Written by Robert A. Trezza in Music
Viewed by 70 readers since 03-11-2009

When expressing your emotion through any medium, whether it is sculpture, poetry, music or any art form, there is a certain structure that should be followed. Those who are exceptionally good at expressing themselves in their favorite form of expression may not be even realizing that they are using the proper structure, but odds are they are. With song writing there is a set pattern that one may find helpful in writing that special song.

Some believe a songwriter should start with the title. The title should tell the story. Take the Pearl Jam song “Jeremy.” When one hears the title of that song and listens to it just once, the boy’s name literally paints a picture for you. Many great writers will start by just putting a word on paper that emotes to them and from there the rest will usually flow. Feeling happy? Try writing a word on a piece of paper that best fits that mood. Maybe it’s something pertaining to your significant other or the one you wish to be yours, bet they make you happy or “Blissful?” In no time will your emotions soon start to come out and you can move on to the next step.

Next you’ll want too turn that title into strong lyric. But, once you have the emoting word laid out on paper and all your emotions are flowing, you will have no problem here. If you do, try to dissect the word or title you came up with. Find out more about the title. With “Blissful” figure out “Who makes you blissful?” Why do they make you blissful?” and “When do they make you blissful?” With these and other questions answered in an imaginative way, you will soon have your lyrics. You can even make a list of words that come to mind as you did with the title and see if any of them spark a line or two. Most of all just throw words or phrases out. Don’t go crazy here trying to clean it up, just stay on your roll.

Now you will want to add some sort of structure to you song. The best way to start this is to follow the following formula. It should flow like this: verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, and chorus. The verse describes the main figure in the song and always has the same melodies, but different lyrics. The chorus is the same lyric and melody repeated numerous times in the song. The bridge provides a split in recurrence of the chorus and verse.

You’ll next want to feel comfortable with melodies; you’ll accomplish this by listening to other songs and learning how their melodies go. From here you’ll want to partner up with your instrument of choice and create your own melody. Once you have your melody up and running, you’ll want to plug in the lyrics you formed earlier using the verse/chorus formula. Combine the melody with a rhythm, add in your lyrics, and before you know it, you’ll have a song filled with passion and fire.

Writing a song can be a daunting task, but it does not have to be. Don’t be afraid to open up and let your emotions ride free.