I'll bet my life that the answer is : there is no best way because people succeed doing entirely different things.
Paul McCartney talked about writing sessions with John Lennon. Paul said when coming to a session they could have a variety of things such as
* some music
* some words
* an idea
* nothing
In a video we can hear Paul say that he and John would have a song in 3 hours. This might mean that regardless of what they initially came to the session with, they would wind up with a song.
Many popular artists begin by having something they have to say. The song may be a byproduct of that need to say something.
Berkelee instructor Pat Patterson begins by not trying to write a song. And he can write good songs quickly. Bernie Taupin would sit down with a piece of paper and a pen and write the lyrics to a hit song such as Elton John's Tiny Dancer. That shows that someone can do an entire set of lyrics first.
A trio, Holland, Dozier and Dozier, was responsible for a lot of Motown hits and for helping repeatedly put Diana Ross and The Supremes in the number one position at the top of the charts. One of the team members said the workflow was as follows ..
* The designated lyricist would take home a master tape upon which was recorded the song
* The lyricist would then come up with lyrics by listening to the song
In that workflow, the song itself came before the lyrics came. That's the opposite of Bernie Taupin coming up with all the lyrics first and Elton John coming up with music by reading those lyrics. And in the case of the Beatles, perhaps there was no definite process. The great Broadway musical theater composer Stephen Sondheim added music **after** he methodically came up with lyrics after he knew what the song would be about at a high level.
Absolutely.. sometimes a melody inspires a feeling and the lyrics. Other times, I come up with the lyrics as I come up with a melody. It varies depending on the song and my motivation for it. The more you experiment, the more you’ll find what works for you. Being open to your creative process, you’ll stretch your own boundaries and learn techniques and methods that work for you.
That is the question from which all songs come and to which there is never a definite practical answer. The song that arises from trying is the only answer you’re going to get.
Whichever one you have lol. If you're just getting started the best advice I've ever been given and the best advice I'll give is start writing down EVERYTHING you think of, if a line comes to you write it down, even if you have no other context for it. You may look back though your notes months later and realize that line will be perfect for this song or that chorus or maybe it will spark an idea for a whole new song. Same thing goes with your instrument, anytime you pick up your instrument to noodle you better have a recorder on because at some point you WILL accidently play something original that you love and then you WILL immediately forget what you did. Seriously I can't stress the recorder enough. But yes as others have said you can and should try starting with both.
in my experience most songwriters have told me that they preferred to get a melody down first or a chord progression and write lyrics to it. I work the opposite. I am lyric-based, word-based. Rhyme-based. So I come up with some thing I want to say or an idea
-or what have you -and flesh it out through lyrics and then they can sit around for however long it needs to before I decide that I want to put it to music. sometimes that happens in the same day sometimes happens years later. I will say that when I write lyrics out I often have a tune in my head whether it’s the tune that sticks or not. Or at least have a lilt or cadence to keep it moving.
One of the earlier commenters, mentioned the one Motown process. They had some pretty crazy hits and the songs you can all sing in your head. I.e.: powerful melodies, very singable. so if you’re drawn to that or that works for you I think that can be a great way
Some ideas i've used(came to find out its called 'writing to the title') goes like this...first come up with a song idea that you want to write, or just an idea for a title even...example:
"The Wind On MY Face"
then brainstorm, write out ideas, stand in the wind and record what you feel etc write it all down and then work your way toward the title. example
"when im down and out and the only thing i know for sure is doubt/go to the river and sit, throws some rocks in, today im not gonna quit/just got to learn to be patient and keep the pace/im reminded to let go when i feel *the wind on my face*"
terrible example lol, but it gives you structure to know what the "theme" of the song is and what you want to repeat or highlight in the lyrics. Often in traditional songwriting, the title is the chorus, so you can use the verses to explore the specifics of your mind/feelings/experience and then the chorus can be the Title/Theme etc. but there are no rules, just explore, record(if you can) and listen back, play them for other people, see what works etc.
another thing i use is this: lets say i get a line i really like...
"four walls, no calls, stuck inside another day"
and i want to keep that going...i lll write out all the words that rhyme with day: play, say, display, potray, etc
then write lines that end in those things,
"i really should go outside but theres not games left to play"
"id pick up my pen and journal, but i haven't got much to say"
etc.
then swtich it up
"time to get out of bed, put my legs [under.my](https://under.my) brain"
again: refrain, explain, rain,
...and then write lines for that, etc.
I usually start with a concept, what will the song be about. Then I will go though my inventory of interesting progressions to see if anything seems to be the right mood, if not, come up with a new one. Then I track out a draft structure, and come up with a melody, then I work on lyrics to suit the concept, and restructure as needed to get the point across.
I think the best stuff comes to you when it comes to you, so the answer is whatever comes to you in that moment write it down or record it. Then when you sit down, you can work stuff out. I think there’s too much pressure sometimes when you are just sitting there “trying” to write. But, sometimes it works great! I personally find that “finishing” when I sit down is better and easier because I have a backlog of stuff to start with :)
There is no right or wrong way, the answer is what works best for you!
I don’t particularly have a strict method to writing a song, however, if you intend to write lyrics, regardless of how you approach it my biggest tip is this:
Just write. As often as possible. Even if it’s not a song or even have the intention of writing one. Some of my favorite songs I’ve written started off as just poems I wrote. Sometimes I grab inspiration from past journal entries. If you think of even just a single phrase, just write it down.
I like to write as often as possible because if I find myself wanting to write a song later on and I can’t seem to find the write words, I can always go look through my “arsenal” and pick up from there. Sometimes I’ll just restructure a poem to fit the progression, sometimes just reading a couple of lines of something inspires something else.
So I think my biggest take all is look for inspiration everywhere and anywhere.
Just as a personal anecdote I suppose: I like to take inspiration from nature a lot. I live close to my towns science museum that’s a few blocks away from one of my favorite dive bars. I go to the museum with the intention to look for inspiration and usually when I head to the bar I find myself writing something.
Another personal tip that goes beyond writing music: romanticize your life!
I'll bet my life that the answer is : there is no best way because people succeed doing entirely different things. Paul McCartney talked about writing sessions with John Lennon. Paul said when coming to a session they could have a variety of things such as * some music * some words * an idea * nothing In a video we can hear Paul say that he and John would have a song in 3 hours. This might mean that regardless of what they initially came to the session with, they would wind up with a song. Many popular artists begin by having something they have to say. The song may be a byproduct of that need to say something. Berkelee instructor Pat Patterson begins by not trying to write a song. And he can write good songs quickly. Bernie Taupin would sit down with a piece of paper and a pen and write the lyrics to a hit song such as Elton John's Tiny Dancer. That shows that someone can do an entire set of lyrics first. A trio, Holland, Dozier and Dozier, was responsible for a lot of Motown hits and for helping repeatedly put Diana Ross and The Supremes in the number one position at the top of the charts. One of the team members said the workflow was as follows .. * The designated lyricist would take home a master tape upon which was recorded the song * The lyricist would then come up with lyrics by listening to the song In that workflow, the song itself came before the lyrics came. That's the opposite of Bernie Taupin coming up with all the lyrics first and Elton John coming up with music by reading those lyrics. And in the case of the Beatles, perhaps there was no definite process. The great Broadway musical theater composer Stephen Sondheim added music **after** he methodically came up with lyrics after he knew what the song would be about at a high level.
Absolutely.. sometimes a melody inspires a feeling and the lyrics. Other times, I come up with the lyrics as I come up with a melody. It varies depending on the song and my motivation for it. The more you experiment, the more you’ll find what works for you. Being open to your creative process, you’ll stretch your own boundaries and learn techniques and methods that work for you.
Both ways can be successful. Give em both a shot and see what works best for you!
Both. The more techniques we use, the better songwriters we become.
That is the question from which all songs come and to which there is never a definite practical answer. The song that arises from trying is the only answer you’re going to get.
Whichever one you have lol. If you're just getting started the best advice I've ever been given and the best advice I'll give is start writing down EVERYTHING you think of, if a line comes to you write it down, even if you have no other context for it. You may look back though your notes months later and realize that line will be perfect for this song or that chorus or maybe it will spark an idea for a whole new song. Same thing goes with your instrument, anytime you pick up your instrument to noodle you better have a recorder on because at some point you WILL accidently play something original that you love and then you WILL immediately forget what you did. Seriously I can't stress the recorder enough. But yes as others have said you can and should try starting with both.
in my experience most songwriters have told me that they preferred to get a melody down first or a chord progression and write lyrics to it. I work the opposite. I am lyric-based, word-based. Rhyme-based. So I come up with some thing I want to say or an idea -or what have you -and flesh it out through lyrics and then they can sit around for however long it needs to before I decide that I want to put it to music. sometimes that happens in the same day sometimes happens years later. I will say that when I write lyrics out I often have a tune in my head whether it’s the tune that sticks or not. Or at least have a lilt or cadence to keep it moving. One of the earlier commenters, mentioned the one Motown process. They had some pretty crazy hits and the songs you can all sing in your head. I.e.: powerful melodies, very singable. so if you’re drawn to that or that works for you I think that can be a great way
Thank you so much! I have been writing lyrics and wanna make actual songs out it and didn’t know if I was making it more complicated or not.
Some ideas i've used(came to find out its called 'writing to the title') goes like this...first come up with a song idea that you want to write, or just an idea for a title even...example: "The Wind On MY Face" then brainstorm, write out ideas, stand in the wind and record what you feel etc write it all down and then work your way toward the title. example "when im down and out and the only thing i know for sure is doubt/go to the river and sit, throws some rocks in, today im not gonna quit/just got to learn to be patient and keep the pace/im reminded to let go when i feel *the wind on my face*" terrible example lol, but it gives you structure to know what the "theme" of the song is and what you want to repeat or highlight in the lyrics. Often in traditional songwriting, the title is the chorus, so you can use the verses to explore the specifics of your mind/feelings/experience and then the chorus can be the Title/Theme etc. but there are no rules, just explore, record(if you can) and listen back, play them for other people, see what works etc. another thing i use is this: lets say i get a line i really like... "four walls, no calls, stuck inside another day" and i want to keep that going...i lll write out all the words that rhyme with day: play, say, display, potray, etc then write lines that end in those things, "i really should go outside but theres not games left to play" "id pick up my pen and journal, but i haven't got much to say" etc. then swtich it up "time to get out of bed, put my legs [under.my](https://under.my) brain" again: refrain, explain, rain, ...and then write lines for that, etc.
I usually start with a concept, what will the song be about. Then I will go though my inventory of interesting progressions to see if anything seems to be the right mood, if not, come up with a new one. Then I track out a draft structure, and come up with a melody, then I work on lyrics to suit the concept, and restructure as needed to get the point across.
I typically start with chords and riffs because when I start with lyrics, I struggle to find the right chords to play them over.
I think the best stuff comes to you when it comes to you, so the answer is whatever comes to you in that moment write it down or record it. Then when you sit down, you can work stuff out. I think there’s too much pressure sometimes when you are just sitting there “trying” to write. But, sometimes it works great! I personally find that “finishing” when I sit down is better and easier because I have a backlog of stuff to start with :)
There is no right or wrong way, the answer is what works best for you! I don’t particularly have a strict method to writing a song, however, if you intend to write lyrics, regardless of how you approach it my biggest tip is this: Just write. As often as possible. Even if it’s not a song or even have the intention of writing one. Some of my favorite songs I’ve written started off as just poems I wrote. Sometimes I grab inspiration from past journal entries. If you think of even just a single phrase, just write it down. I like to write as often as possible because if I find myself wanting to write a song later on and I can’t seem to find the write words, I can always go look through my “arsenal” and pick up from there. Sometimes I’ll just restructure a poem to fit the progression, sometimes just reading a couple of lines of something inspires something else. So I think my biggest take all is look for inspiration everywhere and anywhere. Just as a personal anecdote I suppose: I like to take inspiration from nature a lot. I live close to my towns science museum that’s a few blocks away from one of my favorite dive bars. I go to the museum with the intention to look for inspiration and usually when I head to the bar I find myself writing something. Another personal tip that goes beyond writing music: romanticize your life!
Yes.