Tools for Songwriting: Country

Video Transcript

"CODY KIMMEL: Hi. My name is Cody Kimmel. I'm the lead singer of the band Eliot Fitzgerald, and I'm here with Expert Village to teach you how to write a country song. So, let's talk about the tools needed to write a good country song. First off, to write a country song or really, to write any song, you need some type of journal or some type of writing device. You can even use your computer if you want. I typically find it easier to write it down first by hand. You can do it however you'd like. A good pen. You want a good pen, not just any cheap pen. You want to go get yourself a good pen so you can write down your ideas, and you want to keep this with you at all times. This is with me at all times no matter where I go 'cause you never know when you're going to get inspiration. The second thing you need is an instrument of some sorts. For country music, the instrument that makes the most sense to bring around in order to write country music is a guitar. It's been a part of its culture and it's just--for one, it's portable so it's easier to travel with. And it just makes sense with the genre of music which is country music because the acoustic guitar is a prevalent part of any country song you'll hear. The next thing you need, you need a good pair of cowboy boots. I know this might sound ridiculous but part of country music is being a part of the culture. You need a good pair of cowboy boots. And on top of that, you need a good cowboy hat. And once you got your cowboy hat, your cowboy boots, your guitar, and your journal with a pen, you're about ready to start writing a country song. The last ingredient that you need, the last tool you need to write a good country song is a good story. You need to have a good reason to write a country song. And there's mainly--the main reasons to write a country song is heartache, love, or a combination of the two, and it is telling that story and it is portraying how much you love somebody, how much you don't love somebody, and it's usually written in a clever way. So, you've gotta bring together the elements of your memory, put it in stories whether they're your own, whether they're somebody else's and stick consistently with the theme of either gospel, of either drawing in religious themes or talking about love and heartache, and those are the core values and the core necessary tools to writing a good country song."