How to Write a Song

How to Write a Good Song: Here are useful tips, techniques and strategies to follow that will help you write a good song, even if you are short of time. Learn about the most popular forms and song structures. You just need a computer nowadays to learn the art of writing music and start creating your own music. Even if you don’t have prior music knowledge, these music writing tips and ideas will help you write better.

If you are seriously fond of music, and can either sing or play a musical instrument, sooner or later you would want to start writing and creating your own songs.

It is indeed a great feeling to create something totally new and right from scratch.

Whether your songs will be liked by others or not depends on a lot of factors, and also there is no guarantee that just because you’re good at music theory means you will be able to roll out hit songs.

However, as a beginner to songwriting, you can definitely learn to structure your songs in a better way, and learn how most songs are created.

Contents hide

1 Popular Musical Forms

2 What it Should be About

3 Simple Process to Use

4 Things to Keep in Mind

5 Approach to Writing

6 Other Ways to Write a Song

7 Music Theory

8 At Times, it Just Clicks

9 Can a Singer Write Good Music?

10 How to Write a Song Online

11 Benefits of Going Online

12 How Do You Write a Song

13 Just Write

14 Various Approaches

15 Percentage Split for Songwriter with a Piano or Guitar Player

16 How Much to Charge Singers to Sing Your Songs?

17 To Conclude

18 What’s Your Style of Writing?

Popular Musical Forms

Any song consists of melody, lyrics, and chords that form part of the arrangement. There are various song structure that you can use, on which to base your song.

Here are some of the most common musical forms, on which most songs are based.

Most songs either follow the verse-chorus form and usually include thirty-two bars form, but there are many that are also based on the twelve bar blues.

Songs based on the Popular music genre are typically sectional, with several repeating forms.

You may use (1) verse-chorus, verse-chorus-bridge, or (2) verse-verse-bridge-verse, or any other songwriting pattern.

Examples of some popular patterns include:

Melody -> Chorus -> Bridge -> Melody (octave lower) -> Chorus -> Bridge -> Change up -> Chorus to End
Intro -> Melody -> Chorus -> Melody (with embellishment) -> Chorus -> Change up -> Chorus -> Melody (octave higher) to end

So you may choose to structure your song in any of these forms.

What it Should be About

Well, everyone would want to write a song that is a hit, and if not a hit, at-least you want people to acknowledge that it is a good song.

But then what are the things that make a good song?
You may want to write an amazing song, may be a love song, but then how do you start?
What are the things that listeners look for in a song?

Here are some more suggestions, ideas, and tips.

Be aware of the Songwriting Process

Know the Various Song Patterns

Know about the characteristics of various music genres

Know about the various songwriting terminologies

Create & then Edit: Don’t do it Together

Simple Process to Use

Here’s a simple process that you can implement right away when writing a song.

Write without judging, and capture all your ideas. Use a recording device if need be.
Begin creating your ideas on a musical instrument.
Take a break after half-an-hour.
Come back and revisit your recording and edit with a fresh perspective.
Expand your ideas to construct these into full songs.

Here’s a video that shows How to write good song lyrics.

How to Write a Hit Song: Here are useful tips, techniques and strategies to follow that will give you a very good chance of coming up with a great song.

Here are some effective tips that will help you come up with a song that is likely to do well. Most of these have already been used by other musicians to write some of the top hit singles.

Things to Keep in Mind

Here’s what you need to keep in mind when writing songs.

It’s not something that happens every-day and with each song

You may need a little luck

You need an idea that connects with a large group of people

Infectious instrumental hook, good lyrics, chorus, anything can catch the listeners attention

Here are more tips that will help you to focus better:

You need to choose a topic that’s in demand

Quickly get to the chorus

Introduce your hook early and use it often

Focus on the music first, and Keep it simple

Here’s a video that provides useful tips on How to Make a Hit Song, by Ralph Murphy at ASCAP

Approach to Writing

When you’re writing, don’t reject an idea by thinking that it is not good enough and so on. This is NOT how to write a hit song! Besides, it shuts down your creativity process.

A better approach is to explore an idea completely and see how it evolves by using the ideas mentioned above. Allow yourself to create freely, without judging what you’re creating.

Follow the new ideas that pop into your head as you play with the first one. Do this for about an hour or so and you’ll find yourself brimming with musical possibilities.

This is a better approach compared to sitting with the intention of coming up with a great idea, and rejecting every other thing that pops into your head.

Other Ways to Write a Song

The above mentioned sections can be used as guidelines, but at the end of the day what you create is based on many things.

In fact, a song could come up in your head from almost any angle.

If you’re listening to any song, or watching a movie and listening to the background score, or if you’re playing the guitar / piano. Many instrumentalists play some chord progressions and take it further from there.

Some play some bass lines or riffs, which gives them more ideas.

Music Theory

You need to brush up on Theory such as writing the notes, fundamentals of musical pitch, time signature and so on.

Chord Progression & Patterns
Many fit songs have started with a catchy riff or chord progression, which was then developed into a complete song.

So even you can start with a chord progression (there are many from which you can choose) and expand the sequence into a song.

Create the Melody
You can then add a melody to your chord progression. There are many who do it the other way also, but then this is a popular way to create a song.

You can then combine the several melody notes into phrases, and the phrases into a complete song.

Music Arranging
There are many who get this done by other musicians who are good at arranging.

In case you want to do this on your own, you can learn to create the drums and bass tracks and then create other tracks of the song.

At Times, it Just Clicks

There are times, when you come up with a song just like that, and you get that feeling that the world needs to hear this one (Well, you’ll feel that about most of the songs that you create).

The songs that you come up with also depend a lot on your mood at that time. For many, it’s also a purposeful thought, it’s an expression that clicks, and also based on personal experiences lived, it’s who they are and what they want to be.

With experience obviously, writing songs will become a natural thing and you don’t have to refer to any song structure / chart when writing a Song.

Can a Singer Write Good Music?

Here are useful tips and suggestions for singers (who can’t play any musical instrument) to write music successfully.

Here’s a typical story that you could also probably relate to.

As a child, there are many who take up guitar or piano lessons for several years, and some also continue there passion as a teenager.

But some of them are also good singers. There are many who can sing along to their favorite songs and really have a good singing voice.

And because it’s easy to get appreciation (at least initially) as a singer, there are many who start focusing on singing, leaving aside their musical instruments. And many in the process eventually lose the ability to play those musical instruments.

Some do try to start playing again, but it does take time to get the finger dexterity back, so they get frustrated and stop again.

So, is it possible for someone to write good songs only as a singer?

Is it possible for the singer to be the songwriter of a band, without being able to play amy musical instrument?

Here are some thoughts on how to pursue your dreams/goals if songwriting also interests you:

There are many recording software in which you can feed in the notes one at a time, and then make adjustments to them, change the tempo and so on.
Start practicing an instrument, just for the basics (and not for improving the dexterity) so that you can easily feed the notes in the computer for recording.
With some learning (of music production & how to structure songs) you can definitely do it, but maybe collaboratively to begin with.

After a while, most musicians are actually interested in building a home studio, as it gives them the opportunity to so more. There are a lot of things that you can do with electronic music. So what you need to do is experiment with the software, use the various features, and blend everything together to create something good.

How to Write a Song Online

You can write a song online using several software programs that provide useful songwriting techniques, or if you are just lazy to use a paper.

So why should you think of using a software or probably explore writing songs online.

Well, you really don’t have to if you are comfortable using a pen and paper. But here are some benefits of taking the online route.

You should always explore ideas and look for techniques that will make it easy for you to write high quality songs quickly, and above all, over and over again.

Be it verse, chorus, or other part of the song, you want them to be consistently good, every time you write a song.

Benefits of Going Online

Here it goes:

Saved on Computer
Don’t you use a laptop to save all your information? Would it not make sense to have all your work stored as soft-copies (files) on the computer?

It’s easy to store, edit and even work with the various tools that are available.

Useful Techniques
It is easy to learn tips on how to write lyrics that are based on highly emotional & powerful themes.

You basically want ideas that will let you come up with lyric ideas very easily, and something that is fresh, so that it strikes a cord with the listeners.

Easy to Collaborate
It is also easy to participate in forums and share your thoughts with other like-minded people, and also to learn from other songwriters.

This will help come up with creative and inspiring musical ideas, if you are looking to generate lots of content.

You should always looks for ways and means to improve your songwriting and look for techniques that will help you write more. It will take you some time though to learn to do this, but is well worth the efforts.

Whether you want to write songs online or just want to take your songwriting abilities a few notches higher, these tips will definitely help you. And as you can see, there are several reasons why you may want to write a song online.

How Do You Write a Song

How Do You Write a Song: Let us know the approach you take when writing songs, so that others can learn from it.

Though there are techniques and methods of how to write songs for different genres, and how to structure your songs, musicians and writers may choose to follow a method that they are comfortable with.

Just Write

If you have recently started writing, you might think that it is quite a challenge to keep on writing new songs.

However, the fact is that you could be trying too hard, and analyzing a lot. At times, it is just a matter of putting pencil to paper and let your hand write.

You might think that you may have nothing to write about, but just follow the above approach and you’ll be amazed with the results that you come up with.

Various Approaches

As mentioned, writers may follow their own approach. For example, there are some who first write a poem, then choose their favorite parts and create the various parts such as chorus, bridge, etc.

But then, for certain styles such as for a love song, more than the structure it is your experience and your feelings that goes into the making of a good song.

Percentage Split for Songwriter with a Piano or Guitar Player

What’s a Fair percentage split for any Songwriter who’s working with a Piano or Guitar Player?

Here’s a typical scenario for most novice songwriters who work with piano or guitar players to help them with the chords and/or the overall arrangement of the song.

Most singer songwriters write the lyrics and also the melody part, and because some of them don’t play any musical instrument, they need a piano or guitar player to help them out.

The singer sings their song to the instrument player who in turn works out the chords.

So when it comes to the percentage split, how should it work out?

Should it be 50-50?

Most singer songwriters feel they deserve more then 50%, as they write the song, lyric, melody, structure and hooks, so it doesn’t seem fair to get only 50%.

So does the arrangement for the song warrant a 50% split?

Here are a few suggestions:

If you’re starting out, may be you should just ignore it and try to forge a long term relationship with the instrument player so that you can d bigger projects in the future.

Get an arranger to create the chords/arrangement for your songs, in which case you will just have to make a one-time payment (depending on his/her expertise).

Here’s a video that explains how to Get Paid for Songwriting:

How Much to Charge Singers to Sing Your Songs?

So how much should you ideally charge singers who would like to sing your songs, keeping your interests in mind, as well as considering future prospects and opportunities.

If you’re new to the music business, it’s most likely that you’re collaborating with other artistes on various projects, until the time you’re known to dictate your own terms.

So if you’re a songwriter, and a friend of yours or any other singer wants to record and sing your songs, what would be a suitable remuneration to expect?

What is the best way to split the earnings up and the percentages?

A Practical Approach
Here’s a practical approach you can take. Remember, you cannot yet dictate terms so you need to be a bit reasonable with your demands.

The best approach is to make a contract with someone who is experienced in music business and management.

Ideally, it’s better NOT to opt for a one time flat rate, because if your song hits the jackpot, you’ll be kicking yourself.

So try opting for a percentage, something like ten percent to be fair.

You need to remember that to create the final music, there are additional costs to be incurred such as:

Money for studio time

Money for Music production and promotion

Money to pay all those involved.

Remember, the 10% is just a guideline, and it could vary depending on the country you’re located in. In certain countries, you may not even be eligible for a percentage-split unless you’re a big star.

But I bet it’s a great feeling to receive the royalty money coming in for songs that you recorded several years/decades back.

To Conclude

You should remember to follow your intuition, as most of the time it does take you in the right direction. At the same time, your mind may also want to judge each and every idea that you may come up with, which can take your focus OFF the writing part. The tips and ideas mentioned here will help you follow an effective approach while writing, and this is how to write a good song.

The tips and techniques mentioned here have been successful used by several musicians over the world, to write some of the greatest hits. These are some of the best writing approach, and this is how to write a hit song.

The best thing about writing music is that it can be done on a computer and there are several tools to help you do that. The tips and ideas mentioned here is what you need to implement, if you want to know how to write music.

What’s Your Style of Writing?

Let us know your strategy when it comes to writing songs, so that other readers here can learn from it. What is the approach you take when writing songs, how do you write a song?