How I did it: I love music, and wouldn't be able to live without it. The first time I wrote a song, I didn't assume it woulld be a song but a personal poem. It was called "I Believe." I was experiencing my first major insecurity - not being good enough - so I really struggled through possessing a solid self-esteem. As an outlet, I just wrote everything I felt - no structure, no guidelines, just word after word of what I can write. I'm guessing that if you want to write a song, you must be inclined to music in one way or another. Well, after I wrote that "poem," I began to hum tunes haphazardly, from out of the blue. When I was looking at my paper, it was sort of instinctual to start putting my words into a melody. This is the process where I started editing my poem into a song, cutting words and adding ones that fit the melody I had in mind. I wasn't advanced in my piano skills yet, so I recorded me singing my tune after I fully finished. After my piano skills drastically advanced some years later, I arranged and composed music to my song, and finally, performed it by singing and  playing the piano at my first talent show in high school.

Lessons & tips: -A great way to start writing a song is just writing everything you feel AT THE MOMENT. Don't think of how this line will fit, etc. Just get your emotions down. The most important points will reveal itself once everything has been written.
-Writing  a song is all about the words, so after you've gutted your initial write-all-my-feelings, now it's time to find the skeletons of your song that will make it memorable. Be judicious with your words because you don't want it to sound like every other song out there. You want it to sound unique, you, and you want to paint a story to people so they know exactly  how you're feeling. As for the chorus of your song, don't be too specific or broad, after all it's your "hook," the reason why people stay - maybe they can relate to the message, maybe it's meaningful, or just pure fun. Think of it as the thesis of your essay or story - it's the reason why you're writing the song in the first place.
-For those who don't play a musical instrument, you can just bring your song to someone who can arrage music, preferably to someone who has experience w/ whatever genre your song is placed.

Resources: -Google "How to write a song!" or go to bookstores and invest in a how to book for writing songs. It helps.

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Mar 12, 2010, 11:21AM PST | 0 comments | 2 cheers