Songwriting Tips

Hi Hello

Before you all shout at me for not posting on Sunday I'm just gonna tell you that life happens and I got really busy with school and such and just didn't have time to post. But I am here today with the post I was planning on writing on Sunday, another one of my "tip" posts.

Are you thinking about writing songs? Or just started out writing songs to increase your musical abilities? Are you getting frustrated? Thinking about giving up on writing songs? Well stop. Stop what you are thinking and listen up (or read up).

Here are some tips or rather things to consider when you are first starting out with songwriting...

Lyrical Content

1. Just start writing. Even if you are not writing in a "song" or "poem" format, just start writing. The best way to start maybe is to start a journal. It can either be a daily journal or a weekly journal. Just start writing down your day and your feelings about situations. If something happened, even if it was something minor like forgetting to buy milk at the store, then write about it. Sometimes the best songs come from minor, almost insignificant, events that happened to the writer. The more you write the better you will get.

With time you can move on from the journal and start writing down poems. Lyrics in songs are like poems. Poems don't always have to rhyme. They just have to have a flow to them, and a meaning behind them. Short lines, but each line has a meaning and a purpose. The stanzas can be short or long, however long you feel it needs to be. You never know, one of the poems might make a great song!

With practice this your writing will become better and better and it will come easier to you. Practice doesn't make perfect, but it does make progress.

2. Write about real life experiences (if you can). I find it easier to write about experiences that you have actually been through, at least when you are first starting out writing. You can get all your feelings out about a situation that you've been through by writing it down. Not only could it make a great song but it also is a great therapy session for yourself to just let it out.

If you are like me, and don't really have that much of an exciting life to really write about, then you can go off of general topics like relationships. Relationships are a great start to write about. This doesn't have to be about dating, they can be about friendships. They don't have to be negative, they can be positive as well. They can be silly or they can be serious. Whatever inspires you when you grab that pen and paper, just write it down. Find a topic and start writing about it, I cannot stress that enough...just start writing.

3. It doesn't have to tell a story right away. Don't sit down and start writing thinking that you need to tell a story in order or events or how it happened. You can start writing a story starting in the chorus, if that is the easiest part for, then start working at the verses and other aspects of the lyrics. You might find too that all you can write is a few lines of something and then move onto the next. You never know, sometimes lines from different intended songs might fit well together and create a new song all together. Just work at expressing your creative freedom. There are no limitations when you write songs, just write.

Instrumental Content

1. The best way to start off writing the music part of the song is to learn how to read and write music. Just like when you start school and you're learning to read and write words, learn how to read and write down music. I cannot stress how important it is to learn to read music. It is the foundations of every song. Im not saying that you need to go to college and learn theory and how to invert chords and write counterpoint, but I am saying that you should know the names and beats of different notes as well as the notes on a scale and how to build a chord (but first what a chord is). Learn the basics and trust me, you will be thanking me later.

2. Pick up an instrument and just start playing it. I would suggest to first learn the basics on piano. Get a keyboard and learn to play the piano enough to write simple melodies. Im not saying to pay for lessons or learn to play large symphonic pieces by Beethoven or anything like that, just enough to know the basics and to start writing melodies.

After you have learned the basics on piano you can start to pick up other instruments, this can be anything that you please although most will start to pick up the guitar. With the guitar you can start to learn it and, just like anything, the more you play the better you will get. Now don't start playing these instruments thinking that you will be able to write music with the snap of your fingers. It doesn't work that way, just like writing the lyrics, it will take time and practice. Not everyone can be prodigies.

3. The best way to come up with the melody to songs or the chord progressions of a song is to just start playing. Pick up your guitar or sit down at your piano and just start playing something. I would suggest not playing a song that you already know from a well-established artist because this will influence your writing. Sit down somewhere quite, clear your mind, and start fooling around with whatever you are playing. Start strumming random chords one after another until something sounds cool and then WRITE IT DOWN! Same with piano, just start playing random keys and chords and when something sounds good WRITE IT DOWN!

I cannot stress enough that when you come up with something that sounds good write it down so you do not forget it and you can come back to it later and replay it. This is why it is important that you learn to write music on a scale so you can write down your melodies and chords later. If you are really good with your ear and will be able to identify a chord or note by listening to it, you can record yourself on your phone or tape recorder or program on computer so you can come back to it later. Although I would also suggest that you still write it down because technology can still fail you at times.

Just like with the writing, just sitting down and practicing will make progress and it will come easier to you with time.

Other Tips

1. Write in silence. If you listen to music while you write you will be influenced by the song you are listening to and there is a chance that you could copy when you hear. Maybe not in lyrical content but definitely in musical content. It is important to be careful about this when writing because you do not need a copyright case coming your way later in life when you try selling your music. So write in silence and try clearing your mind before you write so you don't get songs stuck in your head and start writing similar to that particular song.

2. Keep a notepad in your bag or on your phone. Inspiration can come at random times during the day or night. When that inspiration hits you're gonna wish you had something to write it down on. So I suggest that you are out and about during the day that you keep a notepad and pen in your bag or purse (if you are a lady) or start a "note" on your phone's note app and type it in. If you are home, keep a notepad by your bedside, sometimes inspiration comes from a dream you had. You can wake up and write it down right away if you have something by your side at the ready.

Although this doesn't help much with melodies, if is extremely helpful with lyrics. But, if you do come up with a melody that you like you can either sneak away to a bathroom or a private room and record it briefly on your phone, or write it down on your notepad. If both of these options are unavailable then you can just keep trying to sing that melody in your head until they become available. In which case, I would suggest not listening to any music until you can write it down or record it for fear that you might lose it.

3. Don't stress about it. Not everyone starts off writing amazing songs. The first song that I ever wrote was absolutely horrible. It was proper cringe worthy and, unfortunately, I had to have it performed in front of a crowd for a school project (music theory 2 was a horrible experience). But, with time, they got better. They still are pretty horrible and need improvement, but they are getting better indeed. Don't look at the artists that you listen to now and think that it comes easy for them from the start. Ed Sheeran even said that his first songs that he ever wrote when he started out were horrible. He says that they are probably the worst songs anyone could ever hear, but look at him now. His songs are complex and beautiful and he's selling out multiple shows at Wembley Stadium.

4. Don't compare yourself to anyone else. You are you for a reason. You are not like anyone else in this world and you should embrace that. When you compare yourself to other people that is when you start slowing down on your progress. Now, you can strive to be like a particular artist as inspiration to improve. That is perfectly fine, in fact, it might be more rewarding for you to have a person to inspire you in your writing. Their work and push you to work harder and to improve. But do not look at one of your pieces and then one of theirs and think that yours is way worse. If you are just starting out your work is not going to be as good as theirs. And once you start comparing that is when you lose the drive and start practicing less and less.

It takes time. Just like anything else, you need to practice in order to improve and get better. To master your craft you need to work at it. No one gets anywhere without working towards it. Even those child prodigies that you see popping up here and there had to start somewhere. They didn't just pop out of the womb playing 12 movement orchestra pieces. They had to learn from the start just like you, they just started earlier.

That is all I have for you today. If you liked this or have any other tips that I did not mention, please leave a comment and tell me what you think.

I will see you on Sunday!

Until next time my misfits,
Stefanie