Originally Posted By: HearToLearn
David and Noel, this may sound a bit odd, but I can tell your approach in both of your results. Your songs, to me, fit your approaches.

They also, no surprise, seem to fit your personalities. What I like about that is, your songs are truly an extension of who you are. To me, that means genuine! That is hard for many writers to get to!

Thanks Caaron. I guess I remain science-based at heart.

Ever since I can remember, making music has always been straightforward for me. Lyrics, on the other hand, were a mystery. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't discover out how to make words work properly.

Then, early in the 2000s, I went along to a weekend seminar with Pat Pattison. That seminar was extremely eye-opening. Pat's approach to lyrics was scientific (analytical and methodical). This gave me a glimmer of how to make them work for me. I've since been to over 20 seminars with Pat and using the techniques that he taught me, writing lyrics became possible. I continue to learn.

In January 2012, Pat conducted a seminar here in Melbourne where he launched his new book "Songwriting Without Boundaries". This book is a collection of exercises aimed at helping lyricists find their voice. The exercises require 56 days of practice that range from 30 - 60 minutes daily. It's quite a chore to work through them all!

Following Pat's release of the above book, and with Pat's permission, I put together a website that allowed a handful of us here in Melbourne to work through his book's exercises online. Not all of us made it to the end. Those who did, though, found it one of the most beneficial learning journeys ever undertaken. It was these exercises more than anything else that helped me discover how to be 'me' in my lyrics.

I still have the website and I've revisited the exercises a couple of times since then (for a top up) and it has always been worthwhile. Which reminds me, it's probably time to go through them again!

MY SONGS...
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