I recently did a songwriting Master Class for my Vocal Breakthrough Group Vocal Class. I had several students who have written and produced their own songs and others who have never written a song. Songwriting is telling a story in melodic form. So you to tell it in a compelling way with words and a melody that catches the listener
Here are 5 Main Components to Writing a Song:
- Use Descriptive words as in using adjectives and verbs. Describe an event, scene, or place. Try to use Descriptive words such as adjectives and verbs. The more descriptive the better even to describe your internal feelings. This becomes your main lyric word bank to use for a song. Also included, all your 5 senses when writing. What are you hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, etc.
- Pick the tempo:: slow, medium, fast and then mood to match the story of the song and the chords that would match it
- The Chorus and Bridge needs to be catchy that others will remember and can sing easily and repeatedly. This is like your main driving thesis statement.
- Remember that songwriting is telling a captivating story, pulling the audience member into what you’re experiencing. It should also be entertaining in the sense of melodic, lyrics, rhythm, empty spaces, pauses, riffs, and runs, instrumentation, etc.
- It’s not about perfection but just making time to start and building upon it. The more you write, the better you become.
Next, we’ll discuss how the songwriting process works. Each person has a process in writing their own songs. But there are usually three main ways that people write a song.
- Come up with chords on you instrument, hen sing.
- Sing and find matching chords on your instrument
- If you don’t play an instrument, you can find the melody line and then have someone else write the chords for you.
I strongly recommend documenting your songs via recording on a voice memo app and writing down the lyrics somewhere you can locate or create a file on your computer so that you way you don’t loose it. I also recommend you working and collaborating with other musicians and singers. This builds creativity and inspiration. Working alone helps you focus but working with others can enhance your own music and challenge you to improve your songwriting skills.
If you’re interested in a video replay of my Songwriting Masterclass, please go ahead and email me and I’ll send you a copy for a special discounted price.
lessonswithmschang@gmail.com