Does the idea of writing songs with the whole band sound like an awesome vibe? Creating music with friends and having fun at the same time, there couldn’t be a better way to enjoy life, while building a great music career.

However, songwriting with a whole band is actually not very common at all. It more often the case that one or two members do the writing, and some marginal contributions of the others enable them to share in the credit.

The usual scenario with band writing is that all the members are there to help arrange a song that only one or two members actually wrote. This can be a very inefficient use of practice time.

So what can be done to insure that all members with a songwriting passion get to share in creating the new songs?

The best way to handle this is for everyone in the band to write individually, or in pairs. This allows for changing up writing teams any time you desire, and practice time will be spent tightening up completed songs, a much more productive use of time.

To facilitate productive rehearsals, it is best to send a rough recording of each new song to everyone in the band prior to practice. Teaching new songs to a group of musicians all at the same time is the biggest and most frustrating time-waster in bands.

You can always add band members as co-writers if their input to the arranging process ends up significantly changing the song. But I wouldn’t put them down as writers just because they put some standard drum beats or bass lines to a completed song.

THE TWO BEST TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE BAND SONGWRITING

One, Band writing is like dating, some relationships last, some don’t, some click at first, and others just don’t connect well. Keep the emotions out of this, and remember that a professional band needs to also be an effective business entity. Any partnerships that work well are going to benefit yourself and the band as a whole, so put any ego issues aside and go with what works. If it doesn’t satisfy you creatively, you can always seek outside co-writers to fulfill those needs, but you can’t force partnerships that don’t click.

Two, understand that it is fine if some members just don’t feel the creative flow, or are not developed enough yet as writers to contribute to the repertoire.

Additionally, if drummers or bass players begin playing guitar or piano and singing, so that they might contribute more effectively as writers, that is great. This is a common scenario in creative music groups. Even though they might be hacks on the new instruments, their musical ideas could be awesome. Helping them with the performance of their ideas could then quickly add some new writers to the group.

So stop seeking that incredible band songwriting team, it is often just a myth. Keep writing great songs with whatever partners work well together, and if some band members don’t write so well, that is fine too. The main thing is that some do!

To Learn All the BestSecrets of Songwriting, Visit Songwriting Planet for Lots of Free Songwriting Tips.