Another question I received lately was for me to elaborate on how I write down or record ideas for potential new songs. Everyone has their own methods, so you don't have to follow mine exactly, but here's a few things I'd recommend every songwriter does:
Starting from specifics
Singing: Record yourself singing your idea onto your phone
I know not everyone is comfortable hearing themselves sing in a recording, but the purpose of recording your idea is not to critique yourself, but to keep your idea on record. It'll take time to get comfortable, but remember: the idea doesn't need to sound perfect, as long as you know what you're working with when you come back to it later. I use an iPhone, so I'd use the Voice Memos app to record my ideas. I figure there should be an equivalent of that for other types of phones as well, so if that method interests you, be sure you have a voice memos app to work with.
Lyrics: Write down your lyric ideas on paper or onto your phone/laptop
For me, if I'm brainstorming a bunch of ideas for a song, I'd write them on paper on one page in a notebook I have designated for songwriting. Later, if I plan on fleshing out the list of ideas I have, I would turn to Google Docs and type them out there. I like using Google Docs because I can access it from both my phone or my laptop. That way, I can adjust them from a computer if I'm working on my DAW or access it if I need to check them. When I record my vocals, I would pull up the lyrics on my phone in the Google Docs app. Sometimes a few phrases or words I wrote in my brainstorming session would make it to see my "condensed" version on Google Docs, and sometimes, the final song. Usually I tend to make up more ideas as I'm working on finalizing my lyrics, but I use my brainstormed lyrics as a guideline for myself.
Melody/Chord progression: Record yourself playing an instrument (and sing over it if necessary)
I understand not every musician can play an instrument, but in my case, I like to do my songwriting in my room or somewhere where I usually have an instrument handy. Lately, I'd record my ideas on guitar since it's more convenient for me. But if I'm around a piano or keyboard, I would use that as an outlet for constructing my ideas. With guitar, I feel like it's easier to choose chords to work with, but piano gives me more freedom and versatility. Everyone has their own interpretations of their instrument of choice, so you're welcome to choose whatever you feel works best for the ideas you have in mind. If you're someone who doesn't play an instrument or doesn't have access to one, another option you can use is your DAW. Start with a simple drum beat or a few notes from a synth instrument you think fits your idea.
Vocal melody: Draw out your melody on midi
Usually this is when I have an instrumental to work with and I'm working on putting vocals over it. Most of the time, I'd have an instrumental first before I start thinking about lyrics and a vocal melody, which I usually construct together. I try to make my melodies sound as natural to speaking as possible with the way I format the notes in relationship to the syllables of the words. Put simply, I put a higher note on the syllable with more emphasis so it flows better. For example, the word "plastic" has more emphasis on the first syllable: "PLA-stic". In that case, when making my melody, I would make the first note higher and the second note lower to better fit the word I'm putting over it. But I digress.
I'm a visual learner, so I like to see diagrams and charts to help me better follow along with any sort of lesson I'm watching or reading. Similarly with music, it helps if I can see the melody I'm writing, as well as hearing it. I would use a default sine wave instrument as my melody guide (the instrument choice was a tip I received from a collaborator) so it's easy to hear over the song. I find it helps to have the melody in my DAW as well as the instrumental so I can easily adjust it as necessary, just like any other instrument in my song. Sometimes I make last-second adjustments to my lyrics and/or melody during my recording stages, but even then, I'd have the melody (and lyrics) readily available on me so I can adjust it as needed.
Starting from scratch
If you have an idea, record it asap!
You'd be surprised how easy it is to forget your ideas unless you try really hard to hold onto them. Inspiration can strike at any time, so it helps to have a notebook or your phone readily available when you get an idea. Preferably your phone would be helpful, so you can either write a lyric idea onto your notes app or record a melody idea into your voice memos.
Start sloppy, fix it later
If you're doing a brainstorming session for your ideas, don't feel pressured to have something perfect right away. You have plenty of time to come back to your idea later. But it does help to have something to work with, as it can be weeks, months, or even years until you decide to revisit your idea. Refurbishing your idea can be saved for when you have enough of a foundation to build off of.
This can sometimes depend on the order you feel comfortable building a song, whether you have lyrics or an instrumental first. It could be more than just that too. Maybe all you have is a simple melody! It doesn't have to be perfect, but it can give you enough room to add onto it or adjust it until you feel it's better or ready for finalizing.
Pick apart/analyze other songs
Sometimes I'd get a song idea of my own simply from listening to another song. Sometimes if I'm stuck on a song I'm working on, I'd listen to a few songs I like that fit the idea I have in mind, or I'd look up a playlist of songs under the genre I'm trying to compose under. I would begin to compose patterns that I see as my interpretation of what I just heard. You don't want it to be as stereotypical as possible to the genre unless you're happy with it. What gives artists their uniqueness against others is their own style in composing, writing, singing, etc. so creative freedom is highly encouraged!
As a rare occasion if I'm really stuck, I would put a song into my DAW and begin to replicate some of the patterns myself. I'd listen for specific instruments and patterns and re-draw them on MIDI. But then I would change it. This is a BIG key factor I recommend if you decide to follow this method. It's nice to take inspiration from other songs, as long as you don't rip the patterns and ideas verbatim. Otherwise you could get into pretty big trouble with copyright, or your listeners could immediately tell you're copying another artist. So long story short, use your ears to pick apart what makes a song jive with you, and create your own spin of it.
start with a theme and build from there
Sometimes I may have more than one song with the same concept, so I try to make each one unique in some way. That'll be unavoidable for any music artist to write about a concept more than once, but as long as there's something that sets apart one song from the other, you're in the clear. If that's the case for me, I find it's easier to create distinction in these songs if I consider it building pieces of a full puzzle or telling sections of a whole story. Namely, concept albums.
As of when I'm writing this post, I have two rough concept album ideas in mind that I've been slowly chipping away at. Even now with my first album in progress, I find it's actually pretty often something seems to overlap between two of my songs, so I shape my instrumentals and lyrics carefully to create some contrast. I have two angry rock songs that call out a certain group of people. One is an already-released single (Appetite), one is in my work-in-progress album. Appetite calls out people-pleasers who are living a life starved for attention. My unreleased song is about influencers or leaders who rally up their audience into blindly believing or acting on things that only benefit said influencer. Some can argue these themes are similar, in that both are about being angry at someone for being excessively selfish and prideful. Both of these concepts did stem from a similar idea at two different times. But in my lyrics, I put more emphasis on different aspects. Appetite directly calls out the subject of my anger, while my other song calls out how the subject manipulates their audience. I wrote the unreleased song from the perspective of the underdogs. Put in some contrast that makes your song unique and sets it apart against other songs you're used to hearing.
Put your emotions into words
Songs feel more authentic if they're relatable or easy to understand the perspective it was written in. We as humans all have emotions. That's something we all have in common. What drives the direction I take in songwriting comes down mainly to the emotions I feel. A nasty breakup? I feel disgusted and betrayed. Injustice? I feel determined to make things right. Losing control? I feel overwhelmed. Once you have a scenario in mind, focus on how it would make you feel if you were living out what you have in mind. What would you say to this hypothetical person who hurt your feelings or makes you feel complete? What would you do if you lost the people you loved? How would you react if the entire world around you changed? Write it all down. Let your emotions be your fuel.
Take your life experiences and write about them
My last point easily ties into this one. Writing about your emotions helps to provide plenty to work with for a song, but I find it works better if you have something specific to work off of, and what better way than to let your own life be an inspiration for you? You would understand the concepts the most since you lived through it, and you can easily recall the emotions that you felt during the moment you're writing about. It's a pretty good deal if you ask me.
Take inspiration from media
The entire genre of nerdcore is solely grounded in writing music based on video games, novels, shows/movies, etc. Don't be afraid to write a song based on something that inspired you from a book you read or a video you watched. Your song may not have to be specifically about the direct source of your inspiration, but it could at the very least fuel your momentum for creating a song. So if you're lacking in ideas, maybe take some time to discover something a new piece of media to sink your teeth into!
Do your research
Something I like to tell my audience as a life tip is to never stop learning. The only way you can get better at something is by continuing to practice and learn how you can improve. I still come back to some masterclass videos I have saved, or still go through some textbooks I got and highlight some important points. I've taken a lot of interactive and non-interactive online classes.
So do some research of your own! Watch some YouTube videos or talk to content creator friends to ask for advice. Read some online posts or books on songwriting, take a MasterClass, the list goes on. Having an entire archive of research to come back to always helps to remind you of things you needed to know or to teach you new things you didn't. Hold onto everything you research. Take notes. Save useful websites to your Favorites on your browser. Buy some books of your own. The research pays off so much. Maybe it'll help inspire a song idea too!
Plan a structure in your song
Let's say you're talking to a friend about a funny story that happened to you earlier today. You'd want to set it up in a way that makes the story punchier and more memorable. You would start with your beginning: the mellow low-stakes setup to your story. You'd continue with building a rise to the punchline, by setting the scene of what changes the expected and ordinary. Then you deliver the punchline, probably laughing to yourself as you do. It's just that emotionally impactful on you, and you hope it is to the friend you tell it to. Similarly, you want your song to have a structure that makes it more memorable and impactful.
Typically in songs, a chorus is the most memorable part of a song and that part that listeners can recall the most upon hearing a song for the first time. In that case, you want your chorus to be the main takeaway for your listeners. Everyone has their own style of songwriting, but typically, this is something along the lines of what artists follow:
Verse 1: introduce your listeners to the message of your song, begin your story
Pre-Chorus (optional): set your listeners up to transition into the "bigger picture" of the song
Chorus: main message, summarizes meaning of your song
Verse 2: continuation of verse 1 or a separate adaptation of your verse that also sets up for the chorus
Bridge: taking a step back from your message, questioning if there's something more or something deeper to your message
Final chorus: you may sometimes change the lyrics in your chorus or expand it. Give your listeners something to take with them here along with your message. What else could you add to add impact to your chorus?
Having a structure in mind even before you start writing a song helps you to better flesh out your ideas. The more specific, the more you have to work with.
Just. Write.
One tip I learned online from a content creator I follow is that she suggested sitting down in front of a notebook with a pen or pencil and taking 7 minutes straight to just write. It doesn't have to make sense, the goal is for you to just braindump anything you can think of. Let your thoughts run wild. It doesn't matter what you're thinking about, even if it seems insignificant. Go as crazy as you want. Once your 7 minutes are over or the page is filled, then you can sort through what you have. Even if what you wrote seems pretty shallow and irrelevant, it might connect to you more if you deeply analyze it and read between the lines. You'd be surprised what your subconscious can do.
Journaling
This also sort of ties into my point in writing about your life experiences, but I find over time it's harder to remember specific events in the past unless I journaled it. In your writing, try to be as deep and personal as you can, and think of it like talking to a close friend you deeply trust. The pages don't judge you. Write about what made your day. Write about something that made you angry. Write about your deepest fears. Write about how much you love someone or something. Looking back through your journal entries is like reading a novel about your own life. It can also help you to better recall something you experienced, and it might just be worth writing about.
That's about all I got for now! I'd be happy to add more if anyone would be interested in seeing or sharing their own methods. Hope this is able to help you start or better organize your songwriting. Happy writing! :)
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