1 of 10

Write now Article Tools

Page 2 of 2

to a patterned series of your three guitar chords. You can have the first melody on the first and third lines and the other on the second and fourth, or you could have two lines of the first melody and two lines of the second. This group of four lines is the first verse. Look at the verse, what the lyrics might be saying, and the way they are saying it. Your second and third verses (the other A sections) will say slightly different things in the same way, using the same melody and the same pattern of melody and guitar chords.

At the end of each of your verses, there will be a chorus. This is simply your favorite melody and set of lyrics that you have come up with while playing these chords and working on this song. Even if this is only one line, just repeat the line a few times, changing up the chords a little. If it is a few lines, you may only have to play it once. It is important that this chorus is distinguishable from the verse. It is usually more lively with more lofty lyrics. You will play this part after each A section. If the song is short (under three minutes), play it twice at the end instead of once. It is important to let your songwriting process by guided by what it feels good for you to play.

For the B section, it's just like a different verse. If you had a melody and sequence of those three chords that you liked, but that wasn't as good as the first verse, put it here. If not, just come up with another one. This section doesn't have to be too long. It's basically like a seventh inning stretch. It's like saying, "You've had to listen to this crappy song for a while now, so I'll give you a little quiet time." Then, after a sufficient amount of quiet time, you can build back up into a more exciting version of the first verse (you can use different lyrics or the same lyrics as the first verse, thereby only having to write two verses. While this method is also really stupid, it feels nice to hear that familiar first part in the song again.).

After the B section and the last A section, play the chorus at least once, singing it as if you really meant it, but you're also pretty tired about having to explain it, so you're going to wind this thing down.

That's it. As a disclaimer, I must say: If this method works for you and you are able to produce songs that sound like well-crafted, insightful folk songs and people get into them, please do not allow yourself to believe you are making well-crafted, insightful folk songs, as this is the reason there is so much terrible folk music being made. If you find it to be very easy to make folk songs, it should only illustrate to you that there's no reason to throw more of this junk onto the already gigantic pile. Also, if you do not have a southern accent, it is best not to sing with a southern accent, even though it may sometimes feel cool. Thank you for your time.

Learn more about this author, John Rixey.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

• << previous page
• 1
• 2

Add your voice

Know something about How to write a folk song?
We want to hear your view. Write now!