How To Write A Song - Part 2 - Turning Inspiration Into a Song

In the previous part in this series we talked about the creative process, how to get inspired, authenticity and establishing a goal for the song.

Now we're moving on to more hands on songwriting. Once you have your goal and have been inspired to start writing there are numerous ways forward to making that song really great. I'm going to explore some of these with you in this post.

You're always right
Before I go any further, remember this: Always follow what you think is best, always choose the path that you feel will bring the best result and use your emotions to guide you right. If an idea or path feels bad to you, leave it be. If an idea or path feel good to you, just go ahead and walk that road. This means that you only take from this post what feels good to you and leave the rest. Everyone is different and not every way works as well for some as for others.

Moving forward

So you're hyped about this idea that you have and can't wait to start making it real, turning inspiration into an actual song. At this point you may feel excited and full of anticipation of what's to come. This one of the most fulfilling parts of writing a song; creation. Second to this is the actual completion and playing it for other people.

Let go
As I said above; let your emotions guide you. I'm going to push this point across again. For you to really be guided by your inspiration you need to let go of your logical thinking (don't worry, it will come back, and you will need it later) and let the inspirational flow be the creator.

Let's say you're sitting with your instrument and just playing around (which is actually where the best ideas come from). Try keeping yourself from thinking about what you're playing and just play and sing, sing and play. Just let your voice and fingers do the job (assuming your instrument needs fingers) and see what comes out of it. Remember that nothing is wrong here. If you feel shy in what comes out of it, go to a private room where you can be alone and then just let it go. At this time it is invaluable to have some sort of audio recorder to catch all your ideas so that you don't have to think and remember. This way, when you're done, you can sit down and relax and just listen to all the ideas that you came up with.

At this point you can pick the parts that you feel good about and leave the rest. Put the rest in a "library" which you can come back to later or for another song.

Using your ideas
So now you're sitting there with a bunch of ideas and want to use them in this new song that you're creating. Listen to them, play them again and decide how you could use each part. Some ideas might be suitable for the chorus, some for a verse, bridge or intro. Wherever you put them, this is the time when you start tying things together.

In the end, some of these ideas may be really awesome, but they might not fit the song and you will have to take a decision to leave them for now and usethem in another song. But remember to record them so that you don't forget. You will feel that it's pretty nice to have a library of ideas to listen to, if not as a complete usable idea, at least it will be an inspiration.

Song structure

There are a few ways to build a song, a few different structures, and you need to have an understanding of each section of the song. Every section has different aims and powers and if put together in a well composed way then the most will be brought out and also be feeling like a song that's coherent instead of a mishmash of parts.

The most common part types are verse, chorus, bridge, pre-chorus, intro, middle eight and solo. There are others but these are the ones that we need to focus on right now.

Song structure - Intro
The intro brings us from nothing and into the song. Often it's a buildup of instruments where only one or a few instruments start off and then more are added. If we're talking about music from a sales perspective then this is the part that needs to catch the listeners attention. If this is not done then some might move on to another song. Keeping the listener interested is vital. Decide whether you're making music with the goal of getting many to listen or if you're making a song because of what the song needs as a whole. Often it's a balance or tradeoff if you will.

Verse
This is where you tell the story of the song. You may have however many verses you want but most commonly you would use two or three. One idea is that you set the premise of the song in verse one, move the story through some event in verse two and then close the story in verse three (you can also close a song with the choruses).

But hey, you're the songwriter here, you choose what should be in each verse.

The verse often repeats the melody and chord progression but changes the lyrics.

Chorus
The chorus often has added energy and is more catchy than the verses. Many place the hook of the song here and it becomes the part of the song that most remember and sing along to at shows. It's also common to have the title of the song reflect some part of the chorus lyrics.

Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

Some songs don't have a chorus. An example of this is Pink Floyd's "Wish you were here". The hook in this song is the powerful start of the third verse where David sings "how I wish, how I wish you were here" wish also is the title of the song.




The chorus is the part that gets repeated one or more times.


The chord progression, melody and lyrics is often the same in all chorus. But you don't have to follow this structure, many write different lyrics for each chorus and some even change the melody and structure a bit.

Song structure - Bridge
In the bridge you can really spell it out. Here you're free to literally tell it like it is without any coloring and metaphors. This part is commonly one of the higher energy sections of the song and has a slightly different sound than the verse and chorus. Now there is nothing saying that you have to have lyrics in the bridge, you can make it an instrumental section if you wish. You can also use the bridge to delay the expected chorus.

Song structure - Pre-chorus
This is a buildup section that binds the verse and chorus together. It's a good place to have some tension that gets released in the chorus. You don't need this section if you don't want to, but it's a good way to bring the interest up.


Song structure - Middle eight
You may not need this part either, but it can serve a good purpose after a chorus. Basically it's a subsiding of the first chorus (or all choruses) that calms the song down before it goes back into another verse. Now, it doesn't have to be calm, or even go back into a verse. You can have a groovy ear catcher or an instrumental melody going on. Whatever fits the song. The name comes from the part usually being in the middle of the song and lasting for eight bars. Feel free to use two bars or 31, it's up to you.

Song structure - Solo
So you play the guitar and have years of this built up energy from all your guitar heroes just waiting to burst out into a frenzy of notes? Let it loose here. Smileys aside, you get the idea, this is a section that expresses melodies in an instrumental form instead of vocals. Of course you can do a solo with your voice as well, but most commonly it's an instrument that does the solo which brings a nice contrast to the singing.

The solo is often played over the verse chords. Some solo over the verse and the chorus and some may choose to have a completely different chord progression (like an instrumental bridge).

Puzzling the parts
Now it's up to you to figure out how your song should be structured. The most common structure is AABACB where A is a verse, B is a chorus and C is the bridge. Add your intro, pre-bridge and middle eight if you wish but usually that gets added when you've gotten the song quite far down the road of completion. What you need to focus on first is the first verse and the chorus. When you have these then it's much easier to get the other parts done.

So, don't listen to me, listen to yourself and feel what speaks to you and what does not. Only you can know what's best for your song, don't let anyone else tell you otherwise.

If you listen to the song in the video below you can hear how I've used the following structure:
Intro
Verse 1
Pre-chorus
Chorus
Verse 2 
Pre-chorus 
Chorus
Solo/Jam
Bridge
Short chorus
Outro

And if your inspiration takes a dip, go back to part one in this series and get into the flow again.

Next part of the "How to write a song" series
While you wait for the next part in this series, be sure to check out previous posts on this blog and if you want to see and hear more, check out my facebook page or the Vide Geiger website.

Stay tuned for the next part!

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Image: jscreationzs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image: Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net