Draft:How to write a song

Songwriting is the process by which someone creates either lyrics for a song and/or the music itself.

Songwriting can be very intimidating for new songwriters, and many struggle to make it past the 3 minute mark. The purpose of this guide is to help new songwriters through that block. Keep in mind, there is no "correct" way to write a song.

Before beginning
Think about the following:


 * Are you in a, or are you a ?
 * What are you?
 * What instrumentation do you want?
 * How complex do you want the song to be?

After thinking about those, think about what you want the song to be about? Most songs are generally about:


 * Personal experiences (being poor, being heartbroken)
 * Emotions
 * A fictional story
 * A fictional story

Structure
With an idea of what the song is going to sound like, start out thinking of a short, catchy melody. This will be called the, or chorus. It is the line or set of lines that repeat and seldom change throughout the song. You may also optionally write an opening, or an (intro for short) that usually resembles the chorus. Then, think of a longer melody. This will be called the. The verses, while they repeat through the song, almost always change throughout the song. They contain a few lines that progress the story of the song forward. Then, feel free to experiment in the. The bridge is an optional portion of the song typically after the last verse and before the last chorus, but this is not always the case. The bridge does not typically sound like the rest of the song. It may change key (such as in ', from to ), change vocalists and instruments, and may even include a.

There is no one song structure, but the most common are:


 * Intro
 * Verse
 * Chorus
 * Verse
 * Chorus
 * Bridge
 * Chorus

and


 * Intro
 * Chorus
 * Verse
 * Chorus
 * Bridge
 * Chorus