by Lucinda Davis

Created on: January 04, 2009

When writing a song or a poem you must first have some inspiration, an idea in mind of what you want to write about. It's not a difficult as some people say, but admittedly not everyone can do this. That is why it is called talent. You can develop talent with a little hardwork and practice. You need to be patient and committed, many people don't have the committment it takes to develop talent.

Coming from a musical family I was saturated with music, singing and performing. When I was 4 years old I was given a song to memorize for the Christmas service. I will never forget how much I practiced with my Mother. I was too young to read and back then you didn't attend school until you were 5 years old. I didn't know how to tie my shoes and barely knew my ABC's. The song was "Away In A Manger" and I had to memorize the entire song. If you are trying to instill talent or an ability in your child such as learning piano, I advise exposing them to piano each day or every other day. I was not taught how to write songs or how to compose music. My Mother could read music, my Father played by ear, meaning by listening and practice. I was first taught how to play by ear. When I was older I was taught how to read music. You don't need to know how to play an instrument or read music to write a song. If you have an imagination and can carry a tune, you can write a song.

First sit down in a quiet place where you can relax and focus on your idea. Think about it like you are telling someone a story. Many of the songs I've written were based on actual happenings and some of them I used my imagination. Practice first making up words to a tune you already know, something simple like Jingle Bells. Do several times to several different familiar tunes. Once you become comfortable with making up words in a rhythmic fashion then you can begin making up your own tunes. Like I said you don't have to know how to play an instrument or even read music. All you need is a tape recorder or a digital recorder is what I like to use. If I come up with an idea when I'm in my car, and quite often I do, then I can push one button and start recording so I remember the words and the tune.

The tune may be difficult to come up with at first, but if you play with your words, feel your music and decide where the note should go. Is this a sad song or an upbeat song? If it's sad of course your notes will drag out longer and you'll want to decide should this word go up or down?

I didn't write my first song until

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