How to Write a Song

Disclaimer: This article is purely intended towards newbie songwriters and beginners. So, if you are a semi-professional songwriter, you may not be able to extract anything drastically new from this article.

Okay, so you want to write a song. Well, that's a perfectly wonderful idea (for that matter, any form of art is a perfectly wonderful idea). Now let me ask you a question. Have you ever attempted any sort of songwriting before? Now hang on...before you answer that, writing poetry does not really classify as songwriting. I mean yes, there are quite a few things which are similar and common between the two, but at the same time, there are many other things which are not.

Writing a Song: Getting the Gist

Regardless of whether you want to learn how to write a metal song, or how to write a rock song, or how to write a love song, there are certain common principles (no wait, practices...practices is a better word) of writing a good song. Here are some of them.

Song Concept or Idea
The first thing you should be clear about is the idea or the driving force behind your song. There has to be some inner feeling that moves you enough to make you want to write a song. It has to happen from within. Songwriting is not as simple or mechanical as pressing a button on the vending machine and instantly getting a can of soda.

Song Title
The title of the song also happens to be a very important element of songwriting. The title could be anything from a single word to a short phrase. What is important however, is that the title should not only be illustrative of the central idea of the song, but it should also be strong, impactful and something which will stay in the mind of the listener after one or two hearings.

Song Lyric Structure
This is where songwriting differs greatly from writing poetry. The typical song structure for pop music is as follows:

• Verse
• Chorus
• Verse
• Chorus
• Bridge
• Chorus

Your chorus should be catchy and easily hummable, or else it will not connect with the listener. The song's central idea or concept should form the verses. The bridge is where the song takes a new turn or a different dimension, before returning to the original track and finally building up into a crescendo at the end i.e., at the final chorus.

Rhyme Scheme
Rhyming words or a fixed rhyme scheme is not exactly a compulsion or a must-have in your song lyrics. However, what it does is, it gives a nice feeling of hummability to the lyrics, in addition to a slightly poetic twist. However, as I said earlier, rhyming words is not a compulsion. You shouldn't tamper with the lyrics or chop and change words simply to make them rhyme. What that will do, is destroy the flow of words altogether, and turn the song lyrics into a series of scattered poetic lines with no central idea binding them together.

Essential Tips

Here are a few more things to keep in mind as an aspiring songwriter.

• Country music lovers, please pay attention. If you want to know how to write a country song, the answer lies in one word - 'storytelling'. Country songs are all about telling stories. Study some of the all-time famous country songs and you'll know what I'm talking about.
• To write a song on guitar, you need to have a little idea or understanding about melody. In that case, try strumming a couple of chords with the initial two lines of the verse. If a melody strikes you at that very moment, you will automatically find yourself moving ahead into different chord progressions, etc. For those of you who have a decent understanding of melody, using a musical instrument as a reference while writing song lyrics is not at all a bad idea.
• Last but not the least, do not copy, steal or unlawfully borrow someone else's lyrics. Refrain from plagiarism. Writing a lyric or composing a melody is something that requires honesty and genuineness. If you can do it, kudos to you. If you can't, that's perfectly alright. But don't use someone else's ideas or pieces of work and pass them off as your own.

This was a brief overview of penning down a beautiful song. One last tip before I sign off. Be sure to get hold of a DVD of the wonderful movie 'Music and Lyrics'. You will learn some really interesting points. Adios!