Songwriting Software Express, Issue # 20

Well , I have now completed my move with still more unpacking to do but through it all I've managed to continue my private studies with Jai Josefs and we're now just completing the harmony material. It's been two years so far with about a year or so to go, groove and melody to come.

All this to better my songwriting skills and of course it helps me to bring more expertise to bear on the content and offerings of this newsletter and on the website for Songwriting Software Plus.

Accordingly, I hope you're continuing to grow and practice your songwriting skills and have found various tools and programs along the way to help you improve on your craft and have more enjoyment too.

Along those lines one of our best selling programs is still going strong and it has already been just about a year since Lyricist 3 was released and it continues to deliver as a turn-key tool for lyric and lead sheet writing that is very affordable. Plus it is now available as a download.

Today we'll spotlight why this program continues as an affordable and indispensable tool.

Lyricist was upgraded again in October of 2003 to version 3 that added a lot of features of great convenience to today's songwriter.

We're still talking about it because many of you have not taken advantage of all it has to offer yet and for those of you who have it's worth a brief review to see what other features you may want to start using or use more of.

Even in these fast development days of software programs Lyricist is still going strong and delivering a lot of functionality for a very reasonable price and it's now available as a download.

Yes, you can now save yourself the shipping costs by downloading Lyricist plus you get to enjoy it immediately. And if you're one of our international subscribers you can now more easily get the program and save yourself what may have otherwise been steep shipping costs.

Lyricist 3 added new features such as Song Key Transposition, Piano Chords (non-guitar glyphs), and support for the Nashville Number System.

As Lyricist product manager Eddie Imbriano said at its release "Lyricist v3 continues its quest towards providing songwriters all the resources they could want, while keeping them affordable and easy to use. With the addition of our powerful Chord Charting and Transposition features and a list price of $39.95 (see how to save $5 at the end of this article), we feel we have created the most complete and affordable songwriting package available today that is truly worthy of its billing as "the songwriter’s best friend."

Let's review how all of this can impact your songwriting for both the lyrical and musical side of songwriting.

Lyricist Makes Lyric Writing A Snap

Lyricist provides a starter screen to jot down you lyric sketch and then readily at your disposal are a number of tools to help you craft your writing.

Need a rhyme, highlight the word you're trying to rhyme and click on the handy Rhymer button and presto a list of rhymes pops up to quickly sort and choose. Over 11,000 of the most commonly used rhymes, including slang are at your fingertips.

If that word is not working with a suitable rhyme simply click on the Thesaurus button and presto a whole list of alternative words is onscreen that may work even better than your original word.

Sometimes you may want to jot down an idea relating to your song but you're not ready to incorporate it yet into your lyrics directly. No problem, simply bring up the Song Note menu item on the handy drop down menu under Tools and write in your ideas. No more lose pieces of paper that you can't find later when you want to work some more on your song.

And when you're all done don't forget to check your spelling with the built in spell checker.

Place Piano Chords Above Your Lyrics

Lyricist 3 has added the ability for you to put piano chords above your lyric lines as an alternative to the guitar tablature templates that came in the original version of Lyricist. You can even switch back and forth between piano chords or the guitar tablature as you need.

The option of piano or guitar chording above your lyrics gives you the choice for your own preference and allows you the flexibility to prepare a piano or guitar oriented lead sheet for your collaborators or players while you're recording.

The piano chording format also works as a standard chord based lead sheet for virtually any instrument.

Incorporate The Nashville Number System

A short cut way to prepare a lead sheet that quickly lends itself to key changes on the spot is to have your lead sheet coded with the Nashville Number System to make that happen.

Let's say you've prepared a lead sheet for a demo session and your demo singer cancels at the last minute and you were all set with that singer to do the song in the key of F using the I, IV, V and VI chords.

As it turns out another stellar singer happens to be available but sings the best in Bb. If your lead sheet is coded with the Nashville Number System, in other words with the chord numbers of the chord progression written out (like what I noted in the paragraph before) instead of individual chords written out like F and A and so on, then all the musicians can readily make the adjustment to another key. Boom, key change problem solved.

Or Change The Key Of Your Song In Lyricist And Keep Written Chords

Now with Lyricist 3 you're able to change the key of your song instantly and keep written out chords and that allows you to quickly implement some cool things.

First, if you or your collaborators are not that familiar with the Nashville Number System then you'll be able to print out the song in whatever key you chose with the chords written out above your lyrics.

Additionally, you'll be able to switch readily from piano chords to guitar chords to the Nashville Number System if you want to.

Also, just for creativity purposes while you're writing your song, trying it in different keys can help to stretch you musically if you're always writing in one key and this may give you some different ideas about how the song works best..

Lastly, if you demo your songs with other singers, you'll be able to prepare lead sheets with the chords written out in the key best for your demo singer to sing in and to even prepare a couple deferent keys as your singer might actually like to try a couple different keys to get the best feel for the song.

Add All This To The Established Features And Benefits

Lyricist continues to be the premiere lyric writing software program considering all of its features and it's great affordability.

Lyricist had already incorporated chord charting, chord editing, a chord wizard to help you determine chords, song arrangement, a media file launch, plus the ability to organize songs into album categories, and the capability to email your songs. Also you can copyright your songs online directly from Lyricist.

Lyricist gives songwriters a centralized secure archive for their creative endeavors and provides them with all the essential tools of the trade for writing and polishing lyrics.

Find out even more about how Lyricist 3 can help your songwriting and save $5 now on your purchase after clicking here.

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