Originally Posted by Mark Kaufman
Some people believe so strongly in the concept of natural talent that they cannot fully accept the concept of coaching, or that they could ever learn from what they perceive as a lesser talent. It appears to them to diminish the quality of their own talent, so they view it through a competitive lens. But no one makes art without training. No one plays a guitar without slogging through an old Mel Bay book or teaching yourself how to make that triangle shape with your fingers, and no one writes lyrics without studying other writers and piggybacking on their shoulders. I was a bad bowler who learned how to coach and taught several high schoolers how to kick my ass. I don;t think you don't have to be accomplished to understand the process...and you don't have to be a lesser writer to learn from another one.


Nailed it!

Particularly when said people's work demonstrates a thorough knowledge of craft, ie. meter, poetic device, hooks and even double hooks, a knowledge of story boarding and twists and irony, and imagery and rhyme and structure, and payoffs. And shows years of working on the mechanics.

Funny how some people never learned anything about songwriting, and nobody who teaches knows anything.

Last edited by Fdemetrio; 06/28/19 11:54 AM.