Song writing tips are widely available on the internet but how much of it can you actually use practically? I always looked for step by step song writing tips when I started out and always seemed to end up reading pages and pages of music theory or people just telling me to “write from the heart” and “use your emotions” without giving me any advice on how to actually DO that. No song writers sit down to write and think “Ok, I’m just going to write from the heart and everything will be fine.” They all have a set of techniques they use to tap into their creative energy so they can consistently write great songs!

Here are a few PRACTICAL song writing tips you won’t hear anywhere else to get you started writing great songs straight away…

ONE: Choose a topic to write about, say you want to write a song about a recent relationship gone wrong. Take a few sheets of paper and brainstorm words, phrases and lyrics that all relate to it. You’ll need at least two or three sheets so keep writing for as long as you possibly can. Then…put it to one side and leave it alone for a while.

TWO: Grab your instrument and create as many musical ideas as you possibly can. Aim for ten, twenty or even more ideas, chord sequences, riffs, melodies get them all out and most importantly record them on a simple tape recorder. The most important thing here is that you’re not editing ANY THING, you’re recording all of your ideas even the bad ones. Then once you’ve finished, put them to one side and do something else.

I always leave some time after my initial idea session before I try to write the finished song just to allow my mind to sort through the ideas. Often I’ll get ideas pop into my head while I’m not even thinking about song writing even a few weeks after the idea session. When I do come back to my ideas, I’ll take my brainstormed lyric sheets and spend time singing my favorite lines over all of my favorite musical ideas. If things aren’t working out, I’ll move onto the next idea, then the next and the next. Trust me, it will only a matter of time before you hit upon the combination that could lead to your next hit record!

Purpose of your song

What is the purpose of your song? Is it to make money? Is it to get played on the radio? Or maybe you don’t care about the money and the radio play, but you want to make a song that evokes emotion out of its listeners. Maybe your song’s purpose is to stand the test of time and have listeners 40 years from now.

Here’s how the purpose of your song affects your song structure.

If you want to make money with your song by getting it plugged in with pop artists and into the popular radio stations, you want to follow the general song structure that is used. This isn’t true for all cases (example:Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen), but true for most. And what is this general song structure formula? It is along the lines of A-B-A-B-C-B or in other words, verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus.

The point of this structure is to have a musical theme set and have it repeat to bring about a sense of familiarity to listeners, then introduce a new section (section C) which gives the listener a sense of freshness. After the new section is introduced, a theme that was introduced before is brought in again which makes the section feel both fresh and familiar. This gives the listener more of a chance to feel hooked in without feeling like the song is boring and repetitive.

This idea of creating a sense of familiarity and variety isn’t constricted to the structure A-B-A-B-C-B. The structure can be expanded to A-B-C-A-B-C-D-B aka verse-prechorus-chorus-verse-prechorus-chorus-bridge-chorus. Another example of an extension is A-B-A-B-A-B-C-B, but be weary of getting the song to sound overly repetitious. You can do this by thinking about varying the instrumentation in each section or even use variations where you might do something a little different in the third verse. Personally, repeating a verse and chorus 3 times before the bridge is too much. I give myself a ‘no more than two’ rule for sections other than the chorus. The chorus is given the ‘no more than three’ rule. You can be creative and add subtle changes to expand A-B-A-B-C-B. Another example is A-B-A-B-C-A-B where you have another verse after the bridge.

If you can’t decide what song structure to use, then start with A-B-A-B-C-B. If this structure doesn’t provide the space you need for all your lyrics, expand it. Maybe you can add a prechorus, or add an extra verse in the beginning where the structure would become A-A-B-A-B-C-B.

A lot of times, people feel a need to add to the song when they actually need to leave the song as it is or even remove some of the content. Don’t add lyrics just because you feel a need to fill in the space of the song structure. Cut your structure down to fit your lyrics. For example, if you decided to write a song with the structure A-B-C-A-B-C-D-A-B-C, and your lyrics are too short for the structure. Don’t add more lyrics for the sake of fulfilling the space. If you feel like your lyrics are done and anything else would be filler, then cut down the structure.

If you are the songwriter that doesn’t write songs in order to get them played on the top 40 list, then you have more freedom than the pop song writers. You can even write a song that’s 30 minutes long if you wanted. Would that mean people will listen to it? My guess is only if you make a song that contains high value.

You can have a song structure that is A – A – A – A. If you use that structure, I advise that you have really really good lyrics, or have an interesting instrumentation or chord progression that gives listeners a sense of variety. You can have a structure of A – B – C – D with no recurring themes.

One cool thing you can do is have a section play a theme that sounds similar to another theme that occurred earlier in the song. You can make it a variation of a theme, or a theme that gives a hint of another theme. There are no limits. This way of songwriting gives you a chance to think outside the box.

You can turn it into an exercise. Here’s an example exercise. Write 3 songs. The first song has to have the structure A – B – C – D – E, the second song has to be A – A – A – A, and the third song has to be A – B – A – B – B’(a variation of B). Doing fun exercises turn songwriting into a fun game. Have fun with it. Go wild

No one becomes a celebrated songwriter overnight. Even musical geniuses put in a lot of hard work before they have come up with their own masterpieces. Here are some tips for songwriting that you can use to enhance your songwriting skills.

Tip 1: Know how you feel. A song is a reflection of the soul and emotion. If you will write without feeling anything at all, you will not be able to come up with a song worthy of people’s attention.

You have to draw inspiration from what you feel and from what you are. Simply put, you should also know what genre you should write about. Is it a rock song? Do you like happy novelty songs or sentimental love songs? Once you have identified your personality, you will also be able to identify what songs to write. Always remember that one cannot be a jack of all trades.

Tip 2: Focus on the lyrics. Other than the melody, words mean a lot in a song. You can have the greatest song arrangement but if your lyrics do not really voice out what it is supposed to, your audience will not love your song.

Do not use words that are very deep because people who will listen to your song want simple yet profound lyrics. Make it easy to understand.

Tip 3: Arrange the vocal melody. The sound and melody of the song is what your listeners will remember. This includes opening notes and closing notes in a song. Remember that the rise and fall of your melody should also match the words. If the words are of a person who got hurt and is angry, you may want to consider a rising tone.

There are other tips for songwriting but the best tip of all is to practice, practice, practice and write, write, and write more songs until you fell really comfortable with it.

Becoming a successful song writer is by no means an easy task. It will take a lot to hard work and dedication in order to achieve this goal. It is possible to learn this unique art through reading books and a ton of trial and error. One of the key points is you have to keep practicing over and over. The more you sit down and just attempt to write lyrics more proficient you will become.

When you’re first beginning to write lyrics you need to first figure out your target audience. For instance, are you going to target women, men, kids, etc? You might think this is common sense but there must be a specific guideline that you should follow each time you write a song. Only after you figure out who your songs are going to appeal to you can move onto the next step.

When you are first starting out in songwriting you shouldn’t attempt to write a masterpiece right away. It is recommended that you start with something that already works. By this I mean you should research current songs online and see which ones are selling. When you find some popular songs you should really study the lyrics to them in order to understand what your target audience is buying. This way may be playing it safe but you do not want to get frustrated right when you’re starting.

Now it is time to create your story through the music that you write. If you look at a majority of the professional musicians when they sing their songs, you’ll notice that they are actually telling the story and connecting with the words. This is one of the most important pieces of any song, and that is for the singer to be able to connect to the song and sing it from the heart. The easiest way to accomplish this goal is to use your past experiences. Just think back to every time you have been extremely happy or sad.

Once you get your concept for your song down using one of your strong memories it is best just to write down everything that you remember before you start putting it into lyrics. By doing this, it will allow you to actually see the story written on paper while you are trying to write the lyrics to the song.

If you are serious about becoming a songwriter that I must warn you it will take patience. It is highly recommended that you purchase some books and learn through other peoples successes and failures. That is the only real way to reduce your learning curve and quickly become a professional songwriter.

Well, luckily for some, you don’t have to be an extremely experienced music composer to be a good song writer, just look at some of the world’s best song writers of today.

Some of the basic questions that you may have to begin with are do I start with an instrument or with the chords or lyrics? Do I have to ponder the idea for days or just pump out a melody? To tell you the truth there is no one correct way to write a song. It really all depends on you, the song writer, your strengths and uniqueness when it comes to writing music. Over the next few minutes, I am just going to try and convey to you some tips on how to write a song, some starting points and other various ideas.

For your basic song, it doesn’t really matter what particular genre you are in, most songs have the same basic structure. An example of your basic song is as follows:

Intro, Verse One, Chorus, Verse Two, Chorus and Repeat Chorus.

Listen to some of your most loved songs and you’ll almost instantly start to hear that this is the basic structure you hear every time. Remember, the best way to learn, especially in music is by listening to the work of others and then using portions of what you hear as examples.

To begin with, you have your intro. An intro is just as it sounds, the introduction. Your song can be introduced by any instrument or vocalization. As a matter of fact, some songs don’t even have “real” intros so you can skip this part or make it a short rhythm or chord sequence, the choice is yours. You basically are just looking for a start to your song, an opening and a bridge to take you from nothing to something.

Next you have your verse. When you are just learning how to write a song, you want to keep in mind that this is the core sum of what your song is about. These are the lyrics, accompanied by music that help the listener to be able to relate to what you are feeling or thinking.

If you are a beginner song writer then try not to make your song perfect just yet, it will take time to grasp some of the elements. You can write and rewrite but you might just drive yourself crazy because personal standards are sometimes impossible to reach. Start out by focusing on exploring music and ideas. You are learning and learning how to write a song requires a great amount of continued practice. If you are having a tough time then as a tip, you might want to take some sort of music theory class to help you gain a better understanding of music.