How to write a song

So, let’s discuss how to write a song? Can a songwriter really be taught to write a hit record? Creativity comes from within and so it is hard to imagine how anyone could teach you to control your creativity so that it churns out hit record after hit record. Its hard to believe that a book can show you the so called secrets to gaining a record deal through ten songwriting tips or even worse still, three steps to answer the question, how do I get a record deal? So when it comes to that question of how to write a song, let’s try and put this into perspective.

I would speculate that most songwriters searching for that illusive record deal or publishing deal will believe that a fair amount of their hopes of achieving this lay in the creativity they have to go and write hit records. We know that as creative songwriters, sometimes we have great ideas and sometimes we don’t. So a lot of the pressures of songwriting hang on our creativity. It’s the first point of blame and it can be the first point of thanks when we write something incredible. It is otherwise named as ‘writers block’ when things don’t work.

If we separate song writing into part creation and part process we can remove some of that pressure and add something worthwhile to help us in its place. It certainly helps to give us more understanding of ourselves as songwriters to do this. So let’s now break songwriting down to fifty percent creativity and fifty percent process. Pressure off, songwriters! Don’t panic, we’ll add it back at the end of this blog.

Process of songwriting. Let’s be brief here. In the process of writing our song we need to add hooks to keep the listener hooked in. A hook in simple terms is the really catchy part of a song you find yourself humming all day. This adds commercial value to the song. We need lyrics that keep our listener hooked in. Our opening lyric needs to immediately hook the listener in to the rest of the song. We need a very catchy melody, especially in the chorus. So we start to set ourselves standards; perhaps too many to mention in a short blog. But these standards mixed with our creativity help us to improve as songwriters. They help us to grow into creatures of creativity rather than creatures of habit.

So books about songwriting can help. But if you’re new to songwriting and you want to know more about how to write a song, don’t believe the hype on books that can claim to solve the mysteries of writing hit records to get you a record deal. There are some great songwriting books out there that really can improve you as a song writer. How to write a song? Creativity from you and the standards you have now set yourself in the process of writing your song. Try to Improve your songwriting every week, certainly before you head to the recording studio, and definitely before you head to a recording studio for hire. Experience is everything. It’s okay to write bad songs too, most songwriters who have written lots of hit records have written plenty of bad songs. They improved to achieve success. They set themselves higher standards. The Lovesongwriting.com guide to songwriting offers excellent advice on how to improve as a songwriter.

If all else fails and you actually do get writers block! Step outside, listen to the birds singing and collaborate with them. They work for free, and they’re always up for singing original music.