nerd4lifee Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 So I've been asked by my guitar teacher to write a song - it doesn't have to be fantastic, just in general a song :P I was wondering if anyone had any tips for how to write a song (i.e. melody, chords, key signature, lyrics, etc ..) :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olivia_D Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Ew, my teacher made me do that and I completely FAILED! I feel sorry for you (unless you are talented at song writing, unlike myself). Good luck with that! ~one note though; find a good title and don't get too nervous about it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerd4lifee Posted March 24, 2011 Author Share Posted March 24, 2011 oh okay haha thanks :) still though, like i can never come up with anything and i don't want to fail D: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noog Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Here's my two cents (I play guitar and piano): For the lyrics, write them when you are feeling really happy/sad and just put your emotions on the paper. :) For chords, I usually just start off with one chord and then wing it until it sounds good. :P You didn't mention what instrument you play. :) As for key signature, it should really just go with how up-beat you want the song to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerd4lifee Posted March 24, 2011 Author Share Posted March 24, 2011 lol my guitar teacher asked me to write a song :P and true, I never thought of that! Thanks :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emily Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 I can pen lyrics until the cows come home, as long as I already have a melody in my head. Find out what works best for you, whether it's instrumental first and then adding words, or writing the music to fit the lyrics. Some lucky people can do both at the same time. post back when you're done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerd4lifee Posted March 24, 2011 Author Share Posted March 24, 2011 I shall! It has to be done for next week Tuesday so I should probably actually get on that .............................................. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noog Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 lol my guitar teacher asked me to write a song :P Sorry. xD Completely missed that bit... Anyways, It's really easy to make a catchy song with only a couple of chord positions moving up/down with slight variations. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephoniekali Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Ah that is so cool and so hard at the same time. I had to do that in a music class years ago, but ... I didn't do so well. I would LOVE to be able to write songs, but it doesn't seem like its in the cards for me. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manta Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Ooh, that's fun!! :D My advice, is to first write the lyrics as a poem. Keep a consistent rhythm, or at least have a rhythmic pattern. (so like maybe your verses are four lines with 6 syllables each line, and the chorus has shorter lines) Then, look at popular songs. A lot of them, you can play with the same four chords (C G Am F is popular), so pick a chord progression you like (major progression if your song is happy, minor if it's more sad as a general rule) Since I'm assuming as a guitarist, you know how to play basic chords, strum around with the chord progression. Fit the lyrics to the chords in a way that you like it. Mess around a bit. I'm no expert on song writing, and I don't really know any music theory, but I know how to play some guitar chords and how to sing to chords. That's all you gotta do, basically. For example, a week or so ago, I watched the song Friday, and was like, wow, I can totally write a better song about my life in five minutes. So I started out with lyrics, then sang them to a random melody I made up on the spot. Then, I played around with a chord progression, stuck a capo on the first fret of my guitar, and turned it into this: Rough draft of the song, WARNING STRONG LANGUAGE Excuse my vocal quality, it was just a test for the melody that I recorded at like midnight :P I might record a better version eventually with a harmony and violin part, but I haven't gotten around to it. :) Anyway, tl;dr songwriting is fun. Just mess around with it. Listen to other music for inspiration. Play around with things. Write catchy lyrics. If you find yourself humming/singing your song, you've got something good!! :D Hope that helps a bit! ^_^ disclaimer: I have absolutely no training in guitar, singing, songwriting, or music theory. I'm taking violin lessons for the first time this year after having played for more than 10 years :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerd4lifee Posted March 24, 2011 Author Share Posted March 24, 2011 Noog - that's completely okay! lol everyone misses thigns ;) and thanks! I'll keep that in mind :) Persephoniekali - thanks so much :3 it's needed! :P Manta - great advice, thanks so much! I'm sure all of you and your advice will be very helpful! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manta Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Glad it helped! I'm working on writing another song currently...I might post it if I like how it turns out :P You should post your song when you're done too!! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerd4lifee Posted March 25, 2011 Author Share Posted March 25, 2011 oh sounds great! and i will .... wait as long as i don't have to put it on youtube lol xD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manta Posted March 26, 2011 Share Posted March 26, 2011 oh sounds great! and i will .... wait as long as i don't have to put it on youtube lol xD Just use Picosong to upload it, like I did :) Or you could make a private Youtube video, that people could only see if they have the direct link :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nerd4lifee Posted March 27, 2011 Author Share Posted March 27, 2011 oh good idea! maybe I'll do that :) update: wooooooooooooow ............... I haven't done anything for my song yet! I'm such a bad procrastinator D: UPDATE AGAIN!: I wrote the song (no lyrics or melody, just the base). I'd post it, but I can't figure out how, because it's a wma file! I'll get it up as soon as I can :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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