Ralph died of pneumonia on 28 May 2019. He was 75. R.I.P. Ralph and thank you a million for sharing your knowledge!

Biggest take away from this is drop the ego, pick a topic, details matter, and pick your audience and cater to it.

After watching the whole video I have to say, that being a succesful musician comes in two parts: writing for yourself, and writing for your audience. If you do it only for yourself, its harder to penetrate in the music business, and actually make real money with it. But if you only write for the money, you start to lose the spiritual aspect of music that actually made you want to pursue a career being a musician. I think Ralph is being totally real about it, and the truth not always is something that you will like. This is fucking amazing, it made me think deeply about the power that music really has.

Timestamps for myself: 3:50 detail 5:00 motown, the audience is women 7:00 drive time 10:00 the enemy across the table 11:55 the singer's always a winner 21:43 You will write the second verse first 32:00 forms 1.-5. 36:00 melody 44:00 The goal with for Ralph with his talk 48:00 6. Form: Rondo 1:41:00 The demographic of almost all hit songs 1:43:00 How to start a song: the intro

People hate hearing all of this because they're determined to believe that good songs appear as magic. Learning there's a science behind it makes them realize it's a learnable skill. And if they're not doing it, it's not the fault of the magic. They have to take ownership and learn. Instead of feeling confronted or insulted by that, take it as inspiration! Learn! This video is pure gold. Instead of fighting your ego, learn! Much love to you all. Keep writing.

As Hunter S. Thompson said of the music industry: “The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.”

This isn't about "making music". This is about writing pop songs as a job. It's a job. If that's what sort of work you're after, this guy is on point. If you wan't to make art, the world will always need art. Keep doing it, please. If you want to make a living writing songs for top 40 pop & country radio, listen to people like this. Both are totally reasonable pursuits. (RIP Ralph Murphy)

A key change in a song is like pushing the refresh button.

43:35 Pay it forward. RIP Ralph Murphy. Thank you to Ralph and to Loyola University School of Music Industry for keeping this video alive on KZfaq. 1:36:58 You can never do what you want as a songwriter. 1:38:58 General rule for Pronoun use. 1:39:36 Never let the truth get in the way of a good story, ever! 1:41:00 Detail, humor, irony.... What women look for in songs. 1:41:24 When you go fishing, think like the fish; i.e. cater your songs to what women (age 25-40) want, as they buy the most music. 1:42:10 Ralph's template for his morning drive time listener. 1:43:15 Beer:30 PM somewhere! 1:43:52 How Ralph starts a song. 1:45:03 In the intro 60 seconds (of a 3m 30s song), pose every question to be answered in the remainder of it. No unexplained stuff. 1:47:00 The more fun you have, the more money you make.

I met him twenty years ago and could not stand his bluntness. It angered me. Now at age fifty-five, I see he is completely right about everything he teaches. I just ordered his book. Live and learn, live and learn.

I'm seeing a lot of comments from people trying to come up with exceptions to try and prove this guy wrong. There will always be exceptions. You're missing the point.

The music industry works like that and he is just honest and straight. The only question is, if you want to be a part of it or prefer to stay an independent musician who plays from the heart.

This man is BRILLIANT. I do this for a living (and it's a great living), and I've never been so engaged in my life. This man is authentic, unapologetic, well-versed, rough around the edges, and my new mentor. Such clarity. So usable. Thank you so much for this gem Ralph. David Sovereign - Studio J by the Bay

Rest in peace Ralph this video is essential viewing for songwriters ❤️❤️❤️

I heard him mention Jimi arriving in London and started to wonder when this was filmed and if this man is still alive. So i scrolled down into the comments and felt sad for a moment. But it sounds like he had an exciting life and I really appreciate it when people take the time to record content like this. It's a goldmine and the information comes across so rhythmically. Thanks Ralph, RIP.

This man taught me so much about writing. I literally watch this every couple months for the past 10 years just to reset it in my mind. And at the beginning I said a lot of the same denials in this comment section. And just like he said in the video, ‘Oh What does this old guy know?!’ 🤣🤣 Thank You Ralph, for all you given to us. Rest In Peace, my friend🙏🎶🤟

R.I.P. to the man who changed my whole life in songwriting. I have watched this talk and read his ‘Rules of Songwriting’ book time and time again over the past 5+ years. Couldn’t be more grateful for this content, you rule Ralph - Where ever you may be!!🙏✌️

I am so sad to hear Ralph has passed away. I learned a lot from him sitting one on one. I made really believe I was good enough to be here. Such a talented man and real nice guy.... R.I.P.

00:30 Out the gate!🔥 2:45 Gift of Perception 3:45 Humor, Irony & Detail 🙌 5:45 The Ladies 7:30 Drive time 8:40 Why you ✍ 9:30 Invite them in 13:00 Songs are interviews 15:00 Craftsmanship 16:55 Know yourself 18:20 Knowledge 20:35 Halo Effect 21:45 2nd Verse 1st 💪 24:10 Wrong Pronouns 26:05 Biggest Obstacle: You 27:55 Think like a... 28:35 💪💪💪 29:45 Rules! 🔥 32:15 3 Mins 34:00 The 6 Forms 37:50 Bridge the "What if" 40:20 Rhyme Scheme! 44:45 Melody 1st, Lyrics 2nd 46:00 Consistency - remain linear 47:40 Always another way 1:01:25 4th Form 1:26:45 Your "Why" to songwriting 1:39:00 Never let truth ruin a good story

when he talked about how you feel in mornings was so true. I DO NOT want to hear even music that I like in the morning driving to work. NEVER. on the way home I will crank out my fav tunes

Song Forms 2nd Form- Verse, Verse (optional) Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Instrumental., Chorus Out 3rd Form- Verse, Verse (optional), Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Chorus, and out (an instrumental can be put in before or after the bridge if you feel the need!) 4th Form- Verse, Verse (optional), Pre-chorus or lift, Chorus or title, Verse Pre-Chorus or lift, Chorus/title Bridge (optional) Pre-chorus or lift (optional), Chorus and Out. 5th Form- Verse, Verse, Bridge, Verse 6th Form- The sixth form, or rondeau, or rondo I cover in my book “Murphy’s Laws of Songwriting.”

I've worked in music and it's full of people like this. Incredibly charismatic "geniuses", who know all the answers, who are friends with all the Beatles (*sighs - "George was a genius, you know?"), who can smooze like crazy and who won't hesitate to stab you directly in the back to get ahead. You have to learn to manage the snake pit :)

Seems like most people are missing the point. This guy is talking about being a professional songwriter - someone that writes songs for other people, not for themselves. If you are going to do that, you want to know how to write hit songs, because that's your job. He's teaching people that are going to write the next hit songs for the next Justin Bieber. Professional songwriters like him may write hundreds of songs a year. It has little to do with art. It is their job and the whole point is writing as many hit songs as possible. His advice doesn't apply to people who want to be independent artists and write "honest" music. Most artists don't write music for other people. They write music for themselves and they write music that they like. But professional songwriters like this guy are not performers. They are not going to perform their own songs. They let other people (that have more mainstream appeal and just do the job better) do that. His advice mostly applies to people who want their songs playing on the mainstream radio channels.

i loved the way Ralph ended his class lecture just like he STARTED IT SAYING about one form of song writing, end the song saying what you started the song with "THEY LOVE ME AT 10 PM BUT THEY WON'T LOVE YOU AT 7AM IN THE MORNING" SAY THAT SOUNDS LIKE A SONG😅

Wow, I can't even begin to try to say how great it is to listen to everything you have to say. I have never heard anybody explain it in a way like this. Every time I write from now on I will be thinking of your words. Thank you so much Ralph.

Man, I got chills listening to this. Every year I write my wife a song for our anniversary, we’ve been married 15 years, and THIS year is the first time I feel like I’ve written something really great. My approach was “get out of my own way”.. I usually get hung up on my perception of the song, this year I wrote it from her listening prospective. Ironically, even I relate to this song more than the others.

RIP Ralph. This very video has been a source of constant inspiration. Thanks, wherever you are now.

Thanks Mr. Murphy! I've listened to this talk every time I'm stuck on a song, and you always put me back on track. Generations of wisdom in your words!! Thanks man.

Wow, The information is price less and I am so honored to hear and see this amazing Writer, RIP Ralph Murphy God Bless you and your family! Thank you for sharing , much respect!

If your blood is started to boil when you hear about targeting a particular listener and the nitty gritty of the music business take a breath and skip forward to 1.46.55 to 1.47.25. Now go back and listen to what he's saying. It's just about increasing the chances of success.

Wow. This is one the most insightful videos you'll see anywhere. Thank you SO much for posting!

Thank you for this. I appreciate his teaching style and storytelling. Stories upon, stories that take you places. 💛

Been listening to this guy the past few days and he has a very interesting perspective on the music industry, and he's absolutely hilarious in this lecture

Delivery is the key. There are a few major artists in my favorite genre that I personally don't like but again their styles are memorable and unique in every way.

RIP Ralph. I was looking for this lecture for years. Finally found it again.

he's the vice president of ascap Nashville, he knows what he's talking about, if youre into making popular music, you'll agree. he's saying if you want to keep your artistic integrity and be broke, go ahead, or follow the formula with your honest heart and integrity intact, and be successful.

I had the pleasure of meeting Ralph while I was studying songwriting at uni and he listened to my song and told me to rewrite it from a different perspective the way he’s speaking about here. I didn’t agree at the time but I love this chat, what a great writer. Rest in power. Thanks for being great :)

Anytime U can pick the brain of someone like this. U DO IT!! Thank U I find stuff like this very valuable!!

I cant thank you enough for this. You are by far one of the coolest guy on this planet of a rock.

It's just so good to hear something being explained without the sugar-coating. Thanks to all concerned.

absolutely wonderful lecture! Im 13 and have been writing song for a few years now, but this has really made things clearer to me. - Jake

Best lecture ever made. You are by far my greatest inspiration of doing what i love. Best part is it works

he talked about a lot of songs i knew. this guy really shared his experience. i love that i got to see this. thanks so much for the upload.

Thank You. This lesson is By Far the BEST Information I have ever sat in on. I will everyday listen to this.

Had Ralph as a teacher. His critiques of artists songs are dead on.

Buildings come in many shapes and sizes, but if you don't follow some engineering fundamentals, the results will likely suffer. Very enlightening talk.

Thanks so much. The most informative tutorial I have seen on the subject.

This is gold! glad i found it. Much respect!

pretty sure there are quite a few hit songs where the artist labels himself as a loser, three doors down "loser", beck "loser" and both were chart topping hits. This guy is teaching you not to say that because you will turn your audience, well it worked out well for beck and 3 doors down. music is expression not a set of rules, someone out there will find your music good no matter what you write about as long as its composed well.

Can I be honest and opened ? I had TEARS listening to Ralph introduction about our profile , quoting : "...as a monumentaly dysfunctional human being, you have a problem. The basic profile for all of you is : - physically, sexually ,emotionally, abused - from a broken home - with an inability to communicate and a desperate, desperate, desperate desired to be loved AND martially dyslectic, that is your profile..... .... and that is what is going to make you GREAT..." For the FIRST time in my life, i FEEL NORMAL. I am truly speachless THANKS A LOT .

This is extremely valuable material. Ralph is fantastic.

Ralph was a great songwriter, producer, educator and human being. He touched the lives of millions and will be missed greatly..(RIP) Ralph Murphy...!

Great talk. Would liked to have seen a full song list. Here are a few I was able to figure out: Linkin Park - Shadow of the Day, Trace Adkins - You're Gonna Miss This (52:00) , The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name (58:00) , Buckcherry - Sorry (1:03:00) Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love (1:11:00), Crystal Gayle - Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue & Half the Way (mention 1:14:00), Sara Bareilles - Love Song (1:06:00), Miley Cyrus - See You Again (1:16:00) , One More Day (1:24:00) There are quite a few more that I was not able to figure.

You guys aren't listening to what he is saying. He is trying to explain what the masses would like to hear and how to connect to them better. From there you can play around and be creative but if you think he is just telling you to do A, B and C in order to make a song, you're totally wrong.

RIP Ralph. This lesson you gave changed my life tonight! You will live on through song! 🙏

I LOVE THIS and hope it NEVER goes off the web LOVE you Ralph

If you have listened to a lot of music you will know this guy knows his shit. Use his generosity to improve your skills!

Interesting. As there’s plenty of exceptions to these rules, I appreciate the lessons, perceptions and techniques shared. 🙏📝🎶🎯

I always love hearing from Ralph Murphy

Wow!! I learned so much about myself listening to him. So much makes sense now.

The best thing to take from this is knowing how the industry works when it comes to Hits and Songwriting, This is half of what it takes to write successful songs, this is just one of many other songwriters in the world who know how to work the system, You need to have open mind when it comes to the two most important sides of this industry "The Music Business" side and "The Music Creation" side.

Great GREAT Stuff! Wish I saw this sooner! As a Guitarist, Pianist, Songwriter, Singer, Arranger, Producer of over 75 different records I wish I would have had this information 50 years ago! I've only had 5 Nationally Charted Records! I could have had 10 or 20 more Hits!!!

i had this video on my home on youtube and i was like "why should i watch an old man explaining songwriting? i'm a producer, that wouldnt even help me". boy was i wrong, i loved the example of how a midnight track doesn't really translate at 7am in the morning and viceversa, and also the whole "be positive, be a winner" thing, i do work with songwriters and they know this stuff, but just now i'm noticing it, thanks sir

A lot of what he is teaching, I learned following Sheila Davis and some others but many of his ideas I had never heard before, such as don't change the chords until you change your thought. So many nugget like this, gold nuggets...

Helped me a lot, I'm on my own right now in the music career stuff so I'm glad I have youtube

I'm only minutes into this and can tell ya flat out, that man is pure genius. Let's see if he can lift my writers block.

This is a very informative video. He literally gives would be professional song writers the keys to the kingdom by explaining the keys to song writing success - if they only have the sense to listen and put his knowledge to work. Thanks for sharing this!

Aw, miss you Ralph. Always a pleasure having known you at ASCAP and out n about.

Very educational, worthy, inspirational lecture. Gracious thanks. I'm out of the gate late, but, what the hay Mr Ed! Going for it! I'm a 1st copyright pup happily running through the backyard's green green grass of summer 2014. I have a gift and I know it. Working on my 1st hit! Thanks due in part to you, Mr Ralph Murphy.

I eventually figured out intuitively that when I write a song, if I make the audience member feel as if they are the object/actor of the song or that they possibly could be, it potentially draws them in closer to feel/hear/relate to the material. That's why I try to write songs with "you" as the pronoun as much as possible, or if I use "I" then I try to make it as if they are also the "I" or can be.

This is an absolutely transcendental flow of consciousness.

Thank you Mr Murphy your words are here to stay...

This dude oozes wisdom. Look at how he showed up for work drunk today

I don´t know you Ralph Murphy but you are a very cool individual thanks for sharing all this information its gold!!!

Brilliant, Experience ( with all the right tools ) is the best teacher. Thanks Ralph

The Knowledge....*Bless Up* Ralph..!

This is advice I needed to hear. Love the no-BS style. I'm currently in the middle of writing 100 songs in 100 days and needed something like this. If any fellow songwriters are reading this, I'd love to hear your critiques on any of my songs. Thank you for posting this, great video!!

I like the passion he actually has for teaching I could definitely listen and feel that energy is real

These are some unique perspectives on songwriting. Definitely worth watching.

Enjoyed it thank you for taking your time to share it with us.

wow...i learned so much

I write songs for myself and hope others can relate to them, if you start writing them for what you think they want to hear, it won't work. People aren't stupid. But this guy is a convincing charismatic speaker.Songwriting is an honest expression which comes from the heart.

Enlightening and inspiring. Quite simply, Thank-you.

This is why I will always have a huge love towards experimental music. It invites you in like no other.

I LOVE THIS MAN! He's brilliant. Simple logic that allows music to serve people rather than the artist to be self-serving.

What it takes to write a successful song these days and what it takes to write a great song that lasts in people's minds for years are two different things.

All the things I always wanted to know. Thank You !!

only watched 20 mins but; already very valuable info about music marketing, writing, production, etc. i do music absolutely different to this guy, but what he's talking about has crossed my mind a lot of times

"Never be the loser" Radiohead: Cuz I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo...

Hole. Lee. Shit. I’ve been in music for decades, have studied creative writing as an English major in college, have taken loads of songwriting classes & attended seminars over the years, but THIS was the biggest revelation I’ve ever encountered on the topic of songwriting. Fantastic, thanks! 🙏👍💛

God, i love this. Thank you for posting this. Ralph is king.

thank you, this was a great help and I hope that you know that you're doing great in teaching

I wrote the best lyrics in my life just while listening to this lecture thanks man you are the best

This is how all school should be taught!!

Thank you, I'm going to take your advice to heart and go out there and make it!

I been here since false entity I can’t even remember how many subs you had but it wasn’t a lot at all and I been watching you grow I’m def proud of you and you inspire me I always come back here to your vids when I know I need grounding spiritually I’m very similar to you as well with rebranding myself and imposing my will on the world to be whoever I want to be at anytime I have multiple different names and people in different environments and different friends groups know me as such it’s a great feeling when you realize how much power you have

it is all very accurate information

I really appreciate this. I (would be absolutely over the moon to have a real no bs unfluffed conversation or lesson on MUSIC AND WRITING an4d the business with someone who is sharing such raw truth and giving inspiration and careers out for free not for the weak I'm glad that this found me needed to hear it

I really like listening to you speak. This is a very valuable video. Will definitely be watching more of your videos.

If you already write from your heart and with your own passion, then I don't see why you'd be offended by someone that is sharing their own qualified knowledge of the "formal mechanics" of how songs become "hits" and enjoyed by a larger audience than say "Friends & Family".