Step 1 of songwriting IN BIAB is entering chords onto a chart. If you know zero theory, how you going to do that? If you know zero theory, you might enter the key of L not knowing it only goes from A to G.

See, I run into this a lot, where I am trying to talk to someone and I use a phrase like "That first syllable comes before the downbeat." If they don't know what the downbeat is, how can they understand what I mean?

That's why my long post included the term "basic basics". Note values, time signatures, chord wheel. You don't have to know the brand of clavier Mozart used.... but you DO have to know what 3/4 and 4/4 mean, or how can you even begin charting? I mean, even if you know C, F, G and Am, that will get you started writing a simplistic song. But is it a waltz, a shuffle, a stomp, or a swing tune? You have to know what those are to pick the right style. (Again, these comments are heavily related to BIAB.)

Some of the comments that border on the ridiculous like people who tell me that Frank Sinatra didn't write... please. There is no book called "How to write hit songs without putting any effort into it" that is all blank pages. It takes work, it takes time, and to be good, it takes knowledge. We have a handful of users here who want us to learn for them. It doesn't work that way. There are also a lot of people who say "I'm not that good of a player." Well, why not? Spend on hour a day learning to play better. That can only make you a better writer, right? Music, even as a hobby, takes effort. Nobody expects a guy writing his first song ever to place it on a Billboard chart, but even Diane Warren wrote her first song at some point. Everybody also doesn't have the luxury of being able to put as much time into music as they might like, as that pesky "work" thing gets into the way, and for those that have kids, you have soccer games and swim meets and such. All depends on how much you want it. At the very worst, you have the chance to learn some new stuff.

I used to get someone at almost every gig come to me at break and say something like "I wish I could play keyboards like you do." My answer, for decades, was "Why can't you? I didn't come from the womb knowing how to play. I can tell you first hand that wishing isn't going to make it happen. So start taking some lessons, practice every day, and in 6 months or so, come out and do a song with us." Really does come down to return on investment.

Last edited by eddie1261; 12/13/16 11:58 AM.
I am using the new 1040XTRAEZ form this year. It has just 2 lines.

1. How much did you make in 2023?
2. Send it to us.