Songwriting: The Concise Guide

 

“And Those Who Were Seen Dancing Were Thought To Be Insane By Those Who Could Not Hear The Music”

– Friedrich Nietzsche

Who this is for

This is not intended to be the 100% complete guide to songwriting. Hundreds if not thousands of books and articles have been written about the art of song-craft throughout the years. Songwriting: The Concise Guide merely adds to that list but in a more concise manner. There will be lists, ideas and opinions expressed all aiming to help you in your own quest to write brilliant songs. You may be wondering if this guide is for you. Well if you’ve got this far you probably want to learn how to write songs. You may be a seasoned pro looking to see if there are any tricks you might have missed or you may be new to the game and want to know how to get started. With this in mind I am going to make a few assumptions about you, the reader.

1. You can play an instrument – well enough to play along to some pop-standards with good rhythm and basic melodic understanding. If you can’t play an instrument I would suggest buying or lending either a cheap guitar or keyboard and start off by learning four chords: C G Am and F. There are hundreds of websites and YouTube tutorials that can give you the basics.
2. You are writing for your own creative project – by this I mean you are writing for yourself or you are a writer or co-writer in a band.
3. You have zero to some experience in song-writing – if you’re a multi-platinum artist or  a professional songwriter, there may be a lot of things here that you already know. This guide is aimed more at the beginner to pre-intermediate level. However, you still might find something of interest in this guide.

I will stress that this is not a step-by-step guide on how to write a song. That does not exist. There is no magic formula that can make you a great songwriter overnight which leads me on to section one.

 

The Best Advice

“You Practice And You Get Better. It’s Very Simple”

– Phillip Glass

The best advice I can give any aspiring song writer is to practice and be open to new ideas. Songwriting is an art not a science. There are no right or wrong answers when it comes to writing a song. At the end of the day, if you are happy with the music you make that is all that matters. That being said, you may already have some ideas in your head that you want either written out or recorded as a “real piece”. Practicing makes this process of turning a thought in your head into a finished song easier and more manageable. It can also fuel the fire for more song ideas.

You may have seen song challenges advertised on music forums that challenge the songwriter to write a song every day for a month, or two months, or a song every day for a year and then post the results. My advice to anyone starting out would be to join one of these challenges or make your own. If you write a song without fail everyday for a month you will see and hear the improvement in your work. Keep a notebook or song-journal and list the songs you’ve written, this will allow you to keep track and note how much you’ve achieved and progressed.

Being open in this process is also vital for the growth of any songwriter. Never turn your nose up at advice, ideas or criticism. Take it all on board and learn from it. Try to absorb as much music as you can including new genres or music you dislike. “I no longer limit myself” the composer Karlheinz Stockhausen once said. This should be your mantra when writing songs.

 

Where To Begin

“Writing Is Easy. All You Have To Do Is Cross Out The Wrong Words.”

– Mark Twain

There are a great number of ways a song can be started. You can write the lyrics first, the chords, or the melody. Sometimes inspiration can strike and the whole song is in your head. Paul McCartney woke up one day humming the melody to Yesterday by The Beatles. We will focus on the two most popular ways of starting a song: the lyrics and chords/melody.

Lyrics – Free Writing

One of the fastest ways to start lyrics is “free writing” or train of thought. This is where you sit down with a pen and paper or a computer and start writing the first thing that comes into your head and keep writing until the page is full. Ulysses by James Joyce is the most famous example of this technique as a writing device. If you are struggling with writer’s block or don’t know how to start the lyrics, this is the best technique to use.  Once your page is full of scribbles and ideas read through it and pick out any key sentences, phrases or words that stand out to you and write them out on a separate sheet of paper.  Repeat this technique five or six more times and you’ll have enough ideas to form a verse or chorus for your song.

Lyrics – To a Brief

Writing to a brief is quite the opposite of free writing and is standard in the industry setup. Although it may seem as a tool to stifle creativity and ideas, it can actually be the opposite. Writing briefs can vary from a song title to an idea or writing with a particular musical element. Here are a few ideas:

Song Subject

• A Love Song
• A Protest Song
• A song about your life
• A song that acts as a letter
• A song about space

Picking a subject gives you a solid foundation on which to write a song. Create a spider diagram listing keywords and phrases that can be associated with the subject. Why not listen to your favorite song and then practice the technique? For example the song Mr Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra would have a web of words related to the weather such as: shining, sun sky, cloud, rain etc.

Song Titles

Song titles can be a great way to write to a brief. Be sure to carry a note book with you at all time and when you hear a good phrase or word write it down. These words and phrases can later be used as song titles. Here are a few more ideas for song titles:

1. Pick a random word form the dictionary for your title
2. Open up a book of poetry – pick a random line
3. The first newspaper headline you see that day
4. The Cut Up Technique

One of personal favorite ways to get a full set of unique lyrics is called the cut-up technique. This is a songwriting technique David Bowie used to write Moonage Daydream and it is the simplest of the techniques listed above:

1. Get a few old newspapers or magazine.
2. Cut out some of the articles.
3. Cut these articles into strips so they have lines or sentences.
4. Put all the cut-up sentences into a hat and start picking them out at random
5. Arrange the sentence fragments to form lyrics.

The end result may not make complete sense but you will get interesting combinations of words and in some cases a full song can be drawn out of the hat. It is said this is how Thom Yorke of Radiohead wrote the lyrics for the majority of their groundbreaking album Kid-A.

 

Chords and Melody – Improvising

“In Improvisation There Are No Mistakes

-Miles Davis

Just like writing lyrics, when it comes to starting with the chords and melody of a song “free writing” or improvising is one of the easiest ways to come up with ideas.

Unlike writing your ideas with a pen and paper it can be easy to forget chords and melodies especially once you get in the full swing of things. This is why I always suggest you record yourself when improvising. You don’t need a fully fledged state of the art recording studio as well. A basic computer will come with a built in microphone and software such as Audacity allows you to record, edit and export your ideas for free. Most mobile phones have a voice memo application that can record your improvisation sessions too.

There are no right or wrong ways to improvise music. Some people like to write out a chord progression beforehand and then use that as an initial structure. Others dive straight in and just start playing a melody. It is important to remember that you are not on trial here, the more relaxed you are and the more fun you have when playing the better the end results will be. Pick up your instrument, press record and play!

 

Chords and Melody – Creative Block

There will be times when improvising doesn’t cut it and your creativity dries up. It happens to the very best of us. Here are a few ideas to help you overcome a creative block.

Switch Instruments – If you play the guitar why not try sitting at the piano for a few hours and see if you can come up with some new ideas? Most people find it easier to visualize the music when playing the piano and it can help with music theory practice as well.

Different Time Signature – Why not try writing a song in 5/4 or a verse in 3/4? Odd time signatures are not only used in math-rock and experimental music, some big hits are in odd time signatures. Money by Pink Floyd is in 7/4 for example.

Alternate Guitar Tunings – If you play the guitar try some alternate tunings. Listen to the likes of Joni Mitchell and Crosby Stills and Nash to get an understanding of how alternate tunings can be used.

Write In A Different Genre – If you’ve spent your whole life writing hip-hop why not try writing a country ballad? Writing in different genres not only builds your skills as a well rounded songwriter but also may give you some techniques you never thought of.

Music Theory Approach – Often the least popular bit of advice, but music theory can help any songwriter. Learn the basics online and start writing your songs as notation. You will be amazed of the results.

Expand Your Chord Vocabulary – Do you know all the 7^th chords or what a Sus4 is? Expanding your chord vocabulary allows you to draw from a greater source of resources when writing you songs and makes writing music easier. If you are already well versed in chords try experimenting with split chords across multiple instruments (E.g. piano plays the root, guitar plays the third and the synth plays the fifth).

Reverse The Chords – So you’ve written a great chord progression but now you’re stuck? Try reversing the chord order. Nine times out of ten this works and gives you a new section for your song. For example C G Am F would become F Am G C. For instant results you can even take a chord progression from your favorite Beatles, Britney Spears or Bob Marley track and apply the same technique. This also works with melodies too.

 

Structure and Arrangement

“Imagination Creates Reality”

– Richard Wagner

Structure is often one of the most overlooked aspects of songwriting. This is because we have come to expect very little from the structure of a song. The majority of pop music can be summed up as Intro- Verse – Chorus – Verse – Chorus – Middle 8 – Chorus – Outro. Why? It works. This structure has formed the corner stone of many multi-platinum selling hits time and time again. You can use this structure with any song you’re currently working on and it will work. You may however want to stray from this formula and experiment with song structures. Here are a few ides:

Borrowed Structure – A simple search on the internet for “song structures” will give you hundreds of images and info-graphs of varying structures you can use. Many pros will listen to a song they like, note the different verses and choruses and “steal” the structure. The structure of a piece of music is one of the few things that can’t be copyrighted.

Classical – Classical music features many different forms and structures that can be used in your songwriting. Close To The Edge by Yes is written in strict Sonata Form. Research classical music structures and see if you can apply any to your own pieces of music.

Lead With Chorus – If you have a catchy chorus why not starts the song with it? Even a guitar riff or memorable lyrics can be used to start a track. 99 Problems by Jay Z uses this to great effect by using a line from the chorus acapella as the introduction.

No Chorus – Sometimes you don’t need a chorus. If it is not adding anything to the track then remove it. Many songs don’t have a chorus. House of the Rising Sun by The Animals and Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin have no defined chorus section.

Frankenstein – If you have lots of unfinished song fragments why not try stitching them together to create a song? The Beatles used this technique in the Abbey Road medley and Happiness Is a Warm Gun. You would be surprised how much you can get out of this technique.

 

Review

“Art Is Never Finished, Only Abandoned”

– Leonardo Da Vinci

Reviewing art is difficult in this day and age. Most songwriting software comes with a button that allows the writer to upload their song straight to the internet where the world can voice its opinion and critique the piece. With this technology at your fingertips it can be easy to get giddy and rush to finish a song, anticipating the reviews and opinions of others. Yet the review process is the often the most important part of songwriting.

After you’ve written a song, whether it be an idea, a full set of lyrics or the chords and melody I would advise you sleep on the song. Leave 24 hours before you listen to it or read it again. This gives your ears and brain time to rest. When you review your song the next day consider the following:

1. Are you getting you point across? Do you want to get a point across or is the song deliberately ambiguous?
2. Are you happy with the rhyme and metre of the lyrics?
3. Do the chords and melody fit and make sense? Do you want them to make sense?
4. Are you going to want to listen to this song in a month’s time?

When it comes to considering these point and making edits there is a fine line between adding something of note to a song and going around in circles. The mistake many new songwriters make is to keep adding and adding different parts until the song is over saturated and a mess. In most instances a song will improve by removing something rather than adding. Be it a line in the verse, an instrumental part or a whole section. When reviewing and editing your song it is important to keep asking yourself “Will this add anything positive to my song?”

This process of reviewing a song can pose a different question that you may be thinking. “How do I know when a song is finished?” This can be answered three separate ways:

1. You just know – either a gut instinct or a little voice in your head will tell you you’ve done all you can and to move on to the next song.
2. Deadlines – If you’ve got band rehearsal at 19:00 and you’ve told your band mates you’ve got three new songs, then they have to be finished. Although they may put you under some pressure, deadlines are a great way of finishing tracks. Even if you’re not 100% ready you have to perform.
3. A Song Is Never Finished – Many purists will tell you that a song is never finished. In some ways this is true and many successful songwriters re-imagine their songs when they are touring or releasing new material. No one performance of a song will sound the same.

Reviewing your songs and making edits is one of the most important and difficult stages in the songwriting process. It is difficult because, as with many things, it takes time. Only with practice will you fall into a routine of writing and editing and gain the needed confidence to make the appropriate cuts and additions.

 

Outside The Box

“I’m An Adventurer, I Like Invention, I Like Discovery”

– Karlheinz Stockhausen

There may be times when you want to experiment with your songwriting and go beyond the standard means and practices of the time or genre. Here are a few ideas that may help think outside the box and add some experimental aspect to your songwriting process:

Oblique Strategies – created by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt in 1975, Oblique Strategies are a set of cards that offer challenging constraints to help the artist. They help break creative blocks and encourage lateral thinking. Some example includes “Use and old idea”, “Try Faking It” and “Only one element of each kind”. You can purchase the full set of cards from Amazon or there are websites that give an interactive version for free. Search “oblique strategies online”.

Xenochrony – A technique used by Frank Zappa, Xenochrony is a studio technique that can be applied to the song-writing process. Zappa would extract guitar solos or other musical parts from his work and place it out of context in a new piece of music. You can also try this technique in you song. For example, you are writing a love song (Song A) and a protest song (Song B). Try taking the lyrics of the first verse in Song A and make that the middle 8 of Song B. Take the chord progression in the outro of Song B and make it the introduction to Song A. This process requires a lot of trial and error to get any noticeable results, but you will find that the possibilities are endless.

Aleatoric Music – This is music by chance. Many experimental composers of the 20^th century would use a set of dice to compose their pieces. If you are stuck for a song structure, assign each section to a side of the dice (so verse = 1 chorus = 2 intro =3 etc) and start rolling. You can take this even further by assigning a number to a chord or note duration. Online number generators are also available for this technique. For example, if you have a set of ten lyrics, you would label them 1-10 and then set the parameters on the generator 1-10. Chance would then decide the order of the lyrics.

Generators – The internet offers a host of opportunities for any aspiring songwriter. With the right sites you could write a full song without using any of your own mental abilities. Searching “generator” after the terms lyric, chord, melody or structure will give you websites that generate songs for you. Certainly the resulting piece may be average at best but it is better than nothing. “But that’s cheating!” you may say. “Is it?” No one would know if you wrote your song using this method. For all we know a top ten hit could have been written using music generators!

These are just some of the techniques that allow you to think outside of the box. Often when writing music or creating any form of art one of the most creative things to do is forget everything you know and move out of your comfort zone. These techniques allow you to do that.

Final Thoughts

“I Just Wrote One Song At A Time. Kinda Like An Alcoholic. One Day At A Time”

– Neil Young

Songwriting will be different for each person. It may be your life’s passion. To someone else it will be a part time hobby and to some it will be the way they earn their living. This is important to remember when you are giving or receiving feedback from others. Be respectful of other people’s opinions and be open to new ideas. One aspect this article hasn’t discussed is co-writing. My advice would be to find someone who you can co-write with. Someone you can bounce ideas off of and get honest feedback. The chances are the first time you write with another person it will be awkward, frustrating and time consuming, but if you keep at it and keep co-writing you will see a huge improvement in your songwriting.

You may think that there is a step-by-step guide to follow when writing songs and that there are right and wrong answers. You can write a song that will make you a stack of cash if you do X Y Z. People will sell courses and books and make their own fortune with these claims. They are wrong. There are no right or wrong answers in songwriting and there is no step-by-step guides to follow that will give you the secret key to writing the perfect song. Songwriting is a process that requires a lot of time, dedication and most importantly practice. It is something that evolves as the song writer evolves. If you start by writing one song at a time, one day at a time, you will see the results.