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Noise Trade | Songwriting Tip Of The Week | How To Write A Song

Learn How To Write Lyrics To A Song

It would be great to really write a great hit song but the chance is pretty slim. But that is OK, because any one of us can write a great song and even have that song reach thousands of people..So go for it, don’t take the all or nothing approach to your songwriting.

So today, I'm going to share with you how I write lyrics, what motivates me, what keeps inspiring me to write lyrics and learn all the songwriting tips I have, even listening to a lot of singer songwriters that inspired my song composition..

Here are the 8 easy steps in songwriting:

1. Take action.

With so much in life, songwriting starts with a simple, single step. You have a song idea. Start working on it. Picture yourself singing that song to a crowded venue, or opening up for your favorite musician, or playing the special song you wrote on your wedding day. Get the picture, then get to it. Make a goal of writing 2 new songs a week (or whatever makes sense for you). Don’t be afraid to push yourself. Remember, don’t worry about each song being a gem, but the activity moves you closer to that one “great” song.

2. Be A Student of Songwriting.

Then the next step is to listen and learn about great songs. But not just in your personal genre (although it is good to learn what works for your favorite style), but you should also learn to play the songs and get a feel for the structure and the song craft used to make those songs great in all genre.

3. Don’t get intimidated by theory.

The reality is the more you commit to developing your music theory knowledge, the more you will be able to explore your ideas in different lights. One great way to develop is to buy the song books of the artists (not just downloading the TAB) and see and dissect the actual score to see and identify what is happening when. Here are a list of songbooks to utilize in your lyrics writing and song structure.

4. Don’t miss the moment

With all the cool apps out there on our phones you should be able to come up with something to quickly record and store your song ideas when they come. Another one I use a lot is a quick video in You Tube. I simply sing, play my song and give myself commentary on what the song is about etc...

5. Work on writing better lyrics.

I have been learning a lot of great songwriting and lyric writing techniques from Robin Frederick’s book “Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting”. Whenever I am stuck lyrically, I can flip through her book and find an exercise or “tips” as she calls them and get my creative juices going again. It has helped me a lot. You can also hear my Podcast interview with Robin Frederick at how to write a song Podcast

6. Think through your song structure.

Again, this is where learning from others can be really helpful. Do what others have done. You build on top of what is already working for someone else. Of course don’t plagiarize, but this is a common technique that can teach you a ton about good song structure. A common structure I use is Musical Intro Verse 1, Chorus, Verse 2, Chorus, Bridge, Chorus End.

7. Enjoy the process and learn from it.

You might ask someone directly to give you their first impressions of a song you wrote (tell them it’s a work in progress, and you need some outside ears to help you see where to go with it)..

8. Rinse and Repeat

Write often and write consistently. Also, considering joining online music or singer songwriter community like How To Write A Song Facebook to give and get good feedback.

Okay, so those are all my songwriting tips in teaching you how to write lyrics or how to write a song and hope it help you in one way or another boost up your self esteem to really write and write and write. Practice makes perfect and starting to write lyrics now is an initial step to your music career. If you want to learn more about songwriting tips, visit me here.

Also, here's a cool video tutorial for you. It's about learning to write a song using the G walk.

Will keep you posted for more updates on how to write a song/how to write lyrics...Have a great day