How does one write a song?

Question

Just about any tip, or a flicker of inspiration or technique, or how things come to be for you that become a song, how it becomes a song... that would be great.

(I always find myself stuck with the first verse. I can't seem to get into the chorus. I've tried a few attempts but this time it's really important I write one.)

Cheers!

Actually, right off the top of your head, "how does one write a song?"

cheers again

Answer 1

You start with a "hook." A hook is a thought, or a bit of melody that you can't get out of your head. Then you develop the idea around that hook, as if you were telling a good friend about something that happened to you. A good song is like a good joke. It has a buildup, some detail to make it sound real, a punhchline or a climax, and just enough words to get the point across without putting anybody to sleep.

Look at songs that you appreciate and kind of take them apart. Look for these things in those songs and it will help you to put together or construct your own.

Answer 2

There are as many ways to write a song as there are songwriters, but here is how I do it. First, decide what the song will be about, and write down the general storyline in 1-4 sentences.
Example: This is a song about leaving the rat-race behind and living the good life in a cabin in Montana.
A man is fed up with his dead end job and his empty struggle for money, so he chucks it all and heads to Montana, builds a cabin, goes fishing, raises a little nature child , and finds peace and happiness.
He got out (of the rat race) before it was to late.

Next, figure one line which will be your theme, the "hook", so to speak.
Here it could be "Get out before it's too late".
I would plan on using this hook in the chorus, preferably at the end where it has some punch.
At this point, I fool around with some melodies until I can sing the hook. What kind of melody you choose depends on the mood of the song.

Now write the chorus. This should sum up what your song is about.
At this point , write a paragraph which tells your story.
Then, try to break the story into three or four parts.
These will be your verses.
Next, decide what rhythm the song will have. This will determine how long the lines will be.
Now, write three verses which, together, tell your story.
don't worry about rhyming yet. After you have the verses written in an understandable sequence, you can start working on your rhymes.

Now that you have three verses and a chorus, you almost have a song. But the fun is just beginning. Work on perfecting your chorus, because the words you use there will be key to finding your rhyming scheme.
For the example I gave, I might write a chorus like this:

We're going no where,
We're out of control,
This rat-race will snare,
your body and soul,
No time to linger,
No time to wait,
We've got to get out,
Before it's too late.

To add some varitety, you can change the hook slightly in subsequent chorus repetitions. You could write "It's never too late" or "It might be too late" or "It can't be too late".

Of course, this is just one kind of song and not all song have to have the same verse/chorus form.

I hope this helps you get started.

Answer 3

Okay, let me make an attempt to share the songwriting process with you from an amateur's point of view. I'm a composer by the way, but I've always struggled with songwriting.

If you're stuck with rhymes, enlist the help of an online rhyme dictionary such as rhymer.com. Frankly, it seems that rhymes help keep songs memorable, as in the chorus of this Glenn Medeiros song, 'Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You':

"Nothing's gonna change my love for you
You oughta know by now how much I love you
One thing you can be sure of
I'll never ask for more than your love

Nothing's gonna change my love for you
You oughta know by now how much I love you
The world may change my whole life through
But nothing's gonna change my love for you."

This chorus doesn't employ a lot of rhyming patterns, but the rhymes help keep the chorus coherent. Speaking about the chorus... it might help to write it first. This is because you are looking at something that's going to appear more than once in the song. More often than not, the title of the song is also something from the chorus. Hence, the chorus is of standing importance in the song, and you MUST have a clear picture of what you want in it before it takes shape.

Try to watch the movie 'Music and Lyrics' if you can. It offers some great insights about songwriting. My girlfriend and I enjoyed it immensely.

One way to write a song is to just rhyme your way into it, meaning come up with one line, and then think of what words rhyme with the last word of that line. Use the online rhyme dictionary to help you out here! For best results, have adjacent lines rhyming, as in this song, 'Way Back Into Love' by Haley Bennett. The song is found in the movie by the way, and I'm not saying it was written using the method described above, but if you use it, you would come up with something like this.

"I've been living with a shadow overhead
I've been sleeping with a cloud above my bed
I've been lonely for so long
Trapped in the past, I just can't seem to move on

I've been hiding all my hopes and dreams away
Just in case I ever need 'em again someday
I've been setting aside time
To clear a little space in the corners of my mind

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love

I've been watching but the stars refuse to shine
I've been searching but I just don't see the signs
I know that it's out there
There's got to be something for my soul somewhere

I've been looking for someone to shed some light
Not just somebody just to get me through the night
I could use some direction
And I'm open to your suggestions

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart again
I guess I'm hoping you'll be there for me in the end

There are moments when I don't know if it's real
Or if anybody feels the way I feel
I need inspiration
Not just another negotiation

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart to you
I'm hoping you'll show me what to do
And if you help me to start again
You know that I'll be there for you in the end"

Don't feel restricted by phrase length, as you can see that the 3rd line of each verse is clearly shorter than the other lines. The chorus of this song is very interesting as it gets longer with each appearance. Think of poetic things and images, such as the 'shadow overhead/cloud above my bed' imagery.

Best of luck to you!

Answer 4

Try this: Pick a title and then write a song having to do with that title. It is something i have learned at my music camp that has been very helpful to me.

Answer 5

first start off by writing how you feel or what you are thinking and you will see the song in the writing that you do if you are truly a writer.

Answer 6

Inspiration comes from within. You have to really beleive, and feel to your inner core of your body, then it will just flow.

Answer 7

pencil, paper, and imagination.

That's how I wrote my classic, "Untitled."