How to Write a Song - Part 1 - Getting Started

One of the under-mentioned parts of the business of self-producing music is the tricky area of how to write a song. More importantly, how to write a good song.

There are several things that go into making a song "good". We can start by asking some basic questions.

1. What style of music do you want to write? Here is a list from Wikipedia
2. Do you know anything about songwriting? If the answer is "Heck, No" - don't worry. We'll dig into that later on.

That's it! Once you have picked a style, listen to some bands from that style to get a feel for what kind of music you are going to be writing. Of course, don't copy their stuff! But keep the "feel" of the style of music in mind. notice the drum beats, the sound and types of instruments being used, and the kind of singing you hear (rhaspy, growling, whiney, whispery, commanding etc).

Choose what you want your song to be. Do you want to scream, rap, whisper-sing? Pick one, and then after you've written a few lines, do some experimenting!

But that's not really it. I knew you knew that, because you are smart!

Good

The thing I will say is that "good" is highly subjective, but there are some objective facts that we can nail down to make sure your song is as good as it can be. So I will amend my title from "how to write a song" to "How to write a song you are happy with!". After all, that's the whole point of songwriting (unless you are making big money - in which case, you should be writing this blog not reading it!).

Even if your songs never go anywhere, you need to be proud of your accomplishment and like it enough to want to release it to the world, which is what I am currently doing with my own music. If I didn't like it, I wouldn't release it. In fact, I have several songs that I don't like enough to want to release ... so I am keeping them hidden for the time being. I will pick away at them until I like what I'm hearing, then I'll release them. There are also some songs that I will never release.

Where to start?

The truth is it doesn't really matter where you start with songwriting. Some people write poetry, then put it to music later. Others start with the music and then try to fit words into the music. Either way, do what works for you, and experiment!

For our purposes here, we will start with poetry. Now, I've got to tell you that there is a lot of nonsense on the internet about how to write lyrics for a song. There is talk about buzzing like bees and "you make me feel so fine" type of silliness. Depending on the song you are writing, those lines might actually work by the way! But what I'm interested in is empowering songwriters to write excellent poetry which they will then put to music.

Poetry

Poetry seem to be nearly every high school kid's least favorite subject. However, it's vital to be at least a decent poet in order to write a good song. Being good at poetry doesn't just mean you can rhyme words. It means you have learned to say a lot using few words. It also means you have learned to describe things using imagery, metaphors, similes and other figurative language. If you paid half attention in your junior and senior English classes, you will already know this. 

As you start to write your song lyrics, there are a couple of  important things to consider.

1. Are you primarily left-brained or right-brained? You can take a little test to see: http://testyourself.psychtests.com/testid/3178

If you are more right-brained, try things like writing in a coffee shop where there is some background noise, or out in nature. The noise in the background might become white noise and can help you focus. Or it won't. Experiment to see what works! If you are left-brained, chances are you will want to have whatever writing space you use as neat and tidy as possible before you start. If you are very left-brained, you might be tempted to clean the house first - in which case, try heading out to your favourite quiet spot in nature, out to the back deck or to a nice park and put on some noise cancelling headphones - just for the silence they provide. Again, experiment and see what works. I lean toward the right-side of my brain, and when I write I like things to be neat and tidy and quiet (unless I'm writing music and lyrics simultaneously). But I love the sound of the computer fan, which creates white noise.

2. Hopefully you have found a place where you feel comfortable enough to start pouring out your soul. The next thing to consider is what your song will be about. The trick here is to focus on an event, an emotion or a snapshot in time. That's the general rule, but rules can and often should be broken. For example, you can write about 5 years ago and then bring the audience back to the future of today. It's all fair and legal. The key things are to focus on describing instead of telling, and storytelling instead of fact-giving. Most people aren't going to be interested in a series of facts put to music - but then again, some people are interested in that very thing - so ... it's all fair and legal! But if you are wanting your songs to be commercially viable on a wide scale, start by steering your songwriting toward things that are universal of the human experience like love, death, feelings, and especially dilemmas and the dramatic. For comedy writers, zeroing in on the ironic, silly or witty are staples. (think: "If I had a Million Dollars" by Bare Naked Ladies, or "Lunch Lady Land" by Adam Sandler).

Next up, we will talk all things poetry.