Become a Great Songwriter – Learn Songwriting from Michael Jackson!

If you’re someone who dreams of becoming a great songwriter let me offer you this bit of advice; set aside a few hours out of your day to study any one of Michael Jackson’s hit songs. I am convinced that clearly he was — and is — one of the world’s greatest songwriters.

I’m an 80’s baby, so I grew up during the King of Pop’s heyday and I was shocked — like probably you were — when I heard the news about Michael Jackson’s death. And like most people, I started downloading a ton of music. I felt I needed to honor my man for a little while; honor what MJ gave to music and to the world. Eventually I found myself reminiscing events in my life as my mp3 player cycled through classics like “remember the time”, and “will you be there”…man, those were great times!

And it wasn’t so much that I was a hyperventilating concert fan in the past — or where I’d have a walkman (yeah…remember those things?) or CD player packed full with his music in continuous rotation — but maybe I’d be in the car with my dad as he drove his boys to the park to toss around the football, and Michael Jackson’s latest hit would echo in the background on the radio.

I’ve never been to any of his concerts nor bought any of his music (until a few weeks ago), but Michael Jackson’s music was always on the playlist to the soundtrack of my life for the better part of 2 decades. Everyone I knew knew who Michael Jackson was well before his “Wacko Jacko” era…and that saying a lot about his talent as a songwriter, musician and entertainer!

For A While I Was Thinking About Starting a Series of Songwriter Articles…

 …But I didn’t know how I should start it until late June (2009). Then it hit me: “I should talk about today’s songs; pick apart crappy songs and applaud great songs”. I thought, “Maybe it could help unleash a brand new batch of professional songwriters onto the world…or at least help you further study the subject of songwriting”. And then — as if on cue — in a tragic turn of events Mike Jay passes and people flood stores trying to buy and download all his albums and music.

I felt this was my chance to help you start your transformation into a great songwriter — sort of like “passing the torch” on behalf of MJ — while also paying small homage to the dude as one of the greatest songwriters of all time.

So within my first 100 or so articles, I’m going to focus on how Michael Jackson was able to become a songwriting force starting now. Later I’ll start several smaller articles to pick apart many of his most popular songs and explain why there’re as great as they are. Eventually I’m going to expand my songwriter articles into studying many of today’s popular songwriters and songs, but I feel it’s fitting if I begin with one of the best.

Now it takes more than writing great lyrics to make a great song.

It takes mastering all parts of the songwriting process, and then you must make sure your song connects people to one another. Mike’s greatest gift was his ability to connect with people (because he wasn’t always the principle songwriter for his songs). He hired legendary songwriters like Paul McCartney (of the Beatles), Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson writing songs for him (which isn’t bad if you ask me), but eventually he wanted to express his own creativity…much like I assume you want to.

When he took over the job of songwriter, his career hit the stratosphere! It was a “thrill[er]”, to say the least. Michael Jackson made sure he understood all parts of the songwriting process. I read that he would work on a song over and over until it was perfect. Thirteen (13) #1 songs and 750 Million record sales later, I think it’s safe to assume that he was able to discover the winning songwriting formula.

I feel there are 3 key stages to become a successful songwriter:

You must feel comfortable & confident as a songwriter, not nervous or embarrassed. You must apply the basics in your songwriting, not just study them. You must not quit; but finish a song (no matter how terrible), and start another song to get better.

No one knows exactly what formula Michael Jackson used in his songwriting — and every songwriter eventually discovers his and her own songwriting style — but I’ve provided a basic order to develop your song from idea to composition. Come to think of it, Michael Jackson was probably so gifted and intuitive that he didn’t need steps to follow, so these steps are for those of us who aren’t as special, who need a little direction:

Convey a target Songwriter Emotion
– Songwriting is about connecting people to one another through emotion
Set the best Songwriting Tempo
– The speed of your song affects the amount of energy it has to convey emotion
Understand the Dynamic of your song
– Your song has a specific beat and rhythm used to guide your lyrics
Choose your songwriting sections
– From Intro to Chorus, you need to understand your next song’s layout
Balance your Prominence
– Are your lyrics or music more important in your next song
Create your Rhythm & Melody
– Create your core lyrical delivery & and core music (note) pattern
Build your Rhythmic & Melodic themes
– Your themes are developed from your cores for each section

Much of Michael Jackson’s life was very strange — what else would you expect from a society that’s turns people into objects of our entertainment — but many of his songs were and still are brilliant (to say the least) because Jackson was able to follow a similar songwriting process.

And even though we live in a decade of rock and rap — where we’re “too cool” to associate ourselves with someone like a Michael Jackson until his tragic death — no one can deny his great music or the strength of his songwriting ability.

Study his music, and the above songwriting steps if you want to become a great songwriter.