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Ed Bell. The Song Foundry. Songwriting coaching. Songwriting courses. Songwriting tips.

I’m a songwriter, author and music educator.

In half my life I’m a songwriter for theatre and film, where I’ve written award-winning stage shows, written songs for Oriental DreamWorks and worked on dozens of creative projects around the world.

In the other half I help thousands of songwriters hit their goals each month, through my bestselling songwriting books, inspiring video courses and popular songwriting articles.

I don’t just do quick tips and tricks. I don’t pretend there’s some simple shortcut to success. I actually help people find the skills, confidence and creativity to write the songs they want to write – whether they’re on their first song or their thousandth.

So if you’re ready to level up your skills and have a ton of fun in the process – welcome. I’m glad you’re here.

Recent Articles

Five Great Online Songwriting Courses for Beginners

by Ed Bell | March 29, 2019 | Lyric Tools, Music Tools, The Creative Habit | 8 Comments

Want to master the basics of songwriting, lyric writing, production or music theory skills? Here are five great online courses we recommend.

Should You Write Music or Lyrics First? Honestly, Either Is Good.

by Ed Bell | March 11, 2019 | Lyric Tools, Music Tools | 10 Comments

“So wait, do the music or the lyrics come first?” is a question every songwriter gets asked sooner or later. And the honest answer is, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that they work well together in the end.

Five (Well, Eight) Ways to Write Better Lyrics

by Ed Bell | March 26, 2018 | Lyric Tools | 33 Comments

If you were wondering how you can write better lyrics I’ll give you the honest answer: practice more. Here’s how and why, plus a handful of specific ways to write better lyrics in your next song.

Eight More Ways to Write Better Lyrics

by Ed Bell | April 6, 2018 | Lyric Tools | 0 Comments

In last week’s article I laid out five (well, eight) ways to write better lyrics. Here are eight more.

“It takes a while. It’s normal to take a while.”

by Ed Bell | March 5, 2015 | Cool Stuff, The Creative Habit | 0 Comments

One of the hardest things about being an emerging artist is that it can feel like it’s taking forever to get your shit together. Here’s Daniel Sax’s important video, The Gap, on the topic, incorporating the words of Ira Glass, host of This American Life.