Notice how I’ve NOT said how to write a song? I believe that this is an ability people are born with and if you have to try in any way or force it, don’t bother. There are seriously so many gifted songwriters in the world you’ll never hear about that it’s really a total waste of your time trying to write songs because these people are already doing it without too much effort and they STILL can’t get a break. There is NO magic potion or pill that will turn you into a John Mayer or Bruce Springsteen or Sia. These people are born with this talent and chances are they have been writing since they were very young. That’s truly how it is and if you ever see any courses promising to tell you how to write a song please don’t buy into it. It really is like teaching somehow how to be tall. In other words, you can ‘t. If however, you can and do already write songs, there are various things you can do to improve them. The first big tip I can give you is to think about the key of the song. Now this may seem obvious but believe me it is often if not always totally overlooked by even very effective songwriters. No matter what key you originally wrote the song in try a few different ones. Again I know this sounds obvious but something as simple as that can make a BIG difference to your overall sound. A great example is The Carpenters. If you think you don’t know who they are you’re probably wrong. Google them and you’ll see that they had numerous big hits in the seventies. They were a brother a sister team. Apparently the story goes that the lead singer of this fantastic duo originally sang everything in a higher key and it was the producer that suggested she sing it in a lower key and voila! The Carpenters found their very unique sound. Now, I’m not sure about the veracity of this comment but either way it’s a great story and it has the ring of truth to it because I see this all the time. I often mentor songwriters and one of the first things I suggest are key changes and more often than not, it’s of great benefit. Not always of course. Often the original key the song is written in is the best one. I’m only suggesting that you give it some thought. It’s all about what key is best suited to your voice for that particular song. Please note that there is NO one specific key that will suit your voice all the time. This is another misconception. I really have no idea where this idea comes from but it’s not true and actually makes no sense. If you want to understand keys and whats best for YOUR voice, then it’s probably best that you seek out a decent singing teacher and do a few lessons. They should be able to set you straight. Obviously I can’t do that in this post but I CAN tell you that the key in which a song is being sung can make or break it. It gets a little complicated of course because often times a song may be driven by a guitar riff and changing the key ruins the effect of that riff e.g. songs like Layla (Eric Clapton) or Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin) just to name a couple. These songs wouldn’t work as well if the key was changed and there are many more examples of this. However as a starting point to improving your song, you could do worse than have a really good think about the existing key.