How to Write a Good Song: The Basics for Creating a Catchy Melody

Learning how to write a good song can be tough at times. Being concerned with your melody, chords, song structure, and lyrics can really intimidate the average beginner. I've learned through my trial and errors of songwriting that one thing holds true, your melody is the key to forming great compositions.

Seriously, whenever you listen to a new song and you can't get it off your mind what is it that you remember? Most times it is the repetition of about 3 to 5 notes which are stringed together in a way to completely carry the song and as a result making you a fan of the song.

Learning these basics to forming a memorable melody will help you learn how to write a good song;

Keep it simple

This is probably the most important. I was listening to a song on the radio the other day and it was number 1 on the countdown the station was having. The amazing thing about the song was that the melody contained only four notes! The key was that the notes were very well put together and the instrument chosen to carry it fitted well. Nothing complex just simple and right to the point. Always remember to never over do it.

Find a home note

Your home note is the note that your melody will be built around. For example, if my melody starts with a C note I would have the last note in my melody that same note or very close to it. Listeners hate huge jumps in intervals for the most part and I can't blame them. Having your melody jump from E6 all the way down to C5 is quite extreme and disturbs the flow of the melody which brings up my next point.

Keep your notes close to one another

This is important when learning how to write a good song. Keeping your notes close together helps your melody to become cohesive for lack of a better term. It is something about notes close together that makes a melody memorable. I really think it is because of what I mentioned above about extremes. Close notes prevent the sudden change of things.

Find your motif

A motif is the part of the melody that is repeated. It may be a note or it may be three notes. For example, with a melody that goes C, D, E, B, A, B, C, D; C and D will more than likely be the motif. The important thing about a motif is that it usually follows a certain rhythm along with those certain notes. Work on this aspect and your melody will pretty much construct itself.

Be creative

Never copy anyone. Learn from them and make their ideas your own. Usually the hits come from someone who is not afraid to step out of the box. Always experiment with different techniques and learn what works and what does not. Songwriting is all about trial and error but above all let your ear be the judge.

How To Write Lyrics - An Introduction

Whether you are a beginning songwriter or a seasoned veteran writer, if you are searching for information and tools about how to write lyrics, this is a great place to start. Writing lyrics is more than just something to learn, or a skill you perform at a certain time - it's a way of life for those who are serious about it. There are many methods and formulas for how to write song lyrics, and they all can have some value. The important thing is to find the methods that best fit you and your genres. Some will write melody first, then add lyrics and others will write both together or lyrics only first. There really is no best way for how to write lyrics for songs, except the way that allows the writer to convey the emotions and meaning in a manner the listener can relate to. The logistics or rules for how to write good lyrics are well documented in many good resources. You will find many of them listed or reviewed all over the Internet. Anyone can learn the mechanics, but the biggest part of writing song lyrics is creating the idea for the song itself. You may not have much experience or even understand common song structure yet, but if you have great ideas you CAN be a great writer.

Writing song lyrics is not an exact science, though the many rules and traditional standards can make it seem like studying physics. The core and essence of any song is how it communicates. Why did our ancient ancestors begin to communicate thoughts, stories and feelings by mouthing words while changing vocal pitches? Why is that such a powerful way to communicate? Whatever all of the social and psychological reasons may be, history has proven that the art of the song is one of the most meaningful and memorable forms of human communication. Consider the difference in how you feel in reciting or hearing something like the pledge of allegiance, compared to hearing or singing a national anthem. So how is one to write a song lyrics message in such a way that is meaning and memorable? Write lyrics that trigger feelings. Listeners will relate those feelings to the lyrics and the words will mean more than just a clever twist of a phrase.

When you write song lyrics, make it personal. Even if the subject matter is not something you have direct experience in, use your own feelings and emotions in some related area to build an underlying story line. Even if a listener has no idea what the subplot might be, if you use your own life experience and emotions as a foundation for your word choices, they will feel the emotion and relate it to their own life. Conveying emotion should be the prime goal, no matter if you are learning how to write rap lyrics, or how to write lyrics for a country tear jerker. Emotion is king and the lyric writer should treat it like royalty! (pun intended)

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Article Submitted On: March 14, 2011

How to Write a Good Song for the Radio

How to write a good song for the radio is the question I will be answering for you today. Although there is no hard and fast rules, there are some characteristics that all the great hits have in common. Without further ado, let's discover the secrets to writing a radio hit.

Discover a concept a lot of people can relate to

You need for as many people as possible to like your song. You should find something plenty of people can relate to. Here's a trick that I find to work for me.

First, determine a specific niche of people. College kids, middle-aged adults, or women in their 20's just to name a few. Once you have your audience, determine something every person in that group has in common. I find attacking the college crowd is easier because with all the studying that they do, any chance they can get they want to party. So you know to make feel good music that they can dance to.

Work on a very catchy melody

Take as long as possible on this step because it is very important. You want your melody to be so good you can't get it out of your head. This is very important when learning how to write a good song for the radio because these type of songs are viral. All it takes is one town to love it and before you know it's national.

Your melody should be simple as should the lyrics. Think of a chant at a basketball game and that's the type of melody you'd like. Something hundreds of people will want to repeat over and over again.

Have great production

I find this to be the main reason why many artists have good songs but they never do well in the general public. Although most people can't produce, their ears are trained to hear music a certain way. When artists put sub par material on the airwaves people notice the differences and never request the track. Even if you have everything else perfect, if you have a bad mix or master you were better off just playing it around your friends.

If you are serious about your career you should not be afraid to believe in yourself and your music. If you truly believe in your craft you will learn the process of mixing and mastering or find someone who knows it already. Never let a great song die by the hands of bad production.

Follow these guidelines and you'll learn how to write a good song for the radio in no time. With a hit song your broadcasting royalties will start piling up leading to a very lucrative extra or replacement income. Also, your demand for live performances will increase which will bring more live show money. It takes practice to become great at songwriting but if you have the drive anyone can do it. Visit my website right now to learn how to write a song step by step and start doing what you love to do for a living.

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