Songwriting Techniques

The songwriting techniques on this page will help you in different stages of the songwriting process. But unfortunately, there isn't a perfect recipe for writing songs. Everybody approaches the task in a different way. However, most people start with either the lyrics or the music. :) I put down these songwriting techniques to give you an idea what to do. Along the way you'll probably invent some techniques of your own but until then, here are some of mine (and others'):

If You Write Lyrics First

• Your first and most important task is to find a great title for your song. This is one of the most important songwriting techniques. This title should be something that immediately grabs the listeners' attention. It should imply what the song is about but not tell the whole story. The title should be between 1 and 3 words long. There are exceptions to this rule, of course, but short titles are easier to remember. Your title should contain a/some descriptive and action words. For example, "Love" wouldn't be a very exciting title. But "Bad Romance" is a title that makes you want to find out what the song is about. You know the song is going to be about a relationship that didn't go well, still, you have no idea how, or why it's bad…


• Before you begin writing the lyrics, decide about the song structure that suits your theme the best then make a sketch of your song. Here is how to do it: Song Structure & Making a Sketch of Your Song. You could also make a collection of relevant words and phrases that you might use in your lyrics. Brainstorm some then look those words and phrases up in a thesaurus to find more options. My favorite way to do it is using Masterwriter. It's a great piece software made especially for songwriters.

• When you finally start writing the lines themselves, just let your creative juices flow. Because one of the best and less obvious songwriting techniques is: don't worry about rhymes, the number of lines, the number of syllables… just keep writing (more or less according to your song structure sketch). You'll have plenty of time to re-write your lyrics and make each line and each word as strong as possible. If you start analyzing and criticizing your song at this stage, you'll never get to the end. It will seem like an unconquerable process to finish a song. And the quality won't be as good either.

• Re-writing is your next step. It's something you will not do only once but probably each time you re-read your lyrics. Sometimes it can feel like there is no such thing as "finished lyrics". Read each line one by one and keep re-writing it until you feel that there is no way it could be stronger. The music business is very competitive, there are thousands if not millions of songwriters out there so you can't afford to have only a couple of great lines and fillers in your songs. There might be some cases when you get attached to some phrases but they somehow don't fit your songs. In this case, exchange this phrase for something more suitable and use it later in another song of yours.

If You Write Music First

• I think there are less songwriting techniques for those who like to write music first. It's because writing music can be less "structured". Most songwriters say that they start playing around on the piano or their guitar. They play some riffs or chord progressions. Then they hear something exciting (and accidental) and start expanding it, creating some variations and there you go, you have your song. In fact, I haven't heard about any songwriters who start writing music with some kind of "technique".

• There are some songwriting techniques, however, that can help you come up with or make your melodies stronger, more interesting and more commercial. For example, while you are playing your instrument, you could just start humming some kind of melody. Anything that comes to mind. But make sure that you keep some kind of audio recorder somewhere close. Because if you don't record this melody then and there, it will go away in no time, believe me.

• When you have a basic melody, you can make it stronger by expanding the range of the song a little bit. You could emphasize some words or your hook with higher pitches, longer notes or some pauses in unexpected places.

• If you have a great sounding chord progression, you have a song. In most of the current hits, all the songwriters do is use the same chord progression but in different variations throughout the song. Therefore you can get away with writing only one, short piece of music for your song and change it for the choruses, verses and the bridge. This is not only because songwriters are too lazy to write more music but because the song has to contain as much repetition as possible but without boring the listener. This way it will be much easier to remember and sing or play along your song. I heard Alicia Keys say something like this once: "A great song is three chords and the truth."

• I didn't mention writing about choosing a key for your song earlier. It is not one of the most important songwriting techniques. You can write all your music in the key of C if you want because you can transpose it any time. When choosing a key for your song, think about who you want to perform it, because your key should be in her or his range.


• Deciding whether your melody is going to be happy or sad is not really a songwriting technique, still, it's worth mentioning. Obviously, happy melodies are much faster, sad ones are slower. Many songs use minor chord progressions for more melancholic songs and major ones for delightful ones. So decide about the mood and tempo early in the writing process.




Putting Your Lyrics and Music Together


• Putting your lyrics and music together is called prosody. There are many things you have to pay attention to at this stage. The melody should naturally go together with the lyrics. It's as if they were born to be together. This is the point where you'll probably re-write your lyrics and melody even more. But don't get discouraged, your work will finally pay off. Change and shape your song as much as you need. Make someone people listen to it and ask them if they notice anything strange or out of place in your song. If it's all done, you can start making a demo.

More about How To Write A Song