How do you write a song?

[Music-N-Yarn]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

For vocal music, my best and easiest songs come when I have a story first. From there I can reduce the story into salient events or facts. Next, I need a chord structure. With those components I can choose and arrange the facts or events into some order and seek to make the groups of facts or events into rhyming blocks that can be organized into verses. Somewhere in there a salient, memorable impression becomes the central emotional point of the story and I can fashion a refrain around it.

Then it gets the velvet hammer treatment as I shape it into something useful by reduction and streamlining.

Bob

Ah. This speaks the most sense to my word happy heart. Create a story. Blather on and on to my hearts content. Reduce and rearrange into song verses and maybe chorus. I will try a variety of writing methods, but this already speaks to me. Thank you.

[Music-N-Yarn]

Originally Posted by Snorse

It's a very personal thing, I think. As such I can only tell you what I do.

Thank you for your input. Creating anything is very personal, and no two people go about it exactly the same way. I felt completley clueless when it came to how to write a song. Knew there had to be 1,000,000 and one ways to do it, so I came here for ideas. Grateful for all the ideas.

[cliff_the_stiff]

I’m not terribly practiced at wordsmithing.
But musically, my songs start organically with one or two chords that sound interesting to me. I play around combinations of the voicings of those two chords until I find the sound or change I can A: play, B:repeat (sometimes something will sound awesome on accident and the technical skills to recreate it are beyond me. This of course is what motivated good bands like Rush- writing things they couldn’t yet play, but it hinders me.)
From those interesting changes I found, I then seek the third and fourth chords, and so on until I can loop the progression.
The initial chords I started with may end up an afterthought or not even used. But the process usually leads to thing that sound like songs that I play around the house...

[Chipotle]

Originally Posted by Music-N-Yarn

Ah. This speaks the most sense to my word happy heart. Create a story. Blather on and on to my hearts content. Reduce and rearrange into song verses and maybe chorus. I will try a variety of writing methods, but this already speaks to me. Thank you.

You may have heard that "80% of writing is editing". That's true of prose, poetry or music. I some up with dozens of lines for most songs that end up getting tossed out. I will often make lists of a dozen words for a particular line, either that rhyme or synonyms, looking for exactly the right one. Make up "throwaway lines" just to fill space temporarily until I find something better (and then it sticks in the final version because I never did ). Some times whole verses or choruses get written and then trashed.

The process can take weeks, months or years. When you finally stumble across the perfect word or phrase, you are left wondering, "Why didn't I think of that three weeks ago?!"

I think some people have visions of songwriters just having these amazing works of art just flow out of them. Not so. It's work, at least for most of us.

[Mr. Jelly]

Originally Posted by Music-N-Yarn

How do you take a phrase or thought, and turn it into a song?

The easiest way to start with what you've stated is to marry them to a scene or a story that you are familiar with. Otherwise the end result will be empty words put together to be cute or entertaining. The listener will feel the lack of sincerity.

[tdq]

Oh it's easy!! I come up a new song about once a decade.
Actually I kind have given up on being able to write songs - I just can't seem to do it. I prefer to be an "interpreter".
But there's some interesting stuff in this thread, it's been about a decade I might just give it another go.

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by Music-N-Yarn

Since I am doing this purely for my own enjoyment, I can not imagine forcing the process.

Understood. But that doesn't mean it shouldn't be work. Doing it right and editing and refining is ultimately very fulfilling. Even if it isn't, strictly speaking, "fun."

[woodbox]

WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN !!!

If you have a thought, or a phrase, or a rhyme, WRITE IT!!

Don’t think you will remember it.
Don’t think it’s no good or doesn’t fit.

Seriously, write out everything, and keep it in a notebook or a shoebox.
Gather fragments, pieces, words you like the sound of, anything that comes to mind .. write it and keep it, don’t throw anything away.
Sometimes a line you thought was worthless becomes just what you need a week later. (or a year later)

Editing and arranging comes later, but get some raw material on paper to work with.

There’s a lot more I could say, as well as agree with a lot that’s been said above,
but I cannot over-emphasize my point here as the single biggest factor to facilitate my songwriting.

[Music-N-Yarn]

Originally Posted by cliff_the_stiff

I’m not terribly practiced at wordsmithing.
But musically, my songs start organically...

Thank you for your input.

[Music-N-Yarn]

Originally Posted by Chipotle

You may have heard that "80% of writing is editing". That's true of prose, poetry or music. I some up with dozens of lines for most songs that end up getting tossed out. I will often make lists of a dozen words for a particular line, either that rhyme or synonyms, looking for exactly the right one. Make up "throwaway lines" just to fill space temporarily until I find something better (and then it sticks in the final version because I never did ). Some times whole verses or choruses get written and then trashed.

The process can take weeks, months or years. When you finally stumble across the perfect word or phrase, you are left wondering, "Why didn't I think of that three weeks ago?!"

I think some people have visions of songwriters just having these amazing works of art just flow out of them. Not so. It's work, at least for most of us.

Songwriting is work. No questions there. I am hoping practice makes it easier, eventually. I have been wrong before though.

[Music-N-Yarn]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

The easiest way to start with what you've stated is to marry them to a scene or a story that you are familiar with. Otherwise the end result will be empty words put together to be cute or entertaining. The listener will feel the lack of sincerity.

Agree 100%. Write what you know about, to best connect with your listener.

[Music-N-Yarn]

Originally Posted by tdq

Oh it's easy!! I come up a new song about once a decade.
Actually I kind have given up on being able to write songs - I just can't seem to do it. I prefer to be an "interpreter".
But there's some interesting stuff in this thread, it's been about a decade I might just give it another go.

Sounds like it is time to write a song.

[Music-N-Yarn]

Originally Posted by Brent Hahn

Understood. But that doesn't mean it shouldn't be work. Doing it right and editing and refining is ultimately very fulfilling. Even if it isn't, strictly speaking, "fun."

Don't doubt it is work, but there is fun work, and then there is work work. Making music, versus day job in the multi story cubicle farm. Can you tell I am thoroughly enjoying my temporary work from home days?

[Music-N-Yarn]

Originally Posted by woodbox

WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN !!!

Probably the most often read bit of advice I have seen. Working on it.

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by Music-N-Yarn

Ah. This speaks the most sense to my word happy heart. Create a story. Blather on and on to my hearts content. Reduce and rearrange into song verses and maybe chorus. I will try a variety of writing methods, but this already speaks to me. Thank you.

I do a lot of writing as you can see over on my website. I will admit to being a bit verbose, and must always find a way to dismiss my excess friends (words). I take seriously the way musician/producer/missile defense analyst Jeff Baxter was described in Guitar Player Magazine back in the late '70s:

"Poet, Producer, Reducer."

Bob