How to Write a Song

Choose a title for your song. It sounds counter-intuitive, but thinking about potential titles is one of the simplest ways to come up with song ideas. Listen and find catchy or concise phrases in TV shows, movies, books and daily conversations, then write them down in a notebook or save them on your phone. You can also wait to set the song title after you have completed the melody and lyrics. You won’t know which headline would be better, so do what feels most comfortable to you. ^[8]

• The song title suggests questions. Then the lyrics will answer all those questions at the end of the song. ^[9]
• For example: The song title “Heartbreak Hotel” asks the questions, “What is a hotel of suffering?” “What happened there?” And “Where is it located?” Elvis answered all of these questions in his lyrics. ^[10]

Compose a hook for your song. In a song, the hook is the catchy melody that will penetrate your brain and make you remember forever, and the hook is often used as the title of the song. Combine ideas and tunes until you feel right. If you already have a list of title ideas, sing along to different tunes to see if any of them perform a special function as a hook. ^[11]

• The hook in Lady Gaga’s song “Bad Romance” is “Rah rah ah-ah-ah! / Ro mah ro-mah-mah / Gaga oh-la-la! / Want your bad romance.” ^[12]
• The hook in Carly Rae Jepsen’s song “Call Me Maybe” is “Hey, I just met you and this is crazy/But here’s my number, so call me maybe.” ^[13]
• The hook in Neil Diamond’s song “Sweet Carpine” is “Sweet Carpine.” ^[14]

Create the chorus around the hook. Sometimes the hook can act as the entire chorus. Occasionally, the hook is just one part and usually comes at the beginning or end of the chorus. Either way, the chorus should usually cover more than the main lyrics. Use your chorus as a way to summarize the song’s themes without going into specifics. ^[15]

• For example, the chorus in Carly Simon’s “You are So Vain” is about the subject’s pride and is the theme of the song, but doesn’t elaborate on why the subject is so arrogant. ^[16]

Write the main lyrics based on the themes conveyed in the chorus. Accordingly, the main lyrics should express strong, specific symbols and clear patterns based on the overarching themes conveyed in your chorus. ^[17]

• For example, in the first segment of “You’re So Vain,” Carly Simon sang “You had one eye in the mirror/As you watched yourself gavotte” to verify the subject’s arrogance with a specific model. ^[18]

Write two more main lyrics that have the same tune as the first. Once the first lyrics were written, it was fairly easy to complete the next two parts in a short amount of time. When building new content, the next two parts of the lyrics should be written in the same melodious and lyrical tones as the first part. ^[19]

Determine if you want to add a transition to your song. Like the chorus, the transition is sung only once and portrays the themes of the song in a fresher way. You should use transitions to make your song more interesting by singing new lyrics with a new scale or with different chords in the same scale. ^[20]

• Make sure the transition has the same lyrics as the lyrics in the chorus. You should not introduce new details. ^[21]
• You might also consider using the transition as an opportunity to solo an instrument if you want to showcase your skills with your own instrument. ^[22]

Specify the final structure of the song. The most common song structure used today is Main lyrics / Chorus part / Main lyrics / Chorus part / Transition part / Chorus part. However, you are free to experiment with this structure based on what works best for your song. Record the elements that have been created and tested by swapping positions and repeating a few elements, and so on, until you feel the right structure. ^[23]

• Some genres use specific song structures. For example, EDM electronic dance music often uses the structure Intro / Main lyrics / Chorus / Transition / Main lyrics / Chorus / Main lyrics / Chorus / Transition / Part Chorus / Ending. ^[24]

Mix instruments together to create a fuller sound. Once you’ve written the song, you can add instruments like drums, bass guitar, and electric keyboards to convey and accentuate the melody. Other instruments should be played with the same tone and tempo number that you have predefined. ^[25]

• If you don’t know how to play other instruments, try recording a frame on your computer, then using music software like Ableton or GarageBand to add new elements to the song.

Practice your song until you memorize the lyrics. Start practicing each part of the song separately until you know all the parts. Then, keep putting all the pieces together in the correct order until you can masterfully transition from one segment to the next without thinking. ^[26]