Songwriting Skills

Songwriting has existed for millennia alongside music. From basic acapella songlines to convey the stories of a people’s past, to popular music today, there seems to have always been a need for "the song". 

A song can be defined as a set of words, or a poem, sung alongside music or without. However many factors can contribute to and affect how a song is written or formed. Here, we will take a look at some of these attributes. 

What Comes First, the Lyric or the Music?

Like the age-old question of the egg or the chicken, songs have that same question attached. The answer comes to the writer and scenario; it depends on whether you grasp the original concept through words or a musical hook in your mind. It may happen either way, spontaneously or through thought and musical theory knowledge. 

If you have lyrics down, try to envision what the music could sound like in contrast with, or similarly to the lyrics. For example, a lyric that exhibits sadness and tells a melancholic story could be paired with equally melancholic music, to hit home with the sadness.

However, if one wanted to portray that the story of the song is sad, but the overall message is brighter i.e. tries to emphasize an understanding of sadness, yet simultaneously ends with the notion that "things get better". In this sense, you could own a sad lyric with a jumpy, happy, or enthusiastic sound display. 

All in all, it doesn’t matter whether the egg or chicken comes first, what matters is what you do with them once you have them.

Story and Meaning 

Once you've established a first lyric or sound, and start to get an idea or feel for the soon-to-be song, it’s best practice to plan out your story. 

Many compositions have and will continue to be comprised out of thin air, with little or no planning, and sometimes in the space of five minutes after getting the first idea. However, this is still rare, as a truly well-written track takes time and thought to become what’s considered to be a good song. 

My advice is to plan out to catch punctual and grammar mistakes early on. Think about what you want to write about, based on your experiences, your thought process that day or week, or simply based on something you saw once that morning that caught your eye. Something as simple as a beautiful view in the skies on your way to work, makes you feel appreciative of nature. It could be deep and thought-provoking such as noticing a vagabond ask for change, what did that emote in you? 

Ideas, like the color choices a child makes when painting, can and do come so very often, out of nothing or something, out of feeling, or out of a lack of feeling. The difficult part is knowing what you are trying to say in the song, what will be the conclusion? Will there be a change in perspective as the final verse approaches? Will the subject conversation come full circle or will the story be a stalemate, unchanging, like the realization that death does indeed come to us all? 

Arrangement 

One of the more overlooked aspects of songwriting is the arrangement. As overlooked as it is, it turns out to be one of the most important considerations. The structure of a track determines the flow of the song, and how well it grooves, moves, and smoothes out, until the final seconds. 

A good example of this comes with any track that consists of a verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, type of arrangement. The job of the bridge is to detach from the hook of the chorus/verses, to shake things up essentially before the listener gets too accustomed to the flow. The bridge connects the 2 minutes of the song to the finale; the big jump. 

Without the bridge or middle-eight, the song may cease to have strength and texture until the very end. If the songs in A minor for example, with a common progression of Em-Am, going to the C Major chord, would suffice to change things up. Proceed now, back down to the Em/Am to give breath and rejuvenation to the original hook line/chorus line. A very common trick to do with a bridge is to bridge it to a key change. An example of this would be in Tina Turner’s 'What’s Love Got To Do With It'.

Keys

For true perfection in songwriting and production, one should write in a specific key for what they're looking for. Then find the singer that suits the key. The frequency 432hz is scientifically understood to help bring a sense of calmness, for instance, therefore a piece written with the A4 note on the piano could emote this feeling if you had lyrics and music to suit. Alternatively, 'C' is a happy key in that it generally has a "happy" tone to it. Play an A minor for a melancholic feel, and so on...

Genre Specific 

Of course, genres have the songwriting niches they like to sit in. Pop is generally the -verse, pre-chorus, chorus- standard arrangement. You will often find a middle-eight in there too. Whereas, rock music may focus more closely on driving rhythms for verse, chorus, and solos/instrumental parts. 

Rock and pop share the need for a catchy chorus and smart verse. Rock tends to lean towards blues progressions and blues is where it’s most closely related. This would consist of a riff in E jumping up to the fourth chord, the A. Blues almost always uses the fifth chord after this to bring the form of the lead musical part to a full circle. That’s a B minor in this case.

Jazz music correlates closely with blues, with even more instrumental parts. Similarly, Latin music is entirely different in rhythm and very often arrangement, yet shares the love for instrumental pieces too. Other times, you’ll find Latin grooves to be written in a pop fashion.

Vocal phrasing in almost all popular music is quite similar, jazz would be where you'll find more unusual progressions and phrasings. For a truly different experience in enjoying music and songwriting, spend time basking in the wild adventure that is classical music.

All in all, I find songwriting to be an art, science, and exhilarating (mental and spiritual) activity, simultaneously or sometimes either. The experience is the education but also the joy. Like anything unexpected, it can have a memorable impression once the spark has been lit. And You'll never know until you try to light the first fire.

Clovermind Music LLC

A Blog by

Matt Murphy