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Paid membership comes with several additional benefits.

Once a month you will receive several Samurai Songwriting lessons. These are multimedia lessons with practical songwriting techniques that you can use immediately to improve your own songwriting. The idea is to give you just enough information that by the end of the month, you’ll have it mastered. You can choose to download these lessons electronically or receive a hard copy through the mail.

You will also receive several bonuses. Including, a guide to hit song forms, a chorus cheat sheet, a hit song model, and much more.

We believe that we have priced the membership to be very accessible to all levels of songwriters, beginner to advanced. And you can cancel at any time if you feel it’s not what you expected.

At the heart of the Way of the Samurai Songwriter is living a life that is on purpose. If you want to be a great songwriter, don’t let any more time slip away. Dreams are never realized by those who do not take action.

Opportunities multiply as they are seized.
- Sun Tzu

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As a symbolic gesture, say it out loud. “I dedicate my life to serving The Song.”

The Song is a powerful force. It changes people. It makes people laugh and cry. It opens closed hearts. It heals the broken. It calms the angry. And it will be there for you when you need it most. It probably already has.

The reason you are reading these words is because you’ve been touched by The Song.

If you are willing to dedicate your life to music, then you have to prove it. What are you willing to sacrifice to become a Samurai Songwriter?

There is a magical song out there in the wind waiting to be made real. And there are thousands of songwriters right now reaching for it. Why should she let you have her?

This is the where the Samurai Songwriter Code comes in. If your heart is pure and your honor intact, she might let you have her. If you are honest, courageous, practice self-control, and demonstrate absolute loyalty to your purpose, then it is your duty to write The Song.

If your path is overgrown with greed, self-deception, and disrespect, you can try to write The Song all you want. It won’t happen.

The qualities of a Samurai Songwriter can be measured first by the time you spend writing. Here’s where brutal self-honesty comes in. Is there anything you spend more of your time on than writing?

How do I become a Samurai Songwriter, you ask? Start by committing the largest part of yourself to writing songs. Then do whatever it takes to sharpen your songwriting skills. Finally, never quit.

The Samurai Songwriter understands the vertical and horizontal nature of his or her path. One travels horizontally on a linear path one step at a time. There is no quick and easy way to move from point A to point B. It takes as long as it takes and it is as difficult as it is difficult. However, one can make the path longer and more difficult by ignoring the vertical nature of this path. On any journey are travelers you will meet who have already taken the path in front of you. These Masters can help you. You will also meet travelers who are on a path prepared by your very own footsteps. You can help them.

To be a Samurai Songwriter, one must find a Master. One Master we all have in common as songwriters is The Song. What does it mean to serve The Song? A simple explanation does not exist. But a dissolution of the songwriter’s ego occurs and is followed by a profound deep listening to The Music that flows through the spaces where thoughts of one’s own desire and suffering, reward and sacrifice cease to exist. It is not a destination. It is a path. And at the very same time, it is still a destination. This is the paradox of the Samurai Songwriter.

Being a Samurai Songwriter is not meant to be understood with the mind, it is meant to be felt in the heart.

You either want to give your life over to The Song or you don’t.

Another Master you will learn from has already been shown to you. You have heard this Master’s music before and said to yourself, “I want to do that.” The difference between an average person and a Samurai Songwriter is what happens after that thought. A Samurai Songwriter takes action and manifests dreams into reality. A Samurai Songwriter studies the work of his or her Master until this Master is outgrown and a new one is found.

The Samurai Songwriter knows that the path is never-ending. There is always a skill to be sharpened. This is the Way of the Samurai Songwriter.

We can say a song is good when it achieves its purpose as defined by the artist.

Let’s also discuss what a song is not. A song is not the instruments used, that is called the arrangement. A song is not the sound of the recording, that is called the production. A song is not the vibe or mood of the final performance or recording, that is called the song’s style. These tools, arrangement, production, and style, are important to the communication of the art-form but they do not make up the core of the art of songwriting. If you write a good song, it will most likely be able to sound good using many different arrangements, productions, and styles.

A good songwriter is willing to let go of the song and allow a producer or arranger to cut it up, polish it, and change it in whatever way the producer or arranger sees fit. While it is true that a good songwriter may have a final vision or sound in mind, it is also true that unexpected alterations or directions could actually make the song better. So a Samurai Songwriter knows when to let go. A Samurai Songwriter neither holds a song too tight nor too loose.

Central to the idea of a good song is the song’s purpose. A song is meant to be listened to. Therefore, the mind of the listener is taken into consideration and used as inspiration while writing and making final decisions. Songs do not exist in a vacuum. If, when your song is listened to, the proper listener response is elicited, then you can say you have written a good song.

Sometimes, a song is meant for one listener. Other times, a song is meant for many listeners. How you write each of these songs will be different. A Samurai Songwriter knows this. A Samurai Songwriter knows how to craft a message that will be heard and understood by an audience of a specific age, sex, or other demographic.

Rather than define strict rules for how to create a good song, a Samurai Songwriter writes, gathers feedback, and adjusts until the desired result is achieved. This is the way of the Samurai Songwriter.