Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 2: How to write a song
• Method 2 of 2: How to Develop Your Skills
• Tips
• Warnings
• Similar articles

Have you always wanted to write that great song that you just can't write? All you need to become a songwriter is practice. You have to be humble enough to learn from great authors, but confident enough to share your thoughts and melodies with the world. A good songwriter does what any musician does — rehearse, experiment, and learn.

Steps

Method 1 of 2: How to write a song

1. 1 Relax and start writing down any rhymes, phrases, or ideas that come to mind. Don't lose faith in yourself just because you haven't written a great song yet. The only way to stimulate creative thoughts is to engage in creative activities. So grab a pen, paper and start writing. The first 5-10 minutes will take you to “warm up” and get ready to go into “songwriting mode”.
   • Write down your thoughts for 5 minutes. Set a timer, grab a pen, and write until the allotted time has passed. The written words are not important, the main thing is not to stop. When you're done, re-read your notes and evaluate what lines or ideas you can use for the song.
   • Improvise on a musical instrument, hum melodies or even compose lines, rhymes, ideas. If you like some idea, then try to develop it into a song.
   • Find an old notebook with ideas and try to work with its contents. If you have written down ideas, lines and melodies somewhere, then find such a notebook and re-read it. For five minutes, try to write down all the thoughts that somehow relate to the idea you like.
2. 2 Record songs in any order. Sometimes you manage to write a good verse, but the chorus never comes to mind. On another day, you can write great music for which there are no suitable verses yet. Most people think that you need to have a completely structured theme in order to write a really good song, but in reality it is enough to just write it down. Develop your ideas, and soon you will notice how they naturally merge into songs.
   • Post different song titles or ideas to the wall. Every time a new line or part of a song comes to mind, stick it under the title and move it around as needed.
3. 3 Come up with the structure of the song as you work on lyrics and music. Song structure is the order of the parts of a song, which usually looks like this: intro → verse → chorus → verse → chorus → slow / mod → chorus → end. There are many ways to change this construction to suit your song and author's style:
   • Songs often use a "bunch", which is a short new verse or melody between choruses.
   • A song from Bob Dylan's cult album titled Blood on the tracks and the Lupe Fiasco song Mural consist only of verses without choruses or choruses, emphasizing the depth of ideas and the talent of the performers. You are not required to adhere to any prescribed form.
   • If you are a musician, where is the best to use solo, slow down or tune change? Try to evaluate such transitions between parts from the perspective of the listener.
4. 4 Take an instrument and start playing a melody along with the words. Now that you have written down all your thoughts about the text, you can start mixing and rearranging different parts of the sentences to compose the text. Pick up an instrument and experiment with different melodies that you like. Hum or whistle as you play to match the tune through trial and error.
   • A completely finished song idea is very rare, so improvise until you start to get interesting pieces.
5. 5 Rewrite your blanks. If something does not add up, then rewrite this part and try to come up with new accompaniment or rhymes and sentences. Remove any unsuitable parts and find the theme of your song. Now that you have some parts ready, you need to decide what the song will be about? Even if the answer is "nothing", use your own tweaks to develop this idea and create the meaning of the song.
   • After revision, you need to decide on the structure of the song. It can change and evolve, but at this stage you need to play the whole song in order to hear how it sounds.
6. 6 Find out what other people think. Play your song to a friend, share it on the Internet to get the opinion of strangers. Do the listeners stomp to the beat? Are they humming a melody? Do they have a song with the same idea? Music needs to be shared with the world, so start singing the song and watch as it gradually changes. This is a natural process. It is likely that after a few performances you will find the optimal combination of elements and start working on a new song.
   • James Brown created the funky style during live performances when he noticed which songs, tunes and musical instruments people danced to most often.
7. 7 If you are stumped, then use a few simple tricks. All authors may have a crisis from time to time. The best advice in this situation is to keep writing. Inspiration cannot be picked up and turned on at a certain point, so all you have to do is sit down and write to write a great song. Try the following tips and tricks if you are having trouble:
   • Change the order of the chords. If you like the melody of the verse, but the chorus has not yet been written, then play the chords in reverse order, swap them, use some of them.
   • Change your favorite song. As a training exercise, various rappers, including Jay-Z, often rewrite their favorite songs, keeping the structure, but changing the words and rhythms.
   • Play with contrasts. If you have a slow melody with long chords, try using a short, abrupt phrase in the lyrics. If you have a lively and energetic song, then use a slowdown or a combination with a change of tempo in it.
   • Write songs with a partner. The most successful songwriting duo in history, Lennon and McCartney, clearly knew a secret.
   • Drop judgments and break the rules. The best performers know the rules well to break them competently. There is no “wrong” way to compose a song, so only listen to your imagination and compose what you like.

Method 2 of 2: How to Develop Your Skills

1. 1 Learn to play and sing your favorite songs. The best singers in the world have performed songs by other authors for years, studied art and made music every day. The Beatles have been on tour in Germany for 2 years with a program consisting of songs from other groups. Sometimes they had to play for 8-10 hours every night.Bob Dylan has been re-singing folk songs for years, even long-forgotten melodies, and only then he began to record his own music. Both of the aforementioned examples are considered some of the greatest songwriters of all time, and they started out by performing someone else's material. There is no mistake - they became great by learning from great authors.
2. 2 Write down all the pieces that come to mind. Don't assume that you have to have a song in your head before you can start recording. Even if you have only one rhyme or motive without words, then write down such developments. These snippets can fit perfectly into songs you haven't finished yet, or evolve over time into completely new compositions. Great authors constantly write down all their ideas.
   • Create a separate notebook for your music. Reread it whenever you run out of inspiration. Well, a new idea was born?
   • Renowned author and performer Tom Waits always carries a dictaphone with him and records lines, motives and thoughts, and then listens to them at the end of the week.
3. 3 Get inspiration from everywhere. Any feelings and experiences can be turned into a song if you are open to new ideas. Great songwriters use their lives, imaginations, news and emotions as sources. Thus was born a surreal journey into the tragedy of modern pop culture in song American pie, and endless assurances of love and loss turned out to be an ode to the yellow submarine Yellow submarine... These examples can prove once again that there are no “inappropriate” topics.
   • Don't discard ideas just because you feel like "they won't make a good song." Write down ideas without judgment or judgment, because you can always discard inappropriate material when recording an album or making a list of songs to perform.
   • Even the smallest idea can be turned into a song. So, in the song 99 Red Balloons sung about how the Rolling Stones released balloons into the air during their concert.
   • "I believe songwriting is the ultimate manifestation of being able to benefit from all the experiences of your life." - Taylor Swift.
4. 4 Use ideas from your favorite singers, bands and songs. "Good authors borrow, and great authors steal." It's funny that this quote was originally attributed to Pablo Picasso, but over time it was found in the records of T.S. Eliot, Steve Jobs, many others who might have stolen those words. The idea is simple - consciously use outside influence and inspiration in your songs. If you are having trouble coming up with a motive for a new song, then play the chords of a similar song. Take your favorite lines from songs and reuse them in unexpected ways. This is not real "theft", it is just a creative process. All art is a combination of your feelings and already written notes, chords and melodies, so do not restrain yourself and start using other people's ideas on an equal basis with professionals.
   • Notice how in the song Step group Vampire Weekend used several melody lines from the song Step to My Girl group Souls of Mischief.
   • Bob Dylan's great and epoch-making lyrics to the song Blowin 'in the Wind born from an old song No more auction block.
   • All hip-hop music consists of samples, homage and borrowed clips. Sometimes it's obvious ("50 [Cent] told me go 'head mix the style up") and sometimes not so obvious ("there she goes again / the dopest Ethiopian").
5. 5 Play a musical instrument regularly. Many of the best songwriters know how to play at least a little 5-10 different instruments for a reason. The ability to sing a song and not think about the words develops your hearing, improves the perception of melodies, rhymes and song structure. You can also think about the song and not worry about having to come up with words. Even if you don't usually play a musical instrument, try to study music in all its forms to improve your skills.
   • You don't need to play different instruments to compose songs. Play simple tunes on the piano or guitar to get a deeper understanding of the songwriting process.
6. 6 Enjoy other aspects of your life. It may seem odd to tell you to stop writing songs to make it even better, but you have to get the full range of emotions out of life in order to create great songs. It's best to set aside a certain amount of time each day for your creative work. Over time, you will get used to such a schedule and will be able to turn on the "songwriting mode" when needed. This way you will stop worrying about the fact that at the moment you are spending time at a party, on a hike or reading a book.
   • “Don't live for art. Create for life ”- Stephen King.

Tips

• Practice writing every day if you want to be a successful songwriter. Success is only 10% of talent and 90% of hard work.

Warnings

• "All great creators steal" is a way of expressing someone else's idea, structure and melody. This is not an excuse for trying to take over the entire song. Doing so is illegal and will not help you become a good songwriter.

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