There is nothing more effective in communicating a thought or an idea quite like a song.  Songs are the most powerful medium to impact peoples lives.  Songs are used in just about every occasion known to man and songwriters are some of the most influential people on the planet.  Songwriters have an impact in your love life, relationships, religious ceremonies, your workouts, and even in some of your worse times. Songwriting is both an art and a skill that can be developed through study, repetition (consistent writing), and trial and error.

Writing songs is a fun process and the approach to songwriting is different for everyone.  If you are interested in exploring the creative expression of songwriting, here are 4 ways to write a great song.

1) Define your subject

There is nothing worse than having a song that is all over the place lyrically.  A song must have a subject in order for it to be most effective.  You have to define whether the song is about love, God, a bad relationship, politics, racial harmony, gangs, etc. in order for it to really connect with people.  Once you’ve defined the subject of your song, you now have narrowed your focus and can begin the process of writing the song efficiently.

2) Develop a catchy Hook (chorus)

Name any top song and I guarantee you will find a catchy hook.  The hook is most likely what people will remember after the first few times of listening to your song.  If the hook doesn’t grab them, nothing else will.  A hook should be the main idea of your song and the melody and lyrics of the hook should be infectious.  I’ve found out that when it comes to songs, people are really simple.  They want to connect with a simple melody and lyrics where they don’t have to do decode what you’re saying.  Get right to the point.  I have tried several ways to write songs and I find it best to develop the hook first and then everything else will flow.  Again, everyone’s process is different, so you may find other ways to approach writing your songs.

3) Use another song as a template

Until you get a good feel for song structure, you may want to use a certain song as a template for the structure of your song.  This doesn’t mean that you copy the music or lyrics from that song as that is illegal.  It does mean that you glean from the way the song is organized and you implement that approach.  Song structures generally change from genre to genre.  Usually, you don’t have a “vamp” in Pop music, but you will in Gospel music.  “Pre-choruses” are popular in some genres, and in others they are nonexistent.  Pay attention to the way some of your favorite songs are structured.

4) Make sure the song “works” with minimal music

Producing a song is different from writing a song.  At times, songwriter’s delve into discussing the production approach to songs when that is actually the producers job.  Sometimes producers and musicians who so happen to be songwriters get distracted by moving too far ahead in the process and adding sounds and special music while writing the song.  Sometimes the strength of a song can be determined by whether it flows well with just a piano and simple vocal.  Make sure the foundation of your song is strong before a producer adds all of the bells and whistles to the song.  Now, there are times when you are writing to a finished track that a producer has given you and you can’t strip down the music.  In that scenario you can ask the producer for the main beat and main keyboard on a stereo file.  Or, you can just simply write to the track with all of the music elements.  Again, there are many approaches to songwriting, but I find value in ensuring that the song is solid with minimal music.

5) Collaboration

Collaborating with other songwriters is another powerful way to write a great song.  No one has great ideas ALL of the time.  Frankly, there are some ideas you will have that will be terrible.  Collaborating with songwriters, especially seasoned ones, will challenge you.  It will challenge the way you think, the way you construct melody, and the words you use in a song.  You have to sift through music/lyrical ideas and collaboratively choose the ideas that are solid.  Sometimes this can be an intimidating process, but it is best to get the perspective of others.  Some of the best songs I have written has been through collaboration and I look forward to creating many more songs!