Hey there I'm Lizzy McAvoy and welcome to my Nashville studio
In Nashville, writing a song in a day is typically a basic requirement, I remember when I
first started out writing 10 years ago and writing a song in a week seemed like
a triumphant moment for me, writing a song in a day seemed a little terrifying
but fast forward six years and that's all I was doing. Writing a song a day
five days a week as a staff writer. You may be thinking this sounds insane.
yes, you're right it's pretty insane! but it's also a really stellar skill to have
if you can do it right
Think of it this way you're booked with a major recording artist
and they're only in town for two to three days before they head back out on tour
in that small window of time that you have with them let's say three to four hours
you have to write their next single.
Daunting task, yes, but totally achievable.
Then let's say you do tracks like me by the end of that write
you have to make sure that you have the artist vocal recorded and a good quality
recording and a basic track that can then be sent to the artist
the management and the label, this ensures that usually you have a better chance of
getting a cut which we all want right? So where do you begin
Step One: Ideas
Always always have ideas hide them in your back pockets keep them
on your phone always keep your ideas whether it's melodic, lyrical, quotes, stories
I actually write with a guy who doesn't own a car and he Ubers
everywhere and so when he gets to our writes he has some of the craziest Uber
driver stories imaginable and that's usually what we end up writing our songs about
but nothing stalls a write faster than the lack of ideas which brings me
to my second step
Be Prepared
One of the pieces of advice I received early on was be prepared for anything and I'm talking anything!
At the time I thought this was kind of a ridiculous piece of advice but honestly it turned
out to be a really good one, we never know what we're going to stumble on the
minute we walk into a studio or session. We could have all of our ideas prepared
great tracks ready to go and all of a sudden you're thrown a curveball
So sometimes you have to abandon ship on your original plans and
think on your feet, don't be married to an idea or concept in the very beginning
and get too caught up, just go with the flow.
especially when writing with an artist.
Step Three: Get To Know Your Brief
Whether your brief is the artist themselves, a pitch sheet of artists
looking for songs, or a sync TV film brief, immerse yourself and the needs and
wants of who you're writing for. I recently had a song placed in a Ram
Truck commercial the brief provided to me from Ram Trucks said they were
looking for an all-american feel Tom Petty vibe with lyrics like 'guts and glory'
'wide open road' and 'long live' also I had to write the song that day produce
a track and have it turned in by the following morning
So immediately I turned to Tom Petty and immersed myself in that vibe
I started writing down all my first thoughts
typing out random lines, ideas just stream of consciousness
I began my track with a simple beat and a simple acoustic guitar track that was my
vibe bed and then I wrote the lyrics to that, to save time I just set up a
microphone and sang to the track while I was writing but that initial quick study
up helped me in the long run to turn around the song quickly
Step Four: Know What You're Good At
I would be required all the time to write a song and produce a track all in the same day
it's a labor-intensive concept but completely achievable know what you're
good at and stick with it I found I would fail at this task when I would be
consumed with making my sounds sound like others.
I love acoustic instruments
I'm an acoustic junkie so why not harness that power, something I feel I'm
good at which in turn creates my sound. I've always been told no one really
knows what they're looking for until they hear it so don't ignore your own
abilities which in turn slows down the process know what you're good at stick
with it and do the best you can possibly do because the most important thing is
not to miss the deadlines because that's just missing the chance.
Step number five, it is the cheesiest of my steps but very true
Do Not Give Up
I've always joked and said how it takes 10,000 hours to get really good at
something well it must take 10,000 songs to get a great one.
Totally an exaggeration but it does take practice
I used to practice writing a song every single day
whether I felt it was Grammy worthy or just should've stayed hidden in my notebook
it does take some okay songs to make some great songs but always
continue to study your work find where you can be better and where you've
really found your place keep, fighting for great music great lines and great ideas
and in no time you will be writing one, two, three songs a day
I promise it can happen
Anyways I hope these tips are helpful I'd love to hear from you
find me on social media and as always happy music making from Music City.