How Do I Become A Professional Song Writer I

How can an amateur songwriter become a professional songwriter?

There is big tent music and small tent music.If you want to write a Katy Perry Billboard Hot 100 Hit, that’s big tent music. You’re writing music for a lot of people. Thus a big tent of people.If you’re writing avant-garde gypsy songs, that’s small tent music. You’re writing for a very small crowd.To write big tent pop songs, there’s a certain science to it.There are basic rules for the 3 components of the song:LyricsMelodyHarmony (Chords)Here are some very basic tips:For Lyrics, you want to show then tell. Start a verse with imagery, then speak a message. Like Royals by Lorde:I've never seen a diamond in the fleshI cut my teeth on wedding rings in the moviesAnd I'm not proud of my addressIn the torn up town, no post code envyLine 1 and 2 are both imagery. Line 3 and 4 are giving the message. The Imagery of Line 1 and 2 drips down and paints Line 3 and 4.For Melody, you want to use syncopation. Start melody lines on the off-beats.For Harmony, here’s some great courses on the subjet:Song Science #1: How Pros Use 6 Chords to Write Hit SongsSong Science #2: The Complete Songwriting Chord GuideGood luck!

Is it possible to become a professional singer/songwriter, when I don't have the strongest voice?

Where I'm heading... There is a talent show starting this year in my country and I take it as a good opportunity to show what I've got and maybe (just maybe) get some valuable connections out of this. I think I am a good musician in general, I play the piano (about 10 years) and I've written some songs myself. I sing since I was three years old, I sang in several children choirs, usually the soprano part, even though I'm more of a mezzosorano/alto.The problem is, I don't have a very strong modal voice, I can't sing with it over A4. But I can sing above this note just fine with a voice that's somewhere between the modal voice and falsetto. It's a bit hard to explain… I can easily get to E5. However this kind of voice is not as strong as the voice most professional singers have. So, basically, I can't hit those big notes that amaze everyone.Do you think I could still try and get somewhere? I'm not saying I want to sell-out a world tour, but I would really love to record my own album and perform.Ou, and I'm turning 21 next month, just for info.

Can I ever become a professional singer-songwriter/performer if I’m an alto who has a limited vocal range?

What I woud like to say has pretty much been answered already. There are both successful singer/songwriters who aren't that great singers and low-voiced successful female singers.The number one thing is to write really good songs. When you write your own music, you can play to your strengths and avoid things that don't work so well for your voice. If you don't have full sets of your own songs and perform covers too, pick cover songs from artists with similar type of voice or male singers.If you feel your current vocal skills limit your song writing, train your voice. You are can discover more range by learning vocal technique. The fastest way to learn is to take voice lessons. In any case if you are serious about becoming a professional singer/performer it's a good idea to get some training so that you can rely on your voice when you're "on the road" doing gigs, sometimes in less than optimal circumstances.A little vocal teacher talk just to add something to the previous answers and maybe to give some ideas what to work on:The most probable reason to a limited range is that the singer uses only one register of their voice. If you are a real contralto voice, it may be harder to discover your head voice (the higher notes) and make a smooth transition between vocal registers (move between your low notes and higher notes without an audible break). How to practice these things is exactly the stuff that vocal teachers teach at lessons, so you are likely to benefit from lessons. There are plenty of youtube tutorials about vocal registers and head voice, if you want some starting point to try things yourself.Good luck on your journey!

How can I became a professional songwriter?

Interesting question!Well, how do you become a good lawyer? How do you become a good doctor? How do you become a professional athlete? The answer is the same: Work hard. Many have the goal of becoming a professional songwriter but most don't realize that you need to work hard just like in any competitive field. Let's say there are 100 people with the goal of becoming a professional songwriter but there is only 1 spot open to outside writers on that next hit album. Guess who gets that spot: The person who worked harder and longer than the 99 others (of course, there is always a bit of a luck component in the equation but that's everywhere). Anyway, to keep this short, if you want to become a professional songwriter, expect to work on your songwriting full time for years and years without seeing a dime. You will have to record a lot of songs. You will have to polish up the best of those to make them professional productions. You will have to educate yourself about songwriting and the music industry. You will have to meet a whole lot of people by attending conventions, workshops, etc. And you can't give up on the way because as soon as you do, 99 others will just run over you taking that spot you've been working towards. See it from that perspective: To become a licensed doctor in the US, you will have to go through 11 years of full time education (Requirements to Become a Doctor in the U.S.). If you can work on your songwriting full time for 11 years without expecting to make a dime on it, you will most likely be the one out of the 100 to break through because 99 will give up on the way or find 1,000,000 excuses why they can't commit full time to it. This article might be interesting to you if you want to do some further reading on this topic: 9 out of 10 Songwriters Will Be Pissed After Reading This!

How do I go about my dream of becoming a professional singer-songwriter?

Number 1 is, be prepared to spend the rest of your life pursuing something that, for most people, luck is a factor.  You may have the musical goals, aspirations and dreams that the rest of us do, but turning them into a profitable enterprise for the rest of your life is the hard part.  It's called the music 'business' for a very good reason, and if you're not ready to think of it that way yet, then you'll have an even harder time.  Number 2 is to put yourself and your music out to any free site you can think of like soundcloud, reverbnation, bandcamp, etc.  Anything that will give your music an opportunity to find its audience.  With as many 'new' acts that come along literally every day, the competition gets harder, but the methods in which you can attract and keep fans get easier with all the new platforms, websites and apps coming out.  Finally, re-read number 1.  I've been doing this for over 20 years now, and I've had some great highs in my successes, and some terrible nearly career ending lows that almost killed me.  It has to be something you're passionate about, and willing to do whatever it takes to get there because you can't imagine doing anything else.  It will also take plenty of time before you start turning a profit, so if making money at it in the first 1-2 years is something you're looking for, then you might want to think about something else.  Getting and becoming successful is hard.  Staying there and remaining relevant and profitable is even harder.  Either way, I wish you the best of luck.

How do I become a songwriter?

If you write words and can sing then you can start writing a song.  Do you have a smart phone, tablet, or a computer with a webcam?  You can use them to record yourself singing.  I recommend you focus on one verse-chorus pair.  Try recording that, and listen back.  Do your melodies sound like a verse-chorus pair?  Particularly, does the chorus sound like a chorus?  If not, sing again, change a few phrases.  Keep the old version and compare the two.  Keep refining.  Once you have a verse-chorus pair, then work on the 2nd verse.  There is no rule that says 1st and 2nd verse have to be the same, of course, but most of the time they should be similar.  Sometimes people who write poems have a hard time enforcing the consistent structure over corresponding sections -- 1st verse and 2nd verse should have similar, if not same, number of syllables per line, with weak and strong words placed in the same spots.  As others said, you'll want to learn to play an instrument at some point, because unless you're writing an a cappella song or a unaccompanied choral song, your song will need other instruments.  I recommend a guitar -- there's a reason why there are gazillion guitar songwriters.  It's because guitars make it easy to focus on chords and rhythm, which are exactly the missing parts when the voice is singing the melody.  But it can be a piano, too.  Pick whatever instruments feel comfortable and fun to learn.  But, some of my songs start out as a melody sung to my phone or computer.  Chords can come later, it's not a requirement for writing a song. Incidentally, I just posted a video lesson about how to approach writing melodies when lyrics are written first.  This one does assume you have chords, too, but it may be relevant/useful in considering this question.

How can one become an ‘established’ songwriter?

Start demoing your songs and releasing them.If you can't perform them find artists who can.Start networking in your local sceneBecome an affiliate with a PRO such as SESAC (I am with them highly recommend it cause they pay out the most however you have to be signed contractually to them), ASCAP (takes all applicants), or BMI (also takes all applicants), and begin building your catalog.Get your songs publishedIn order to become part of The Recording Academy you have to have three officiated credits on three seperate albums or singles (this is currently being switched around though so it's subject to change).Thats pretty much it.