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HOW TO GET STARTED

WITH
SONGWRITING
Mahmoud Ibrahim
From songwritingfever.com, The Place for Songwriting Collaboration.
This ebook is devoted to novice songwriters who are still
trying to find their way through the maze of
songwriting...Well, it is not that complicated really :.
I hope that when you are through with these pages you
will know how to get started with writing your song.
From songwritingfever.com, The Place for Songwriting Collaboration.
PART ONE.
Song components & structure.
Song Components
A song is words+music, and for a song to be successful it has to have great lrics and great
music.
A great lric is simpl a mi! of eas, nice words revolving around an interesting topic. The good
thing is that lrics don"t have to go b an rules# it is simpl a matter of practice...$a be there
are some rhming %rules% but those can be hardl called rules, we will discuss them later.
As for great music, ou don"t have to create a complicated masterpiece..&& Actuall, great music in
this conte!t means simple, %catch% melod and well'structured chord patterns. (e will see about
music later.
)*. +ow we got music and lrics but that means nothing if a catch melod and a number of nice
words were ,ust scattered all over our song...$usic and -rics need to be put into a concrete
Song Structure...
Song Structure
A song usuall have three short melodies, two of which are repeated over and over again....
Chorus: The chorus is a lric'music combination that is repeated with little or no change
throughout the song. .suall, the chorus lrics include the song title and gives the listener a
general idea about the song topic. The chorus music includes the most catch melod in the
song...The chorus is generall the part that our listener will remember from our song.
Verse: The verse has the second melod of the song, this melod hardl changes throughout the
song. (hat changes is actuall the verse lrics# as the verses usuall give details about the song
topic. +otice that no matter how the lrics change the all have to fit the same melod, without
having to loo/ %artificial%...This actuall is a great challenge #0.
Br!ge: The third melod and the one that is 'in most song structures' appearing onl once. 1t is
better if the listener gets a %tin% surprise in the bridge# that can be a change in the chord
structure accompanied b a smooth shift to another scale...etc. 2owever, the bridge melod
alwas ends b shifting bac/ to the original mood and repeating the chorus all over again. As for
the bridge"s lrics the usuall represent a conclusion or a flash bac/ to the whole song, this adds
to the surprise. Sometimes, 'especiall in roc/' the bridge is ,ust a solo with no lrics.
3ut how are those three parts arranged in the song4 (ell, ou got Chorus, verse and bridge...5es,
arrange them in an wa ou want, but don"t get too mess or our listener will get lost. To ma/e
it easier, songwriters have come up with these agreed'on song structures most of the songs
follow those three structures6
"erse # chorus # "erse # chorus # "erse...etc.
"erse # chorus # "erse # chorus # $r!ge # %"erse& # chorus
"erse # "erse # $r!ge # "erse
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+ow, about the verse 7 verse 7 bridge 7 verse ... This structure ta/es a tric/ melod for the
verse# it has to be catch, and longer than the usual verses. $oreover, ou have to spice it up
ever time ou repeat it with a new thing 8li/e a new instrument in the bac/ground, or a bac/
vocals line...etc.0. 1 personall li/e this structure because 1 feel it gives a certain freedom with the
lrics, the other two structures don"t give. 3esides, this structure gives room for musical intros
and outros, not to mention the opportunit to add some musical %brea/s% 8between the verses0
without having to worr about ma/ing the song too long.
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PART TWO.
-rics topic and title.
Wh't Are ()rcs*
First of all, lrics isn"t poetr. Poetr has lots of %word rules%, it is simpl a language game that
has nothing to do with music. -rics, on the other hand, has everthing to do with music and it is
more important for good lrics to fit the music nicel and neatl than to have ama9ing metaphors
or glamorous word combinations. 2owever, it is e!tremel important that our lrics be about an
interesting topic...
()rcs Topc
1f ou have an interesting topic, then ou have done almost half the ,ob...5ou now have
something to write about, man of those who feel the urge to write lrics, ,ust don"t /now what to
tal/ about..&&
(ell, 1 li/e to start with brainstorming...,ust loo/ around ou, what do ou see4 A computer, a
screen, des/, people...etc. Pic/ up one of those words, 1 will ta/e %computer%, (hat about
%computer%4& +arrow it down.... There are processors, /eboards, internet, computer
programmers...etc. 1 chose %internet%, needs more narrowing down...There are websites, chat
rooms...etc. )*, This is ta/ing too long, and it should# choosing the topic is what it"s all about.
:ust for the sa/e of this article, 1 narrowed down to %-onel people in chat rooms%.... sad lrics
topic 68, get in that mood, so ou would be able to write about it..&&
3 the wa, write about it as if it is personal e!perience...instead of thin/ing of %lonel people%,
thin/ about %1 am a lonel gu in a chat room%...That establishes a sense of credibilit, which in
turn ends up as a great emotional lin/ with our listener.
()rcs Tt+e
+ow that ou have a topic, ou should start wor/ing on having a title for our lrics. The title
should give those who read a %little% shoc/# it must be something FA$1-1A; but that nobod is
used to hearing A-)+<, or in a C)$31+AT1)+ with other words. <!amples are %Smpath for The
=evil% 8;olling Stones0 and %The Scientist% 8Coldpla0# %smpath% and %devil% are two words that
everbod uses but nobod had put them together before, that"s a weird combination. %Scientist%
is a ver common word, but nobod ,ust came up to ou and said6 %The Scientist% && 5ou are not
used to hearing it on its own.
+ow bac/ to %-onel people in chat rooms%. )ne can use %lonel% but that has been used billion
times before, actuall the whole idea of %lonel people% is over'consumed&& The new thing is %chat
rooms%, and the title should refer to that. 1 guess %lonel in a chat room% is )*. +)4&& 5eah, it
sounds too sill, because 1 included %lonel%...the over'consumed word. % Chat with me%....better
is ,ust %Chat%..&&8onl m opinion, but the shorter the better0
The ()rcs Themse+"es
+ow ou have come to the point where 1 can give no or little advice. $a/e our lrics as simple as
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possible, no big words or Sha/espearian attitude, no difficult'to'understand metaphors, not even
a lot of eas'to'understand metaphors...The thing is that lrics are onl part of the song, and if
ou ma/e the lrics re>uire wor/ to understand, there wouldn"t be much energ left with the
listener to understand the music...
$ost important thing is that ou don"t repeat ourself and 'at the same time' don"t go off
topic...For e!ample, don"t write %+obod to spea/ to, +obod to hear me%...that"s repetition. And
if ou want to write about %other people who are chatting with the lonel people%, save it to
another song# that"s off topic...sta specific and at the same time interesting as much as ou can.
Still, there other few general guidelines 8not rules0 that most of the songs follow...
?' 1nclude the title in the chorus.
@' $a/e sure the chorus is a general e!planation of the topic
A' The verses are detailed e!planation of the chorus....3.T +) ;<P<T1T1)+
B' =o not repeat the same word more than two times 8or three ma!.0 in a verse or chorus8the
chorus itself is repeated, but within it no repetition allowed0
C' 1f it happens that the music doesn"t fit the lrics neatl, alter the lrics not the music.
+ow, we will go on with the ver few %-rics ;hming ;ules%...
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PART THREE.
;hme.
Wh) Rh)me*
-rics that rhme are the most memorable, and the easiest to fit in a music vehicle nicel. 3ut,
ta/e care&& ;hming too much sounds ST.P1=, and /eep in mind that rhme should come second
to meaning...+ever sacrifice the idea for the sa/e of a rhming word and never put stuff together
,ust because the rhme...
Rh)me Scheme
The song structure thing we tal/ed about earlier is more about the music than the lrics. The
lrics ,instead, are organi9ed b the rhme scheme.
The rhme scheme is the pattern b which a certain rhme is repeated...There are several
conventional rhme schemes6
,- A-B-A-B
The first line rhmes with the third, while the second rhmes with the fourth.
.- A-A-A-A
The same rhming sound throughout.
/- A-A-B-B
The first line rhmes with the second, while the third rhmes with the fourth.
)f course, one can come up with an infinite number of different rhme schemes...
Rh)me T)pes
1 won"t get into weird useless terminolog. 1nstead, 1"ll name them Tpe?, Tpe@...etc. and give
e!amples6
T)pe,.The end sounds and is written the same wa.
EX. I saw my cAT
It was too fAT
T)pe..The end sounds the same but is written differentl
EX. She said there is nothing more to knOw
When I asked if she was honest, The answer was nO
T)pe/.The words at the end sound and are written differentl. The ,however, share the same
vowel somewhere...
EX. If you ever come by hOE
I!"" meet you by the east #ark in the coffee shO$
T)pe0.The ends don"t sound the same. 1nstead, there is a certain tpe of %word rhthm%. This is
the smartest tpe and the hardest to write as well.
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EX.We got ercedes, we got $orsche
%errari and &o""s &oyce '%rom &oger Waters!s (It!s A irac"e()
T)pe1.The end is the same, the beginning is the same. The middle is different.
EX. I wi"" ta"k abO*T +O*
I wi"" sing abO*T +O*
co,, I can!t "ive withO*T +O*
Rh)mng 2our ()rcs
To write good lrics that rhme smartl might loo/ eas, but ta/e m word for it6 1t"s not a wal/
in the par/&&
5ou have to be rich in our vocabular# so as to find words that deliver meaning and preserve
rhme. 3ut no bod is that good with language 8with the e!ception of (illiam (ordsworth0, we all
need help with snonms and rhming words. 1 have several help suggestions6
?' Thesaurus dictionar from an boo/ store
@' )nline Thesaurus dictionar 8although 1 don"t li/e those0
A' -ricist Software 8This has a lot of other features that ma/e our writing a lot easier0
+ow that 1 have %got ou started% with a neat interesting lric, let"s move on to music...
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PART 3O4R.
$usic in songs.
Composng "s. Song5rtng
There is a difference between 3eethoven and :ames 2etfield. 3eethoven wrote miraculous
smphonies, sonatas and concertos...2etfield wrote catch smart 8well, it"s still $etal&&0 songs for
$etallica.
1"m not saing :ames 2etfield is a bad musician# songwriters are as good musicians as composers
but the nature of songs is different...The are much less complicated, the are heard along side
with the song"s lrics and the are usuall plaed b bands of about C members.
Song6s 7usc Con"entons
1f ou anal9e a song, ou will most probabl discover two distinctive melodies 8musical
sentences0 throughout6 The verse and the chorus 8;emember Part )ne40. 1f ou anal9e one of
those melodies, ou will find out the consist of certain phrases that are repeated with ver slic/
minor changes.
Confused4& -isten to .@"s %3eautiful =a%# ou will find the first melod8verse0 which is plaed
twice, then ou will find a second melod8Chorus0. The verse itself is nothing but ver similar and
ver short phrases that are put together in a catch wa...
=on"t thin/ it"s eas to write a melod that consists of short slightl different phrases...1t needs
practice and hard wor/ 8=ownload %Ten Steps To 1mprove 5our Songwriting S/ills% for more0.
7usc A8ter ()rcs
This is how we did it in %2ow To Det Started%# we first got ou started b writing the lrics and
then we moved on to music. Sometimes it"s the other wa around.
There is no particular plan to follow if ou want to write music for lrics. For me, 1 usuall read the
lrics a couple of times then start %singing% the lrics. The result is a nice but %imperfect% melod
that 1 later have to modif and alter to be satisfied with it.
:ust tr...*eep reading our lrics then tr to sing them, it (1-- wor/ 60.
7usc Be8ore ()rcs
$a be ou want to write our music first...See/ the help of our guitar or piano and start
plaing. ;ecord what ou pla. Stop plaing. -isten to what ou recorded. $a be ,,ust ma be,
ou will find a nice %song worth% melod.
Arr'ngement
+ow that ou have a melod, tr to arrange it..&& Arrangement starts with writing chords that are
plaed alongside our melod. To write chords ou have to be familiar with music theor.
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PART 3IVE.
Chords and music theor.
Chor! Progressons
A chord is usuall three or four notes plaed at the same time, so instead of hearing each note
alone ou hear a %Chord%.
Chord Progression is a number of different chords that are plaed in a certain order...The idea is
that different chords relate to each other somehow, and according to this %somehow% songwriters
write chord progressions for their melodies.
7e+o!) "s. Chor! Progresson
The melod of our song determines how our chord progression is going to sound. 1t can be the
other wa around 8chord progression then the melod, but that"s not common0. +ote ,however,
that chord progressions are not %copright material%...Certain chord progressions are used in
31--1)+ songs. The melod is of course coprighted.
To be able to write chords for our melod, ou have to have some e!perience with music theor
and some e!perience with a %songwriting instrument%8Piano or Duitar0.
Chor!s In 7usc Theor)
A ver big part of music theor is about scales. The %somehow% that relates chords to each other
is actuall the scales.
There are two different approaches to teaching music theor for songwriters...)ne teaches scales
first and then moves on to chords. The other teaches chords in a %:ust learn, no need to
understand% manner, then fills ou in on all the missing gaps about the scales.
Attenton99
(hat did ou learn in this part4&& +othing 60
$ goal was ,ust to give ou a bunch of down to earth, simple definitions to the whole thing of
$usic Theor, Chords and Scales# so that when ou go out there to bu a boo/, visit a website or
get a teacher ou find ourself familiar with the sub,ect.
-earning music theor and mastering chords needs a lot of hard wor/, patience and practice...5ou
can spend ears tring to master chords, so to save ou the trouble 1 recommend that ou visit
this website and spend a wee/ or so with it. (hen ou are done ou"ll be able to write chord
progressions but ou"ll still need the help of professional well'written chord charts or a computer
software. 1 recommend -ricist which comes in with a complete chord librar archived ver
smartl and cleverl...Eisit -ricist website for more.
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PART SI:.
(riting a hit song.
Song5rter H'$ts
+ow that ou have started songwriting and actuall wrote some lrics and music 8that is6 a
song&&0, ou need to /now that ou were ,ust practicing...The habit of sitting down to actuall
thin/ about a sub,ect, to loo/ up words in rhme dictionaries, to pla the piano for ,ust the right
chord...etc. All this is ,ust the habit of practicing# a songwriter develops a lot of other good habits
too.
All these other habits are tools to help the songwriter collect the fruits of practicing. This means
that practicing doesn"t get ou hit songs or hit ideas, instead it trains our brain to function better
musicall and to become more aware of %songwriting potential% in things occurring in our
environment.
As ou practice more, 21T 1=<AS will suddenl come to ou out of the blue&& (riting hit songs is
more of an inspiration than organi9ed thin/ing...5ou spend a lot of nights wearing our brains out
writing melodies 8that is practicing0, and then while shopping for shoes an ama9ing melod starts
echoing in our head6 That"s our hit song.
To /eep these hit ideas from being forgotten and lost 1 developed some habits to help me /eep
trac/ of ever idea or thought no matter how trivial...
H'$t One.2ave a noteboo/ with ou at all times6
An time a song idea hits ou, a good verse, creative metaphor..etc. (rite it down for review
later.
H'$t T5o.2ave a digital recorder with ou at all times6
5ou can use an thing to record sound with...5our %hit% melodies will not be lost. 8Sometimes 1
use the noteboo/ to write the notes of the melod 'li/e = 3 A D..etc.', ou can do that too and
save ourself the trouble of having to sing in a supermar/et #0.
H'$t Three.As/ people what the thin/ about our creations6
Showing them to friends is alwas a good idea. 2owever, showing them to other songwriters
means great advice and %professional% comments that would go beond %Dood wor/, where are
we going to eat4% 60. There are some decent songwriter communities on the internet, and 1 have
set up (riting Fever 5ahoo& Droup ,ust for that...Dive it a Tr&
Another 1dea would be to publish our wor/ on various websites and wait for the different
comments 8(riting Fever offers to host songs, lrics and instrumental trac/s for free.0
H'$t 3our.*eep our hit ideas organi9ed6
+ow that ou have /ept ever ama9ing melod and ever interesting lric that hit ou on paper,
1t"s time for ou to put them together in a great song. 3ut how are ou going to /eep trac/ of
ever single melod, title, progression or lric that ou thin/ of or write4&& The answer is to have
them organi9ed in a wa that ma/es them easil searchable and accessible. 1 use a magnificent
software that 1 got few months ago called Trac/+otes...1t functions 'among other things' to
organi9e all our recorded material in an efficient manner. 1t made m songwriting a lot easier. )f
course ou can still do our organi9ing the old wa using paper put in folders besides the folder'
subfolder organi9ing on our computer.
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H'$t 3"e.Practice6
1 have tal/ed about this a lot. 1t"s reall important...5ou will not be musicall inspired unless our
brain gets used to music. 1nspiration is 2A;= ();*&& Practice b reading for successful lricists,
b listening carefull to great songs, b struggling for das with one line to get the right word for
meaning and rhme, b e!perimenting with chord progressions...etc. There are lots of stuff ou
can do...P;ACT1C<, P;ACT1C<, P;ACT1C<&&
;un< I!e's
+ot ever idea that ou get is an inspirational moment, ou will get a lot of %,un/ ideas%. Still,
never tr to ,udge our ideas the same moment ou get them# record ever thing and /eep trac/
of ever thing ou thin/ of. 5ou can later review these ideas, save the good ones and throw awa
the bad ones 8ou can better /eep them in a safe place too, ever thing ma come in hand&0.
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Hope I He+pe! ;ump St'rt 2our Song5rtng
H'"e A Nce Song5rtng E=perence...
7ore song5rtng tps 'n! 'rtc+es here.
Goo! (uc<>
ahmoud Ibrahim
songwritingfever.com owner