How to Start Songwriting? Tips for Beginners

Whether you have just started or have already written a couple of songs on your own, it is always a good idea to take a closer look at the songwriting process.

Writing a song with creative lyrics and memorable melodies is a challenge on its own. Even the most experienced songwriters go through difficulty, or experience writer’s block. It is especially hard for beginners as they have no clue where to start from.

To help you crack the code for songwriting, here are some great tips from some of the most experienced songwriters themselves. This guide will help you start on your own and become a seasoned songwriter in no time.

Let’s start with the songwriting tools -

The first thing you need to do to start your songwriting journey is gather all the tools. Keep them accessible and handy so that you can use them whenever the time presents itself.

    • Select the instrument

The best songwriting always involves some kind of instrument. The most popular instrument to write a song on is always a guitar or a piano. However, if you are someone who does not play any instrument, you can always use the tracks. For example, you can start with a beat in Pro Tools or Logic. You can also use free tools such as GarageBand. In these tools, you will find all kinds of different bass grooves, percussion samples,  keyboard sounds, and more. The possibilities here are truly endless, especially for a beginner. Another tip would be to pick up an instrument that you don't usually play. It can be a ukulele or a mandolin to mess around and see what lyrics you can come up with. The best instrument for you would be anything that inspires you to write a song!

    • Gather your ideas

The next step would be to keep all your ideas in one place. For this, you need to have your phone, a notebook, tablet, or any other recording device handy at all times. Then you need to centralize and organize everything, as much as you can. This would help you so you don’t have to reach out for napkins, sticky notes, or even the backs of envelopes before you sit down by yourself or others to write a song. This will also help you save a lot of disappointments or even headaches.

Pick a theme to start

A concept or a theme in songwriting refers to the main idea of the song. For example, you can write a song about love, heartbreak, partying, or traveling, there needs to be an unifying idea. You might be thinking that these themes are pretty overused. You would probably find a song for every scenario that goes with every possible feeling of scenario. Songwriters write songs on these themes because they tend to get very popular. Audiences, on the other hand, love these tracks because they can relate to them. As a songwriter, it is your job to make old themes feel like new. You can make these themes your own by bringing your unique perspective and adding surprising twists from your end.

The theme you choose becomes the very foundation of the song. Sure, you can have exciting lyrics or even catchy melodies, but if the theme is not intriguing your song will not be popular among music lovers. So, start with a concept or an idea for the track, something you want to sing about. It can be a story, an idea that you want to explore further, or even a title. It also can be from your own experience. The best advice would be here to always observe situations, people, their feelings, and how they react. Some of the great songwriters are diligent about having their ideas organized and ready to go before they enter a room.

Also Read: Bob Dylan: The Greatest Songwriter Ever

Choose the structure

If you are looking for a plan to write a song, its structure is going to be it. You can think of a song structure like a frame that you would like to hang on the walls of your house. However, before you start writing, make sure your songwriting goals are very clear. Are you writing the track for yourself or you are looking for commercial success? Do not think that any of these two are better than each other. Having a clear goal before you start writing is only necessary because it has the potential to radically change the structure of the record.

An example of a standard song structure is -

    • Verse 1

    • Pre-chorus

    • Chorus

    • Verse 2

    • Pre-chorus

    • Chorus

    • Solo or instrumental section

    • Bridge (or another verse)

    • Final chorus

    • Outro

These above-mentioned pieces are interchangeable. For example, you can leave out the second pre-chorus on the second verse and go straight into the chorus. You will see the first pre-chorus becoming the bridge a lot of time. There is truly a lot of room for your creativity to shine. After you have structured the track, you are finally ready to move to writing the lyrics.

The lyrics drafting

The strong lyrics always start with the idea or concept for the song. Some writers are most inspired when the concept is intriguing. On the other hand, if the concept is weak, great lyrics will not come out. The process of developing song lyrics will vary for each track. However, one really good advice is to point the lyrics back to the general theme of the song. Sometimes, the hook is literally the last line of the chorus or even the song’s title.

Another piece of advice would be to always remember that whatever lyrics you are writing are helping you get to the end line of the chorus. You can also work backward from the ends of the song’s verses. It surely does not always work this way, but if you are stuck anywhere, this might help you out. Look at the last lines in the second verse and then at the first pre-chorus. Here, you can ask yourself what would be the best line to go into this chorus. Often this is the line that people end up remembering the best because it is the last line before you start with a new section from the song.

The last step of the process would be to create the melodies. You can start with the simple nursery rhymes at the beginning then work around them. You need to remember that lyrics do not always come first, sometimes creating a melody first would inspire you to write a song too!