Tips and Warning on Writing a Song

Tips:

• Try the mainstream songwriting formula of… Verse – Chorus – Verse2 – Chorus2 – Bridge – Chorus3. It’s simple and quite effective.
• Just like any writer, you might get writer’s block. Follow the suggestions in How to Get Over Writer’s Block to break out of that creative rut.
• Currently most popular songs have some variation on the following sequence: intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge/instrumental solos, chorus, and sometimes an outro. Sometimes the order of these components is different, and sometimes one or more of them is absent.
• Dynamics are a good tool to utilize to separate out the different sections of the song. Quieter for verses, louder in the choruses. Dynamics can also help to create that chorus hook that everyone will remember when listening to your song.
• It helps to know how to play an instrument. Knowing how to play a guitar or piano, for instance, will make songwriting immeasurably easier. Plus, you’ll be able to accompany yourself when you sing for others. If you don’t have an instrument, try using Google to find some song makers. Free ones are hard to find, but you can always get a free trial.
• If you do play an instrument, try putting it down once in a while. Spend more time singing to come up with melodies and sounds. This way you eliminate the possibility of just playing the “same old licks”.
• Experiment with lots of ways of making sound. Try to play an instrument you are less familiar with. The “mistakes” you make may prove inspiring.
• While a lot of musicians and songwriters don’t know much about music theory—and some can’t even read music—a good knowledge of the essentials of music can help you harness your creativity and develop your own style. Even if you can play and sing by ear amazingly, knowing at least how to read and write music will help you play with others and communicate your music to your band members (if you plan to start a band).
• Stop, collaborate and listen to another songwriter. Some people can pen great lyrics, but can’t write a melody to save their lives; for others, the reverse is true. Find a like-minded songwriter who can put your words to music or your music to words. Many hit songs have been written by collaboration.
• Make sure your song is catchy, but not in that annoying way.
• Take your time. Most songs don’t pop out of nowhere and scream, “Hi! Here I am! Write me!” As the old saying goes, “good things take time, but really great things happen in the blink of an eye”. So just wait for it. One day you’ll get it.
• If you’ve got total writer’s block, start by scribbling out your feelings/what you want to talk about. The lyrics will come to you when you see the lyrics on paper. Well, it might take some work, but at least get those beginnings of a song down.
• Another great way of writing a song is to write a free verse poem with a little rhyming. I find it easiest to write songs when I don’t think of them as songs but as poems. I write my poem then edit it by finding the right stanzas for the verses and the perfect stanza for a catchy chorus that pulls it all together.

Warning:

• Don’t forget to copyright your song.
• Avoid plagiarism. Naturally, you don’t want to just copy the melody or the exact words of a hit song. Another, more subtle problem is subconscious plagiarism, where a songwriter does not realize that he or she is largely copying another song. This has happened before in songs such as “Spirit in the Sky”, which is often mistaken for ZZ Top’s later hit song, “La Grange”. If you worry that your song sounds like another song, you might be right. Play it for as many listeners as you can, and see if they think so, too. You need to avoid people mistaking your song for another song, or they may not credit you for writing it.
• Be careful with rhyming. Don’t choose a word just because it rhymes with another—make sure the words make sense in the song. Be aware of rhyming dictionaries: they can be helpful, but if you overuse them, you’re liable to start sounding ridiculous. A thesaurus is a better tool: it will give you the most ways to express your thoughts, and help you find the best lyrics.
• Don’t let yourself become constrained by the “verse-chorus” structure. A lot of excellent songs are written as a single string of ideas instead of one idea repeated multiple times. Maybe that “hook” you came up with would work better as a one-time-only “climax” that the rest of the song builds up to. Don’t be afraid to get creative. Adding some variety to your song structures makes for richer variation in your songs.
• Don’t be afraid to try something new. Many highly influential and well regarded musicians have become successful through avoiding many conventions all together. Don’t feel like you are bound to what is considered contemporary or safe. Music is an art, and as such some of the most rewarding work you can do can be the most different. Many genres of music ignore conventional song writing structure (for example, progressive rock is structured in a way that there is often no discernible verse or chorus.) With experience, you will learn where you want to take songs, and you should follow your intuition.
• Try something new! Be original and experiment with different things. Who says that you always have to rhyme every stanza or have a chorus?

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