How To Write A Song For Beginners

This is part of an article series about how to write songs, which I am writing entirely from my own experience as a songwriter. The traditional pop song structure, which deserves it's own post (soon!), usually follows a sequence of verse - chorus - verse - chorus - bridge - final chorus. Employ literary aspects such as character, setting, imagery, narrative arc and point-of-view in their song lyrics.

At a minimum, a good lyricist must understand the basics how to create viable verses, climbs, choruses and bridges. No doubt dialogue can deliver the same emotional impact as songs (it happens all the time in plays, movies, and TV shows), only songs can get us there so much more efficiently.

We're sticking to conventional songwriting here because it's simple, and because it falls within the range of music that most people are familiar with. If we get away from them and just hum or sing to ourselves, it gives us a chance to approach songwriting from a new angle.

No matter which format you choose it is important that there is a balance between the lyrics and the music. In other words, there's no need to force yourself into sticking with working out an entire lyric, particularly if melodic ideas are jumping into your musical mind right away.

I like to record my vocal ideas before I even start to add chords, that way I can recall the original spoken word” melody in case I want to go back to it. Of course, there are other ways to write a song melody but this one will give you a great place to start.

You should try to make the lyrics you're writing down connect with the way the instrumental makes you feel. I am an amateur musician original song and I purchased this book for knowing about the basic of song writing. It can help to go to the point in the melody that feels like the hook and start there with your lyric as that way you'll have a general conceptual direction for the rest of the song.