What are the prompts?
They are added each month, so far there are 4: PROMPT ONE: Write a song using only 2 chords! Pretty straightforward. No more, and no less, than 2 chords. If you wanna be crafty you can play the same chord in different positions, or use a lick or something within one of the two chords. Just careful not to be too crafty. If your lick is not within the two chords, or your chord position is in fact a different chord, it will not count. Sometimes simple is better. In fact I'd say most of the time. Pick two chords and run with it ;) PROMPT TWO: Write a song addressed to yourself as a child. What advice would you have? What would you have wanted to hear? You can be the wiser older self, or a commiserating voice. You can tell yourself the winning Lotto numbers, Or you can warn yourself who to not date... You get the picture Prompt Three: Write A Lullaby Soothe us to sleep with a calm song. To quote Merriam: "a quiet, gentle song sung to send a child to sleep." Just saying your song is a lullaby won't work. It must have the spirit and/or words of a lullaby. If you submit a banging rock song full of sweat and energy and call it a lullaby I will cry like a baby. On the other hand if you take that same song and sing it to me like I'm a baby it should work. Here's a fun article about the lullaby: How To Write A Lullabye PROMPT FOUR: Write A Song From The Perspective Of A Cat (or a mouse) Or both! A scene from Tom & Jerry could be fun. Are you the prey who loves cheese and hides in tiny hole hotels? Or the purrfect predator pouncing, mouthful of feathers and a twitching tail? Here's mine from forever ago: TOY
How Do I Win!?
The player with the most points at the end of six months wins. There are 4 ways to get points: ----------------------------- 1: Post an Original Song* 50 points/song 2: Post early in the month You get 25 points for each songwriter who posts after you each month. 3: Use The Prompts Each song you write following a prompt gets you 100 points 4: Post every month So long as you haven't missed a month your first song each month is worth twice as much. ----------------------------- If you post a song all six months in a row, you'd get 50 - month one 100 - month two 200 - month three 400 - month four 800 month five- 1600 month six For a total of 3150 points! ----------------------------- A couple notes on scoring: *Original Song must have both music and lyrics to count towards scoring. If you have an instrumental, you could add a talking section. Also must be longer than 13 seconds. If you miss a month, the points for submitting start back at 50, (so lower them standards and finish yrself a song!) Xtra songs are worth 50 points each. So if you post two songs in month four and you haven't missed a month, you'd get 400 for the first song, and 50 for any after that. Prompt points are in addition to your regular points. So if you post a prompt on month three and you didn't miss the first two months, you'd get 300 (200 for not missing any months, and 100 for the prompt) You may receive prompt points multiple times for multiple songs, so long as they are not variations of the same thing. Points for posting early are doubled in the last month! Every song posted in the last month gets an additional 100 points! Prompt in the final month is worth 200 points. (plus the additional 100!)
How do I submit a song?
Head over to the Submission Form. You can upload your song, or post a link to a download of it (dropbox/google drive/etc...)
Is a phone recording ok?
Absolutely! In fact that's the most encouraged way to do it.
We are expecting rough drafts, not Dolby Digital 5.1
What Are The Prizes!?
1st Place Full Song Production by TINY SUN. The winner will get one of their original songs fully produced, mixed, mastered, and ready for release. For more information on how this works, head over to How It Works 2nd Place $150 Sweetwater gift card. For some new strings/picks/guitar straps/etc.. 3rd Place A Tiny Guitar So you can write on the go, wherever you are!
When Are Songs Due?
Songs are due by 11:59pm EST on the last day of each month.
There's a counter at the bottom of each page to remind you.
Can't I just use an old song of mine?
Or make a hundred tiny joke songs?
Well, yes... but If you're trying to win first place, There are easier ways to get your song produced than by cheating the system. Also, the real prize is writing more songs, so if you want to use an old song that's no problem, but you're missing out on pushing yourself to write new (and potentially better!) songs. Also I'd love to hear 100 tiny joke songs. I think...