Songwriters’ News – Volume V, Issue 1
President's Message
by Doug Millaway
As we begin another new year, it's important to reflect upon your personal, and possibly professional, goals for the year. making resolutions is a time-honored activity that can either lead to impactful changes or another year of wishes and hopes. I decided to put together what I think are the 10 best "resolutions" you can make to improve your songwriting over the next 12 months. These are pretty good, but you can come up with your own as well. We'd love to have you come to one of our future online sessions and tell us how your goals are taking shape. The bottom line for me is to keep writing and putting forth genuine and authentic products. So here you go.
1. Write Every Day
Set a daily goal to write, whether it's a full song, a verse, or even just a lyric idea. Consistency is key to honing creativity.
2. Learn a New Instrument or Technique
Expand your musical toolbox by learning a new instrument or mastering a new playing or production technique to inspire fresh ideas.
3. Study Song Structures
Analyze your favorite songs to understand their structure (verse, chorus, bridge, etc.). Experiment with applying these structures in your own writing.
4. Set Specific Goals
Decide how many songs you aim to complete this year and break them down into manageable milestones, such as finishing one song per month.
5. Collaborate With Others
Work with other songwriters, musicians, or producers to gain new perspectives and ideas. Collaboration often leads to unexpected creative breakthroughs.
6. Experiment With Genres
Step out of your comfort zone and write in different genres. This can challenge your creativity and make your music more versatile.
7. Improve Lyric Writing
Commit to improving your storytelling by practicing poetry, journaling, or using songwriting prompts to refine your ability to convey emotions and ideas.
8. Develop a Routine for Inspiration
Create a habit of capturing inspiration whenever it strikes by carrying a notebook or using voice memos. Review these ideas regularly.
9. Expand Your Knowledge of Music Theory
Deepen your understanding of scales, chords, and progressions to give your songs more depth and complexity.
10. Record and Reflect
Record all your songs, even rough drafts, and listen back critically. This helps identify areas for improvement and track progress over time.
These are some basic ideas, but as I said, customize the list to fit YOUR needs. And remember, you don't need to complete all of these to feel success. If you are able to be a better writer tomorrow than you are today because of some small accomplishment, then you have made it. Good luck in 2025!
Meeting Dates
By Mike Rudquist
Please Note: Going forward, all online Zoom events will use the same Zoom link. Here is a members-only link to our "Member Event Access" page which has the Zoom link:
https://mnsongwriters.org/activities/member-event-access/
Also Note: All monthly MAS online meetings will be held within the same time frame of 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. (This does not include the Minnesota Homebrew Radio Show. See the event listing below for times.)
Monthly Mixer with Doug Millaway
Wednesday, January 8, 2025, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
This meeting allows for all types of topics to be explored and discussed as it relates to songwriting – the writing process, production, inspiration, the music business – all topics related to the craft, production and business of songwriting. This is a moderated open discussion, and participants are encouraged to share their personal experiences and expertise.
Minnesota Homebrew Radio Show with Carl Unbehaun
Thursdays all month – January 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
Every Thursday evening from 6 to 7 pm, fellow MAS member and radio DJ Carl Unbehaun offers music written and/or performed by Minnesota musicians on his Minnesota Homebrew Radio Show. Radio station KSRQ in Thief River Falls (90.1 FM) streams Carl’s show via the Internet. On the FIRST Thursday of the month, Carl dedicates his entire show to music written by members of the Minnesota Association of Songwriters!
To submit your songs to Carl’s MAS-dedicated show or to have it played on any Thursday night, contact Carl at minnesotahomebrew@gmail.com.
To listen to Minnesota Homebrew on your devices, click here: https://mnsongwriters.org/activities/radio-airplay/.
Online Round Robin Song Share with Paul Nye
Wednesday, January 15 – 6:30 – 8:30
This is a laid-back, come as you are type get together with fellow songwriters to share your songs in a take turns fashion either performing live via zoom or with a recorded version of your songs. Just for fun and just to get together and play. Even if you want to just join in to listen, this is the place for you!
Monthly Online Song Review Session Hosted by Doug Millaway
Wednesday, January 22 – 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
This is our general information and song review meeting. You are welcome to play an original song in any phase of its development or completion for purposes of potentially improving it based on feedback received.
Please refrain from submitting songs you do not intend to change from feedback given. You’re welcome to share those in our Round Robin Song session above.
Our review sessions are one of the best opportunities to help you learn and improve your craft. Giving feedback on other writer's songs, and listening to others doing the same, is a great teaching tool.
You may submit your song’s audio and-or lyrics only for review up to the time of the review session. Please note, we are limited in the songs we can fit in, so you’ll want to watch for the email announcement to submit them and get it in early. Please do not submit songs prior to the announcement to avoid missing out.
We will play an MP3 of your song directly in the room. While MP3s played digitally in the room are generally easier for people to hear, they are not required for feedback. We’ll also accept lyrics only.
Find more detail, go to our Song Review Meeting page on our website: https://mnsongwriters.org/activities/meetings.
You can check out all MAS events on our website calendar at https://mnsongwriters.org/events/
Editor's Note
By Mary Kealy-Falk
We thought we'd give our editorial staff and article contributors a break this past month because of all the activities and commitments folks would be experiencing in preparation for the December holiday season. Therefore, our newsletter this month will simply cover the basics of times and dates for all the upcoming January events and other organizational updates.
However, I did want to express my sincere thanks to all the MAS members who have contributed their time, ideas, production assistance and articles that have made our monthly MAS newsletter a solid source for ongoing information on our organization, its events, newsworthy activities, future plans, changes, and updates to the smooth functioning and execution of our Mission Statement which reads:
The Minnesota Association of Songwriters is a volunteer, non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating the art and craft of creating original music. Through workshops, review meetings, showcases, networking and other activities, we offer opportunities for all songwriters at any level to strengthen their songwriting and performance skills, while encouraging collaboration and exploration of the creative process.
If I could put together a New Year's resolution in my role as editor of the newsletter, it would be about my desire to provide more opportunities for MAS members to engage with each other through the medium of our newsletter and provide a platform to let members know what is going on with each other in their songwriting pursuits. Therefore, I will be sending out requests going forward to the membership to provide the information on what's going on with your personal songwriting pursuits that you would like to share and adding them to the newsletter. It can be anything that you would like to share with the members related to any aspect of your songwriting adventures. It could include songwriting showcases you are performing in, songs that you are pitching to the industry, song contests that you have entered, CD's that you have created, songs you have written that you'd like to share with the membership. I'd like to have us get to know each other better and since live events are not as available to us in our current times, it would still be great to have ways to connect and share our music with each other.
So I wish all of you a very happy New Year in the hope that many of your songwriting goals and wishes will come to fruition in the new year!
If you have any additional ideas, comments or questions regarding the ideas presented above, feel free to email me at vintagevfh@gmail.com
Sincerely,
Mary
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