Just wanted to share my song writing process and maybe get input from others who write songs. I'm not an expert songwriter like Danyo Cummings but I've developed a method that works for me.
First off, I never sit down and try to write a song. Usually if I ever can finish a song, I'm just goofing around on the guitar and a melody pops into my head that fits whatever chord pattern I'm playing.
If I think it's catchy or memorable, I think hard to make sure I'ts not the melody line of some other famous song (usually it is). If it is, I try to tweak it enough where its different, but still has that same "catchyness" factor.
Usually when the melody comes into my head, it comes in the form of a first line. Usually the first line of the first verse, but sometimes it's the chorus. The 2 strongest parts in your song has to be that first line, and the hook in the chorus. It's a little harder for me cause I'm not that great of a singer, so I need to write simple but memorable melody lines that I can handle with my limited range.
Sometimes when the chords and melody come, they're in the wrong key for me so I spend the time to find the key thats comfortable for me to sing in.
With the chords for whats presumably the verse and the first line of the song, I then try to fill out the rest of the song. With the melody line in my head, I write out lines that I think will fit with the song. After each line I try singing it and tweak it to make them fit.
Before the chorus, it's important to have escalators to get the listener pumped for the chorus. This can be done with a chord change that ends on a hanging 5th. The 5th begs for the main chord to come back and thats where you can hit it with the hook. If you listen to a lot of songs, right before the chorus, you'll notice things start to get louder or more filled. more instruments will be playing. Song writers do this so that the listener will subconsciously be pumped for the chorus and hook.
The Chorus and the hook is next and that is usually where I'm not that good. It's way easier to write hooks if you can actually sing. Writing a memorable hook that someone with no range is TOUGH. In the chorus, you need to change it up and make it sound memorable and different from the verses. A lot of beginning songwriters keep their choruses too similar to the verses. Change it up! Change chords if you have to. The chorus should sound distinctly different from the verses. The hook is the line that gets stuck in your head or that you find yourself humming. It's the proverbial "Money Shot" of the song. Most of the time, but not always its the first line of the chorus. Work on perfecting that hook.
After I figure out the chorus, I work on the 2nd verse in the same way I worked on the first. Then the bridge if necessary.
It also helps in songwriting to build your internal rhyming dictionary. Easy way to do this is to train yourself by saying a word, then trying to say all the rhyming words you can in 10 seconds.
Hope this helps! I'd like to hear other song writers writing process as well.
First off, I never sit down and try to write a song. Usually if I ever can finish a song, I'm just goofing around on the guitar and a melody pops into my head that fits whatever chord pattern I'm playing.
If I think it's catchy or memorable, I think hard to make sure I'ts not the melody line of some other famous song (usually it is). If it is, I try to tweak it enough where its different, but still has that same "catchyness" factor.
Usually when the melody comes into my head, it comes in the form of a first line. Usually the first line of the first verse, but sometimes it's the chorus. The 2 strongest parts in your song has to be that first line, and the hook in the chorus. It's a little harder for me cause I'm not that great of a singer, so I need to write simple but memorable melody lines that I can handle with my limited range.
Sometimes when the chords and melody come, they're in the wrong key for me so I spend the time to find the key thats comfortable for me to sing in.
With the chords for whats presumably the verse and the first line of the song, I then try to fill out the rest of the song. With the melody line in my head, I write out lines that I think will fit with the song. After each line I try singing it and tweak it to make them fit.
Before the chorus, it's important to have escalators to get the listener pumped for the chorus. This can be done with a chord change that ends on a hanging 5th. The 5th begs for the main chord to come back and thats where you can hit it with the hook. If you listen to a lot of songs, right before the chorus, you'll notice things start to get louder or more filled. more instruments will be playing. Song writers do this so that the listener will subconsciously be pumped for the chorus and hook.
The Chorus and the hook is next and that is usually where I'm not that good. It's way easier to write hooks if you can actually sing. Writing a memorable hook that someone with no range is TOUGH. In the chorus, you need to change it up and make it sound memorable and different from the verses. A lot of beginning songwriters keep their choruses too similar to the verses. Change it up! Change chords if you have to. The chorus should sound distinctly different from the verses. The hook is the line that gets stuck in your head or that you find yourself humming. It's the proverbial "Money Shot" of the song. Most of the time, but not always its the first line of the chorus. Work on perfecting that hook.
After I figure out the chorus, I work on the 2nd verse in the same way I worked on the first. Then the bridge if necessary.
It also helps in songwriting to build your internal rhyming dictionary. Easy way to do this is to train yourself by saying a word, then trying to say all the rhyming words you can in 10 seconds.
Hope this helps! I'd like to hear other song writers writing process as well.
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