Songwriting is probably the most difficult type of writing to do. This is because you have to not only come up with the lyrics and hear the melody for the song, but you have to get the melody to fit with the lyrics and ideally, you should be able to both hear the music behind the melody as well and make everything fit into a pleasing, harmonic balance. This is MUCH more difficult that you realize. And, it is highly advisable that you have some prior musical background on a musical instrument before undertaking the writing of a song. This will allow you to use whatever instrument you have the background in to experiment with appropriate notes and chords that will go into your song.
When it comes to the song's lyrics, the first thing to do is to come up with an inspiration for them. And since music itself is such an emotional experience, a lot of times songwriters draw from emotional experiences or particular events that cause those experiences to create their songs.
The next thing to do is to realize that just like every other form of writing, songwriting has a form and a structure and particular guidelines that you can follow that might make the writing process easier. And, just like any other writer, you also have a degree of poetic license (or leeway) with the forms and structures that should appear in your song.
And so the writing process begins. First, think of your lyrics like a poem, but remember that the "poem" or song has to fit into music. Next, think of the elements that need to be in the song itself. These are:
A musical introduction
The Verses
The Chorus
A Bridge or Bridges
Musical Interludes
This all sounds complicated, so let me explain. As I do, imagine yourself listening to one of your favorite songs. The first element is the musical introduction. This is not necessarily the first thing that you will write, but it is the first part of the song that you hear. It is a short snippet of music without lyrics in the beginning of a song that introduces the tone, the mood, and the melody of the song.
The verses, the chorus and the bridges are all lyrics. That means that they are "the words" of the song that are put to the melody. The verses of a song are different and are usually (but not always) separated by the chorus. The chorus is either the same or has a very minor variation throughout the song. A lot of songwriting workshops SUGGEST that you start with writing the chorus because it is like the main artery of the song. But, if you come up with one of the verses first, you can start there, too. Some songs (not all) have bridges. What does a bridge do? It connects two things together. Think of the bridge of song the same way-as a connecting thought that corresponds similarly to the content of either the chorus or the verse that it follows. Since not all songs have bridges, they are not something to worry about yet. Finally, there are musical interludes. These are short, non-lyrical spaces between the verses, choruses, and bridges of the song.
Think of structure as you write. Here are 3 song structure examples as possible format options (there are other variations, too-but these are a few illustrations):
STRUCTURE 1:
Introduction
A
Chorus
B
Chorus
Repeat Chorus
In this structure, the Musical Introduction is first. A represents the first verse which is followed by a chorus. B represents the second verse followed by the chorus and a repeat of the chorus. Listen to "Tonight I Wanna Cry" by Keith Urban to hear this song structure and to get an idea of how your lyrics should fit together if you choose this format.
STRUCTURE 2:
Introduction
A
Chorus
B
Chorus
Bridge
Interlude
Bridge
Cho rus
Repeat Chorus
In this structure, again we have the musical introduction. Then a verse, a chorus, a verse, a chorus, a bridge, a musical interlude, a bridge, and a chorus repeated twice. This structure is much more complex than the first and does have a bridge. Remember the rules. The verses are different, choruses are either the same or slightly different and a bridge is a short connecting thought. In this case, the bridge follows the second chorus, so the lyrics for it connect with the ideas in that chorus. Listen to "What's Left of Me" by Nick Lachey to hear this structure and to hear how your lyrics might flow in this format.
STRUCTURE 3:
Introduction
A
B
Chorus
Interlude
Bridge
Chorus
C
Bridge
Ch orus
This structure is an example of where 2 verses are back-to-back with no chorus separating them. A is verse 1, B is verse 2, then a chorus, an interlude, a bridge, a chorus, a THIRD VERSE (represented by C), a bridge, and then a final chorus. Listen to Daniel Powter's "Bad Day" to hear this structure.
Once you get the lyrics written out and you put them in the structure that you want, you need to write the music. You need to first create the melody. This is the song's "tune." You can hum it to yourself and then duplicate it on a piano or other musical instrument if you wish. Once the melody is created, then you create the different chords and harmonies behind it. This is where prior music theory and a musical training background will come in very helpful. Without theory or some prior musical training, you will most likely find that you get stumped here. If you do, you can team up with a composer or an arranger who can help you to put the right music to your lyrics and melody. Have fun!