Song Writing

There are certain guidelines that can be followed to help the work-flow and creation of  new songs. These guidelines are there to help you when you write a new song. They are not rules and do not have to be followed, but they have helped me greatly by speeding up my writing process and keeping my ideas on the focus of the song. In this article I will be exploring these fundamentals and discussing how they can help you with your creative process when writing a new song.

Topic

The first and most important fundamental is choosing a topic. Choosing a topic will guide the song writing process in numerous ways. For instance, lets say I am writing a song about a past relationship. How I feel about the topic will help me decide on choosing a genre. Perhaps I am sad that the relationship did not work out and want to write a slow and emotional song, or perhaps I am angry and want to express my anger in a fast and aggressive song.

Having a theme for the song you are writing is crucial to avoid writer’s block or going off topic and end up having a song that makes no sense.

Genre

The second fundamental of writing a new song is choosing a genre.  Having a genre will set the tone and pace of the song. Often when I write new music I like to listen to some of my favourite artists to gain inspiration. When I listen to other artists, I like to focus on the topic they chose to write about, and how they chose a genre to compliment their expression on that topic.

Key Signature

The third fundamental is choosing a key signature. Key signatures define the notes that will be present in the song we write. When I choose key signatures for my songs I like to play a few notes while singing the ideas I have for my song. This helps me to identify the notes that bring out the emotion I want to express in my song.

It is important to know that major keys are mostly used for happy and alive songs while minor keys are mainly used for sad and slow songs.

Time Signature

Fourthly we have time signatures. Time signatures indicate the amount of beats within each bar of our song. The upper number indicates the number of counts in a measure (bar) and the lower number indicates what kind of note gets one count.

The most common time signature in today’s music is 4/4. This means that in every measure (bar) there are 4 beats and can be counted as: “| 1, 2, 3, 4 | 1, 2, 3, 4 |”.

Tempo

The fifth fundamental is choosing a tempo. The tempo of a song indicates the speed of the song. Tempo is measured in the amount of beats the song has per minute and is also referred to as beats per minute (BPM). The speed of a song will greatly influence the expression of the words and emotions in the song.

There are numerous websites and smart phone apps that helps us identify the BPM of a song by using a “tap” function. Simply sing the idea you have in your head, tap your finger to the beat, and your BPM will be displayed.

Song Structure

The sixth fundamental when writing a song is song structure. Song structure indicates the pattern you will follow when writing the song. Common parts of songs include an intro, verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge and an outro. There are many more parts that can be added to our song structure such as interludes, instrumentals, post-choruses, etc.

A common song structure: Intro, Verse 1, Chorus, Verse 2, Chorus, Bridge, Chorus, Outro.

Chord Progression

The seventh fundamental when writing a new song is choosing the main chord progression. The chord progression indicates the order in which the chords contained within our key will be played.

Chord progressions usually stay the same throughout the song but can be changed to add dynamic and feel to the song.

Melody and Lyrics

The eight and ninth fundamentals of song writing is working out the melody and writing the lyrics (words to be sung) for the song. These can be inter-changed with one another according to your personal writing style as the lyrics can either be sung to the melody, or the melody can be played to accompany the lyrics.

Writing the melody

The melody of your song should be catchy and easy to remember. Whether fast and intricate or slow and simple, the melody of a song is often what makes a person respond to that song.

Melodies are written according to the key signature of the song and the chord progression that follows. Certain notes work better with certain chords than other notes.

Writing the Lyrics

Lyrics are the words we sing in our song. Lyrics are written to express our personal opinions, ideas, and emotions on certain topics. That is why choosing a topic and genre for your song before writing the lyrics is so important.

Often when writing the lyrics to a new song I have doubts about what other people will think of me and whether they will agree with me or if I will end up being alone in my believes. It is important to remember that when we write lyrics, we want to express how we feel and not how other people want us to feel.

Conclusion

Following these fundamentals have helped me greatly improve not only the work-flow of the way in which I write songs, but also the quality of the content of my songs. Having a clear vision of what you are writing about vastly helps improve the way you express your opinions, ideas and emotions. And that is what people want to hear in a song.