It may have taken me almost a month to get to the second post, but I hope they'll come more often than that in the future. Nevertheless, I've been working outside of this blog on getting a few songs together and creating the guitar/vocal demos to get them critiqued and listened to. I can't even begin to describe what I've been busy learning, but keep an eye out over the next few weeks for a few pieces on what I've learned and where I've been!
The first thing we'll start with though, is a few of the forums I've joined. They're so easy to get to and keep up with and packed full of good advice. Aside from the advice, there are a ton of people to connect and network with and, as you'll find, much of this business is about networking. People have even run companies by others to make sure they're legitimate and not just around to take money. I've asked a few questions and gotten some great responses.
The first forum is at JPFolks.com and is part of the Just Plain Folks organization run by Brian Whitney. The organization itself has tens of thousands of members organized into chapters around the country, but the forums are a wealth of information with members all over the world and you don't have to leave your living room/computer desk!
The second site I've been using is songramp.com. They have several different membership levels, although I'm still using the free one so I can't comment on how the more advanced membership levels work. I joined for something called the "Music Industry Insider" thread, run by the very kind and knowledgeable Marc-Alan Barnette (commonly known as MAB). It’s packet with tips on songwriting, networking and reviews of events and other fun stuff. The thread is set up more like a chat room, with a single thread where most of the action takes place. People jump in and out, ask questions and as usual, there is some great advice floating around. I believe the thread is now at over 1300 pages, so there's plenty of backtracking to be done if you get bored!
As with most things, you'll get out what you put in. Post lyrics and songs for review, get involved in the discussion and ask questions as you have them. The more you are involved the more people will be inclined to help you and the more you'll be able to get out of it.
So get involved. Whether you're just starting out or whether you're a seasoned writer, getting some peer review never hurt, and being among such creative people is a real motivator to keep pushing yourself to write better and better things.
That’s all for now, I'll be back soon with a few other nuggets!
Jc
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