Songwriting 101

So, you are interested in songwriting?

There are a few things you’ll need to know to begin with. Songwriting is both an art form, and a science. A good song can make you feel like the writer is talking about your life even though you’ve never met. A song is composed of lyrics and melody.

Here are the basics that we’ll be going over today.

1. You should know how to play an instrument.
2. Know the general structure of a song
3. Practice. Practice.

First, you should know how to play an instrument. This is not mandatory, but it makes it way easier. I’ve had experience in songwriting both before I could play an instrument and after. It is so much harder to write a song without having a melody. So if you are not proficient with an instrument that is your first task. Guitar and piano are great instruments to start off with for songwriting. If you can’t play yet before you dive into full-on songwriting I would start with poems to get the rhythm and rhyming down because the music part might take a while.

Second, Let’s go over basic song structure. Most songs follow a general pattern.

Intro

Verse 1

Chorus

Verse 2

Chorus

Bridge

Chorus

Outro

There are of course variations of this but if you write your songs following this you’re off to a good start. Lately, most songs also stick to a 4 chord pattern as well but that is up to your personal preference.

Third, Practice. Practice. Practice! Songwriting can be hard. Don’t expect your first song to be a hit. Honestly, your first 100 may not be good. But the more you write and learn the better you’ll get.

I hope you enjoyed this short post about the total basics of songwriting. If you are interested in the idea of seeing some more in-depth songwriting let me know in the comments. I would love to go deeper into this topic!