How to Write a Song in 7 Simple Steps
Excerpt from LANDR Blog Post by Michael Hahn, 28 Sept 2021
1. Find a spark of inspiration
Think about what resonates for you, for instance:
What music do you love?
How have experiences in your life shaped you?
What other types of art captures your interest?
Do you find yourself drawn to specific musical features like hooks, basslines, lyrics, chord progressions?
Noodle around with unstructured improvisation.
2. Jot down your ideas
Always be ready to capture ideas and musical fragments - the more you pay attention, the more often you will unleash your creativity. Some techniques include:
Keeping a lyrics diary.
Recording sketches in your digital audio workstation (DAW) or with your phone.
Capturing sounds with a portable field recorder or your phone.
3. Build your creative vision
Once you have an idea, flesh out a vision. Some questions to ask yourself:
What mood am I going for?
What elements will I include?
What is the song about? Do I want to speak to it directly or is it a general theme?
4. Create a structure
Most songs have 3 key elements – verse, chorus, and bridge. Additional building blocks include intro, breakdown, and outro.
Specific genres may have song structures in common but your song does not have to follow them to work.
Pay attention to the song’s rising and falling action – like a narrative arc of a novel or movie.
5. Fill out the arrangement
Arrangement involves organizing, shaping and chopping ideas into a finished piece.
Aspects to consider include: key, tempo, instrumentation, chord voicings, timbre and dynamics
6. Finish your song strong
You have your great song with a strong arrangement – now it is time to mix and master, the two most vital processes in producing your music. You might:
Mix as you go using a DAW and let the sound shape your inspiration.
Write your song first and switch to mixing mode to nail down your sound.
Collaborate with an engineer.
7. Confront creative blocks
You may get stuck but you don’t have to be stuck for good. There are many strategies for beating creative blocks or making them less disruptive.
Check out 22 Ridiculous Songwriting Tips That Actually Work for ideas at LANDR here.