to write.
Write the song that’s easiest and most straightforward for you.

Write in your native style. Write about things you care about personally. Let your real personality come forward.

Don’t be afraid to do “the same things you always do.” This is the time to use all those most familiar tricks.

7♥ Start fresh in a new space

7♥ Seven of Hearts in The Rock Songwriter’s Deck: 52 Ways to Write a Song

Seven of Hearts invites you to remind yourself what it's like to be a beginner. As a beginner, you can bring a fresh, brash, and naive attitude to your songwriting. In contrast, if you work in the same songwriting idiom for years, your work can become fussy, self-conscious, and formulaic.

Audiences love the fresh energy that a newcomer brings to the stage, and they can easily forgive a few technical shortcomings or other flaws. At the same time, no amount of technical skill and cleverness can make up for the dreariness that a long-experienced performer brings to the stage after he starts to get tired of his own work. As a creative artist, you must do whatever it takes to keep things fresh for yourself.

This week, become a beginner again. Start with a musical instrument and/or a performance style that you don't usually play. Practice for a while until you just barely start to get comfortable with this new instrument or new style. Then, let something emerge — a new song — that's the natural expression of this new musical format.