ok long post, please prepare thyself. i will
bold each section appropriately.
first and foremost, i hate being technical and dead about songwriting because it is broad. music is in fact already very broad as it is. all i can, or all that anyone can do is to provide you with (mostly) subjective guides.
you have been warned, so approach at your own risk.
in general, songs are split up into various parts.
- Lyrics
- Melody
- Arrangement
i'm leaving out the actual performance of the song since we're talking about what comprises song composition in specific.
Lyrics
Lyrics, on their own, are not much different from poems. Let's say someone dumps to you the lyrics of a song unknown to you. You have no idea what it sounds like, neither have you the faintest idea of the tempo; that's the lyrics you're staring at.
Now a question that's highly anticipated at this moment is namely, "how to write ah?". Truth be told, some people can do it, some people just can't. Nothing wrong, either way. Essentially when you're writing lyrics, you CAN do it with/without melody OR a chord progression; the order of which you'd prefer to do first is entirely up to you. You can, like me, do everything at the same time.
As long as you're comfortable with whatever's being written, you've achieved something. If you're comfortable with having "I Love Soft!" for every line, then go for it. Common themes or ways to write a song include soppy love songs, how everyone or everything around you sucks, etc. DON'T limit the contents of your lyrics. Be open to drawing inspiration from any source. I've written, with some other mates, a song about wanton mee before. Don't worry about length/structure of the song for now; be flexible and allow for editing as you go along with completing and fitting the song into the melody or chord progression.
side notes
- Having a longer/shorter than usual number of syllables in a song can be used to signify going into another part (verse to chorus, chorus to bridge etc).
- Rhyming isn't necessary, but is good for catching the attention of readers and also aids in helping the vocalist to remember the lyrics.
- The element of surprise can come in various forms, even for lyrics. These can include vulgarities (okay to some people it's a surprise, to some it's necessary, your call), sudden use of another language (French word in an English song, for example). Be, however, subtle with these; too often and they may lack any intent of a special feel.
- If the a word is too hard to pronounce, be nice and think of an alternative
Melody
Okay this is a little tough to explain using only words. I will assume you, the reader, to have no idea what a melody is. To put it in brief, I'd say that it's the change in pitch and duration of how the song is to be sung. Once again, I would like to emphasise there is no need to have lyrics OR a chord progression first.
Ok since it's soft that I'm posting in and not my usual audience, I'd like to take explaining melody a little further and describe it as a chord progression in its own right. Like how the ABC song is usually sung, if you've yet to realise, in the major scale.
Like Jugman suggested earlier, you CAN record yourself humming any melody created by your sudden stroke of genius on any recording device first. It's extremely convenient to do so. At this point, advantage for those who can play instruments (except percussion, for most cases). Even if you're a novice, just play out the notes (no need for chords yet, unless you'd like to play a chord for each change in pitch) on your instrument and you're good to go. If you've been playing for a little bit already then all the more; you can do chords from there right away by playing within the scale or even harmonising the notes with respect to your melody.
You can, of course, present your melody to a friend who may be more experienced with non-percussion instruments in general. Bonus points for you if you're able to play the respective notes of the melody out; it'd help your friend a whole lot.
side notes
- Melodies can be created even by those with completely no musical background. If you can hum a tune out, you can hum a melody.
- It is also very possible to create melodies out of a chord progression; some prefer doing this, in fact.
Arrangement
Usually done as the last one after everything else. Unless you're comfortable with lyrics and melody in general, I'd strongly recommend reading and understanding the above before proceeding.
Song arrangement isn't literally "i want verse, then chorusx2, then verse, chorusx1 etc etc". How you arrange your song can make or break it completely.
A song arrangement would include simple things like when the bassline becomes dense from a simple, when the guitar should pluck/strum, when should the hi-hat be played open or closed. All of the above contribute to the skeleton of your arrangement. But no, we're not done yet.
To quote an acquaintance, though not in his exact words, arrangement is WRITING OUT THE ENTIRE SCORE for each part. Meaning WHEN to play WHAT exactly. So for example, we can have the rhythm instrument to play a Gm and the bass to thump the root note (G, in this case) at the same time. You COULD do that for the whole song, but that wouldn't make it particularly interesting, no?
Essentially, you'd want each part to be harmonising one another MOST of the time. It's fine for the singer, rhythm and bass to be producing the exact same note/chord all at one time, but suffice to say to have that for the entire song would be extremely monotonous. Variation is good here.
side notes
- Instrumental solos are NOT compulsory, more obligatory than anything else.
- Decide on a lead instrument early, for specific parts if applicable. It can be the drums or the bass, for the relatively adventurous. It's completely fine if there's no lead instrument.
- Ensure that when the vocalist is singing that he/she can be heard. You wouldn't want him/her to be competing with a screaming guitar solo, for example. Take it that any part with audible vocals are allowing the vocalist to be the lead.
there, my share. questions, constructive critique and add-ons are more than welcome. hope those who are interested found this useful.
