Basic Song Writing

Maybe you have a chorus, or a verse or perhaps you've written a catchy lyric and need to create a song around it. I've been a musician for many years and in that time I've came up with hundreds of ideas for songs, but actually creating a great sounding song from an idea is quite often a real stumbling block for most musicians.

How to turn 30 ideas into 30 songs!

The secret to writing songs, once you know how to do it, is actually quite simple. Most songs follow the same rules.

You don't have to be a natural songwriter to learn how to write good songs. Songwriting is easy when you feel inspired by something.

But how do I start?

Songs generally have 4 basic elements - Lyric, Melody, Harmony and Rhythm. There is no set method to writing a song. Everyone does it differently. Apparently John Lennon would write down his lyrics first and then sit at the piano until he found a chord sequence that fit. Paul McCartney tells how he dreamt the song 'Yesterday.'

A few other ways you could begin are:

Begin with a lyric and set it to music
Begin with a melody
Begin with a rhythm
Begin with lyrics only

Other strategies of writing a song could be to try and write a song on an instrument that is not natural to you, so if you play guitar then have a go at composing on a keyboard, or use an existing song structure that you really like or write in the style of an artist or band that you like. Find a quiet room or place in your home where you won't be disturbed, close your eyes and visualize a box of CD's or an MP3 player containing 10 songs. Press the play button and allow the music to play. You might get a few bars to work with but it may just give you something to go on!

martin rushforth