How do you write a song

Choose one question to answer in the chorus and one for each verse. Select the question you want to answer in your chorus. Write down a short phrase that expresses your answer. Look for images and action words to bring your answers to life. What is the singer feeling, thinking, or saying?

What emotion is the singer feeling and how would you describe it? Is it warm or cold? Dark or light? Read more about adding emotion to your lyrics here. Find the melody in your lyric. Choose one or two of the phrases you came up with in Step 4. Say them out loud. Now say them again with LOTS of emotion. Exaggerate the emotion in the lines. Notice the natural rhythm and melody of your speech when you say the lines with lots of feeling.

Whether it's written in two hours or two months, the final product is all that's important, no matter how long it takes. Musicians and songwriters are often our own worst critics. Overthinking can be your worst enemy. Get the basis of your song down, and you can always go back and change things afterwards. You might find they have some fantastic insight into how it could be improved.

I always envied people in bands who got to have that interaction. It's a nice change helping other people with their music and not being all about what I'm trying to do myself.

This quote from the legendary Johnny Cash sums up the point perfectly. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space. How do you handle the songwriting process?

In a note in your phone is also good. On a big piece of paper to put in front of you for the other nine steps is great. That last part is really important. As a general rule, a lyrical hook can be anything from a single word to a full sentence of maybe seven or eight words. So go ahead. Get thinking.

Trying and get yourself inside the mind of the person singing your song, and figure out how they might express what your song is about. To start, I recommend you try placing your lyrical hook — pencilling it in — in at least two spots in your chorus lyric. There are lots of ways to do this, but here are three of the best spots for planting your lyrical hook:. This, honestly, is a trial-and-error process. So the final words of lines 2 and 4 will rhyme, and the final words of lines 6 and 8 will rhyme, but with a different rhyme sound to the one you used in lines 2 and 4.

I wanna dance with somebody, I wanna dance the whole night through. Harmony in songwriting is a whole subject in itself , but truth be told, simple chord progressions are really common in songwriting and usually work great. In fact, one of the best ways to come up with some chords for your song is to write a four-chord progression. And while all that repetition might sound boring or over-repetitive, in practice four-chord progressions are a really effective songwriting tool. If you have a strong understanding of music theory, you can use whatever you know to choose a key and write your chorus chord progression.

Download a printable chord palette summary here. You might even use the same chord twice in a progression. But I recommend you stick with the most common length — at least for now — of 16 measures. Especially if you wrote an 8-line chorus lyric — two measures of music for each lyric line is a good rule of thumb in songwriting. So for starters, every time your lyrical hook comes up, you probably want to give it the same or a similar melody.

And that, in a nutshell, is about it. So dive in and start playing around. In songwriting, that really comes down to writing grooves — short accompaniment ideas that you can repeat and repeat over a changing chord sequence. Most grooves are based on simple chord repetitions or figuration — sometimes called arpeggios or broken chords. Of course, if you have the experience, you can create something more intricate and ambitious. In fact, the most important thing with grooves is always that you come up with a groove that fits the vibe or mood of your song.

Try brainstorming a few different groove styles that could work for this song. You can use whatever instruments or kit you have available — my examples were on piano, but you could easily create the same effect on a guitar, in a DAW or with any other instrument.

And again, simple is good. If you need to, take a moment to put them all together into a single project file, score or a rough recording. Cookie Settings. Learn why people trust wikiHow.

Download Article Explore this Article parts. Song-Writing Help. Related Articles. Article Summary. Part 1. Decide what genre you want to work within for your song. Different musical genres have specific classic features that you may want to use in your song. Faster rhythms and beats work best for upbeat or chaotic songs, like techno and punk rock music.

Sad or emotional songs, like pop and country songs, usually have slower rhythms and beats. Reggae music often uses syncopated beats, which are beats played off the rhythm, to convey an unconventional vibe. Work out the basic melody on a piano or guitar. Develop the melody using major and minor scales. Experiment with different melodies until you hit on something that sounds and feels right for your song. Major keys are usually considered to be happy, upbeat, or energetic.

Minor scales are usually considered to be melancholy or emotional. For example, D minor is often cited as being the saddest key. C major is one of the happiest sounding keys. Take guitar lessons if you need help writing melodies. You don't have to master the guitar to write a song, but it really helps to know the basics, like how to create different notes, play chords , and experiment with tunings. You can also consider using video tutorials online to sharpen your skills.

Once you've got the basics down, start experimenting with melodies for your song and use your guitar to help you develop ideas. Enlist the help of a co-writer if you need help writing the music.

If you are envisioning elements for your song that you know you can't create yourself, consider asking a musically talented friend to join you in the writing process. You can explain the theme, tone, and lyrics you have in mind for the song, and then work with your friend to translate those ideas into music. Experiment with music software to create music. If you can't play an instrument, don't let that stop you from writing songs! Many people use music software like Ableton to create their music, especially electronic music artists.

The software comes with thousands of pre-recorded sounds for drums, bass, chords, and melodies, allowing you to manipulate and combine them in endless ways to make your own songs. You can also buy separate plug-ins to add entire libraries of new sounds to your software's stock sounds. The possibilities really are limitless. Part 2. Choose a title for your song. It might sound counter-intuitive, but one of the easiest ways to come up with song ideas is to think of potential titles.

Listen and look for particularly catchy or pithy phrases in TV shows, movies, books, and everyday conversation and write them down in a notebook or in your phone.

You can also wait to title the song until after you've written the melody and lyrics. One approach isn't better than the other when it comes to titles, so do what feels the most natural for you. Then, your lyrics can answer all of those questions by the end of the song. Come up with a hook for your song.

The hook in a song is the catchy phrase that worms its way into your brain and never leaves, and is frequently used as the title of the song. Play around with ideas and melodies until you hit on something that feels right. If you have a working list of title ideas already, experiment to see if any work particularly well as a hook by singing them to various melodies.

Build a chorus around your hook. Sometimes, your hook can serve as your entire chorus.