Songwriting 101: How to Write Songs from Scratch

So you want to write a song, good.

Songwriting is one of the most personal creative acts there is. You are taking something that lives only in your head and making it something another person can feel.

Anyone can write a song, after all, we all have a unique voice and wonderful message to share. It might seem intimidating but, it’s more the learned practice of understanding how to musically arrange your thoughts, your sounds, and your beats in a way that fits your message.

Finding the Spark

It is best just to start on something as simple as a spark of inspiration. Where does it come from? Some people get an urge to sing about something, and others might be struck with a spoken string of words. In the professional world some musicians hear their melody first, while others hear the harmony. A bit nebulous of an answer, but there are one million ways to start writing a song. But, like all creative, it all begins with an idea and desire.

The Framework: Song Structure

Still, this is where music theory comes into play. The study of the building blocks of music will give you the framework of how to make music.

Take, for example, understanding song structure. Song structure is the scaffolding of your song. The most common song structure goes like this: verse, then chorus, verse, then chorus, a bridge, then a chorus.

• The Verse: The message of your song.
• The Chorus: The glue that holds it together.
• The Bridge: Breaks things up so you don’t have a monotonous structure.

Some simpler songs might simply be verse, chorus, verse, chorus without the bridge. Church songs, pop songs, and indie songs often have the simpler structure.

Another way to organize a song is by first verse, then second verse, then a bridge, and then end the final verse. Without a bridge, the song is less dramatic, and the whole thing is easier to organize. I put a song rhyme tool and a lyric analyzer on these pages to assist with songwriting needs.

Bringing It All Together

Still, once you have a general idea of the structure of your song, where do you start? You first must come up with the idea of your verse. This usually comes from inspiration; you can keep a little running track on your phone note section if you have a phone, or simply use a small notebook and a pencil and paper.

Think of the words that will go with your idea, and the catchy little part of the song called the hook that will draw your audience in. So you begin to draw the lyrics in and form the story of your song, and you add the chorus in between and your bridge to draw them both together. Then you play them all together and see what sounds right.

Sit on it for a while and then revise some more.

I am adding a video by John Mayer down below, he gives some great advice on song writing.