BY CREIGHTON LEWIS
STAFF WRITER
Like many artistic pursuits, there’s no real right or wrong way to write a song. Each artist is different, and only telling you the way that I do it could be in the completely opposite order of what works best for you. Depending on whether you have a way with words, know how to encode double meanings and have the patience to come back to something, change it, hate it, and love different parts of it every single day will determine whether you have the ability to write a song. The more critical you are on yourself and the more time and resources you have, the better.
TIPS:
- When writing a song of any genre, it’s important to write from the heart. By doing so, you’re setting yourself up for a stream of words to just flow to you, and it’s much easier than pretending to go through something that didn’t really happen.
- Singing without emotion is extremely unenjoyable for the listener.
- After you’ve gotten into the mindset of being a songwriter, it’s good to search for instrumentals to help know how the song is actually going to go. Unlike a poem, a song has a written melody, a complicated ensemble of various instruments; and knowing how to say different words and when to say them is crucial. If one thing is missing, the whole thing will fall apart.
- Try not to listen to a different song about the same topic too many times before you begin writing. When you do that, you’re inadvertently priming yourself to copy a song that already exists.
- Most songs have two verses, two pre choruses, a bridge, and an outro, but if you’re reading this, don’t be like everyone else! There are some songs that solely use the chorus, over and over and over again, but because the beat in the back is so interesting, listeners don’t even care.
- When you’re writing, make sure the words actually make sense.
Sources:
https://www.icmp.ac.uk/sites/default/files/course-teaser-image/introduction-to-songwriting.png
