“How to Write a Song” by Allyson Jones Think back to the last time you heard your favorite song. You plant your headphones on, close your eyes, and completely immerse yourself in the music. You hang on to every word and every note, enchanted by the passionate vocals and addictive melodies. But have you ever wondered what really goes into making a song? Every Songwriter uses different methods to compose a song. In fact, if you were to type “how to write a song” in a Google search bar, you would get about 685 million results! When it comes to songwriting, the possibilities are endless. After years of trial and error, I’ve come up with a simple, four step process on how to write a song. This process strikes a perfect balance between …show more content…
Inspiration can strike at any time, so always be prepared to document your idea. This is where the recording device comes into play. The Inspiration usually comes in the form of a melody. When a melody hits you, its important to record it as soon as possible. There’s nothing worse than coming up with a great melody while sitting on a train, or driving in rush hour traffic, and having no way to document it, so be prepared! Don’t be afraid to hum the melody into your recording device, or sing it in gibberish. At this point, words are not important. Next, you need to build upon the melody. Decide what sort of vibe this melody portrays, and stick to it! Is it sad, happy, angry? Then use your instrument of choice, a guitar in my case, to make a sample melody for the song. I use the words “sample melody” because It will be subject to change, depending on the lyrics and structure of the song. You’ll need that pen and paper for this next step. The next step, and by far the most important, is to write the lyrics. Lyrics can make or break a song. Before writing the lyrics, it is important to ask questions: What are you trying to get across to the listener? What is the atmosphere of the song? Are you telling a story? Once you’ve answered these questions, you can develop the theme of your song. You also have to consider the structure. There are generally 4 components to a song: the verse, pre-chorus, chorus, and bridge. The opening line should grab the listener’s
The song that I chose to write about is “Now that we’re men” by Spongebob sSuarepants, The main topic in this song is that two young males have taken on a big challenge to prove that they are good enough to be called men. In this song Spongebob and Patrick are both going after the crown that Plankton stole from King Neptune. A few of the best quotes in the song are; “Get the crown save the town, and Mr.Krabs”, “ we’re tough enough to save the day now that we’re men, “they’ll pass the test and finish the quest for the crown”. The first quote is powerful because it shows how much them stepping up is meaning to the whole town and Mr.Krabs. The second quote is very meaningful because it is telling the listeners that once you become a man there
Listening to the lyrics of your favorite song you automatically start to have a connection with that song. Then the song starts to represent you and your life because of the lyrics. Some songs show about being a fighter,having freedom, or just being you. There's a billion of songs out there and there's a billion of people who connect with those songs. Usually the most common reason why some songs represent people is by their past experience. For me some songs represent me because I decided to follow my dreams,living in the moment, and get right back up.
For my song I have chosen to do “Forever” by Jeff Williams. Jeff Williams is a songwriter that has other musical abilities like being able to play keyboards, guitar, bass, and drums. He is also an Assistant Professor at Berklee College of Music. He wrote this song to accompany a death scene in a web series called Red vs. Blue in the year 2012. He wrote this song for Red vs. Blue because he was the company that makes these videos an official songwriter for the past 3 seasons of the show. It was song by Jeff Williams’s daughter Casey Lee Williams. Therefore the meaning and tone of the song is one that is both deep and significant to people of all ages.
Teacher will have students share out ideas and record all workable ideas on the board. Teacher will then facilitate discussion about which lyrics fit best together, and lastly help the class decide on their final 4 lyrics.
When words fail, music speaks. Music starts off as five lined, four spaced staff. The four spaces spell out the word face, F.A.C.E., which are the names of the notes. The five lines stand for: Every Good Boy Does Fine. Most people think an artist just write the words down, makes it rhyme and POOF!!, You have yourself some music. Although this is true, music has thousands upon thousands of creative steps you must take. There is a lot more to music, and a lot more I’m still learning though.
lyrics first and then create the melody. Once I have something there, I write the musical portion of the song.
I chose these songs for each event in my life because the music and lyrics made me feel that emotion I felt during those moments. For example, the 8th song “Keep Breathing” has this soothing beat to it that made me feel calm and I related to a moment where I started junior year because I had tell myself to take deep breaths and stay calm. Most of the songs have lyrics that represent my events which clearly gets the idea of the event across. I arranged the song in chronological order, from the first impactful moment to the most recent moment. I did this because each event shaped who I am and it build upon each moment.
When I was 14, I wrote my second song called “What Did I Do?” I believe. It was filled with teenage angst. Two years later, I looked at it again, and realized that it applied to more of my life then, than it did when I originally wrote it. All I knew was that I needed to be able to write more songs if I truly wanted to devote my life to Rock. Unfortunately, I struggled with writing at
When I was in fifth grade, I was caught between two worlds, playing a woodwind or string instrument. If I played a woodwind instrument I would have to blow in it to make music, but string instruments are played with a bow to make music. After much thought, I decided that the violin was the best instrument for me, because it has a beautiful, unique sound, plus the possibilities are never-ending. I could receive a compliment from a teacher, or even get accepted to the symphony.
This is a very crucial step to learning how to sing/rap a song. Without the lyrics you have no clue what you are saying. You are better of mumbling the song acting like you are singing/rapping along with the song. It is best to go on the internet and look up song lyrics. Read over the lyrics a couple times so it is easier to remember the song. After that play the song and try to sing/rap along while still looking at the lyrics. Once you are able to sing/rap along with the song while looking at the lyrics, try to sing/rap along with the song without the lyrics. This process is hard. Once it is easy to remember the song without the lyrics in front of you try to sing/rap the song without the words playing and without the lyrics in front of you. This is a hard step but, once you get the hang of it, it will be a piece of cake to sing/rap a song. For an example for the song “Soul Food” I looked up the lyrics to the song and started rapping it as soon as possible. I used this process to do
I know it’s just….not as easy as you think it is. I can’t just write a song just to write it. It has to make sense and better than a lot of this so called “music” these days.
Music; Indefinable by words alone. It is not only something you can hear but what you can feel. It is something your soul is able to reach out and touch. Music also has the power to bring us as humans, together. It is one language spoken by all cultures, sexes, races, age and religions. Music also controls our emotions; it makes us happy, sad, angry, relaxed, etc. We also can express ourselves through music. It can affect our personality.. someone who listens to classical, like Mozart or Bach, all the time is going to be smarter and more intellectual than someone who listens to rap or metal, and someone who listens to more upbeat happier music, like Ska or Swing, is more likely to
“I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music.” This famous quote said by Billy Joel does a good job describing the way music can affect people. Different songs can impact people, change their moods, or bring back memories related to a certain tune. Each person, however, has their own unique taste in music; one song can be loved by one but hated by another, it all depends on our personal taste and what we can relate to. This made me wonder, what does the music I listen to say about myself? Do the lyrics define who I am as a person, or do I simply like songs because of the beat? As I looked at my top ten playlist,
Ever since I was a small child, I have loved music. The strong, steady beats, the
So, the Element of culture that I find myself the most passionate about is Music. I say music because music I found in every culture. Music is what I believe in being part of human. There are literally hundreds different types of genres of music people listen to and millions of songs to listen to. A little about me, I personally find myself listen to rap music and old Rhythm and Blues. I come for a strong African American background family, where we have family get together, cookouts and just being close to your family. Most of the R&B songs tell a story. They talk about the black culture in good and also in bad ways. The R&B music I find myself listen to is more from my parent’s time. The music back during my parent’s child hood is a lot different than music today. One Major different is music back then had people playing the real instruments and sounds. I hear lectures from people from my parents’ generation how music today is terrible compared to their upcoming music. I personally feel music just changes because it adapts to people’s lifestyle and what they are going through. The Music Industry have always been dominant in society. If you think about every generation can remember listen to their favorite song growing up, and music can sometimes tell you all about yourself.