How to Write a Song
By: Sam Parker
How do you write a song?
Music is something that is so important in probably all of our lives. Whether you play an instrument, sing, or don't do anything at all, writing a song is something I think everybody would love to learn. Many people who want to go into the music industry struggle with even the idea of writing a song. For some people they can't think of a good chord progression or you just can't think of some words for the filler verse. That's why I'm here to tell you how you can become better at writing songs so everyone can benefit.
Lennon-McCartney
Lennon-McCartney is probably the most famous song writing duo in all of history. They have written hits from I Want to Hold Your Hand to a Day in the Life.
Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix is the master of blues and uses many guitar solos to replace lyrics throughout his songs. Hendrix has made songs like Purple Haze and Red House.
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is possibly the greatest lyrical man on this earth. He's not the greatest singer but he is a fantastic song writer. He's written Like a Rolling Stone and All Along the Watchtower.
Choosing a topic.
Songs can be about literally anything. People everyday make excuses for not writing a song a day like you should for having a thing I like to call Writer's Block. It's when you have the motivation to write a song and you're excited to make a top hit but you just don't have any ideas. Well, let me tell you that songs can be about whatever you want it to be as long as it sounds good and pleasing. I mean let's say you look out of your window and see your neighbor mowing their lawn. Write a song about that! Some famous artists wrote very strange songs like Hotel California by the Eagles which is about hell or King Tut by Steve Martin. Or you can just make it impossible to understand the lyrics like Come Together by the Beatles.
Coming up with a good chord progression.
Chords are probably my specialty because I try to make my songs the most diverse in that aspect. To come up with chords always take off from other songs because as musicians thats what we do is take off of other musicians and add to that. I'd say you should first start with a key and then if you want to stay a bit normal try to use chords from that key. YOu don't always need to use chords in the same key, in fact sometimes diverse chords sound the best. If you look at someone like Billy Joel, you can see he doesn't just repeat a small series of chords but has a quite large progression of chords. Now you should always have chords for a verse progression and a chorus progression. Now if you feel comfortable there, you can add an intro, an outro, a pre-chorus, or even a bridge. And always remember if you're feeling lazy you can just play the classic rock or blues chords.
Writing down some lyrics.
Lastly, here's the part everyone's probably been waiting for. Lyrics. This word has sent shivers down my spine in the past but I've become much better. First you should always come up with a topic and then start writing lyrics from there. For this, you have to remember that a song is just a poem with music so I like to make the lyrics rhyme when the time is right. But of course you don't necessarily have to do that. Bob Dylan who I would go as far to say as the best song writer in the world didn't usually make his lyrics rhyme. Although that's great I just prefer to make it rhyme not only because it can sound better in some sequences but it's also a heck lot easier to write. If I'm ever stuck on finding a word to rhyme with another word, I usually look it up on rhymezone.com. They list the words that rhyme by amount of syllables and I find it much easier. Also if you are at a loss of words you can always fill that verse with a guitar or piano solo, or maybe even some harmonica or kazoo.
The finishing touches.
Now to put your song onto an album and sell the album. To make an album as a band (and I sure can say for myself) it's not that easy. Everyone's schedules clash and it becomes hard so you really have to use your time wisely. To make an album I'd say you need at least 10 songs. I really think that 14 is the perfect number, I think it's because it makes a good even A and B side for the actual vinyl copies. You have to design an album cover too which may seem hard but to be honest it's really only however hard you make it. It could be just a picture of the band together or it could be an abstract painting that one of the band members made. Now you've got to sell it, but first I'd say you should look back and recognize how far you've made it. You've constructed an entire album with maybe a few covers in there but still that's you! Congrats!
Who's Next
The Who
Wish you Were Here
Pink Floyd
Abbey Road
The Beatles
About me.
Hi, I'm Sam Parker if you didn't know and I'm a twelve year old who is in seventh grade at Marquette Catholic School. Music is probably the biggest thing in my life and that's why I thought I'd share a little bit of it with you. The reason I know a little bit about writing songs is because I'm in a band with a few others and we've all slowly learned to co-write and write on your own. My band consists of Gregg Pagano who writes old fashioned rockers, George Markert who writes like Bob Dylan (As crazy as it sounds.), and Conrad Markert who doesn't write because he's a drummer. My job is to sort of be the in between Gregg and George when it comes to writing because their writing styles are so different. I started learning piano about 4 years ago and I started playing guitar about a year ago. I do some other things but music by far is the most important.
We believed anything that was worth doing was worth overdoing.
~Steven Tyler (Aerosmith)
How To Write A Song - Top Ten Tips