Can Learning Covers Improve Your Songwriting?
At Downtown Creative Studios, we take pride in the number of songwriters who learn each week. It’s fantastic to see young artists finding their own voices and sharing their stories through music. Songwriting can be a therapeutic and creatively enriching experience!
However, it’s easy to get stuck in your own writing patterns. Sometimes, what you need is a little inspiration, guidance, and a fresh perspective. That’s where learning covers comes in. Here are a few ways learning covers can help improve your songwriting:
1. Structure
Each decade brings new trends in popular music, especially in terms of song structure. Songs from the ’50s often followed the 12-bar blues format and sometimes started with the chorus. In the ’60s, jazz influences shaped a lot of popular music, while folk dominated the ’70s. The ’80s saw a surge in songs with bridges near the end, and so on. By learning older covers, you can explore different structural approaches and try something new in your own songwriting.
Example: “Hound Dog” by Elvis Presley, one of the most popular songs of the ’50s, follows a repeating melody and chord progression, with lyrics that come back again and again throughout the song.
What Can We Learn From It?
A strong enough hook can carry a song with minimal variation. Embrace simplicity and repetition — they can make a song memorable!
2. Chord Progressions
Here’s a fun fact: you can’t copyright a chord progression. If you love the feel of a certain song, learn its chords and use them in your own writing. Think about how the chords make you feel, and experiment with them in your own compositions.
Example: “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac is a classic song that’s been covered time and time again. It uses just two chords — F and G — yet is in the key of C. This creates a sense of unresolved tension because the song never returns to the tonic (the root of the key), leaving the chords “up in the air” and creating suspense.
What Can We Learn From It?
It’s not about how many chords are in your song, but how you use them. Chords can evoke specific emotions — if you want to create suspense, avoid returning to the tonic!
3. Lyrics
Songwriters from different eras have spent decades finding new ways to express universal feelings. While learning a cover, pay attention to how the lyrics are structured and the way the meaning is conveyed. This will help spark ideas for your own songwriting. If you like the way a particular song uses rhyme or metaphor, take note of it and try something similar!
Example: “Photograph” by Ed Sheeran is a love song, but rather than directly describing love, he compares it to a photograph — something tangible you can hold onto, like a keepsake. This makes the concept of love feel more grounded and relatable, compared to addressing the vastness of love itself.
What Can We Learn From It?
Find a concrete object or experience that represents a larger, more abstract concept (like love). You could focus on something like a favorite piece of jewelry, an old jacket, or even a trusty old car. This can make your song more vivid and relatable.
Final Thoughts
Learning covers is more than just copying someone else’s song — it’s a chance to gain new insights into songwriting, improve your musical skills, and refresh your creative process. So, the next time you feel stuck, pick up a cover and dive in. You might be surprised by how much you can learn and apply to your own original music!
Want to learn more about songwriting? Join us for Songwriters Club every Wednesday evening from 6.45pm – 7.45pm.