Recording Your First Song

For Guitar Players Who Learned By Ear

Who This Is For

If you taught yourself guitar from YouTube at 11 o’clock at night, if you have a notebook full of songs nobody has heard, or if you joined a recording group online and left five minutes later feeling like you were in the wrong room, this is for you.

• Anyone who wants a recording they can play back, not a degree in audio engineering.
• Self taught guitarists and songwriters with little or no recording experience.
• People with real lives: jobs, kids, and maybe 30 minutes after bedtime.
• Mac and Windows users alike. I record in Logic on a Mac and always have, so I’ll point out the PC differences as we go.

How the Series Works

One step per post, in the right order. No skipping ahead to mixing before you can hear your guitar through the computer.

• Plain English. When a technical word shows up, I explain it.
• Short sessions. Built around 30 minutes, not a free Saturday that never comes.
• Homework every time. Each Step ends with something small you can actually finish.
• Buy only what you need, when you need it. I’ll tell you what to skip, too.

What You Need to Start

Less than you think. For Step 1, all you need is a guitar and your phone. When you’re ready to go past the phone, the short list is an audio interface, one microphone, and recording software, roughly $300 all in. Step 1 breaks it down, along with what not to buy yet.

The Steps

• Step 1: You Wrote the Song. Now What? Record a phone demo, map out your song, and find out what gear you really need. Available now.
• Step 2: Getting Connected. Get your interface and software talking to your laptop, and hear your guitar come through the computer for the first time. Coming soon.

A new Step goes up every week.

Free Song Map Worksheet

Every song you record starts with a map: the tempo, the order of the parts, and the chords for each one. I made a free worksheet for it, with a checklist for every part you’ll record later. Print it, fill it in, and keep it next to your guitar. We use it all through the series.

Download the Song Map Worksheet

Get Each Step in Your Inbox

Subscribe, and each new Step lands in your email, so you never have to wonder where you left off. Hit reply anytime and tell me what song you’re working on. I read every one.

Why It Matters

Down on Jane is about staying creative while life keeps happening. A song in your head is an idea. A song you can play back is something real, something you can build on, share with a friend, or hand to your kids someday. That first rough recording is where it starts.

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