Suppose you just had a great first date and feel like writing a song about it. Clear your mind, replay the night in your head, and let your thoughts and feelings percolate. Don’t filter your thoughts or try to force yourself to write down words. Just focus on putting yourself in the moment and letting it fuel your emotions. If you get inspired and words do come to mind, write them freely without making any edits.
If an idea for a song, melody, or lyric comes to you, write it down or record yourself using a cell phone app.
Look for similarities and differences across genres and periods. Use your insights to inform your own tastes, set your musical goals, and decide the type of song you want to write. For instance, contemporary pop tracks are typically catchy, simple, and make use of repetition. Many alternative hip hop lyrics are rhythmically and thematically complex, while country lyrics often aim to tell a story with a clear beginning, middle, and end.
If you have a particular theme in mind, look to works of art with similar tones. For instance, listening to love songs or watching a romantic drama can help you get inspired if you want to write a love song of your own.
Even nonsense doodles can add colorful details to song lyrics. Suppose you drew a stick figure trying to balance an elephant, piano, and sofa on top of each other. You could use that image as a metaphor or simile in a song about dealing with tons of pressure.
Write, edit lyrics, and brainstorm music in a quiet place. You won’t be able to concentrate to the best of your ability if the television is on or there’s lots of commotion around you.
Great ideas can come in the middle of the night when you’re in a dreamy state, so keep a pad on your nightstand. Even if it doesn’t make much sense when you read it in the morning, it may be the germ of a great theme, tune, or lyric.
You may write a week’s worth of entries and find 1 or 2 lines that seem to click. Keep exploring that idea with both free-writing and purposeful writing sessions. Try to come up with passages that further develop the idea. Keep in mind good songs are often conversational. Aim for simplicity, especially when you’re first coming up with lyrics. You can worry about rhymes, rhythms, and colorful imagery later. [9] X Research source
Keep in mind you shouldn’t sacrifice meaning or emotional content just to make a rhyme. Additionally, the rhyme scheme doesn’t always have to be strict or perfect. For instance, take the lyric “Tell me something, girl / Are you happy in this modern world?” “Girl” and “world” don’t rhyme perfectly, but they share enough vowel and consonant sounds to please the ear.
Don’t worry if you don’t play an instrument. You can still come up with a catchy tune by humming or whistling. Then work with a friend or relative who plays an instrument to refine the tune and draft sheet music.
If you’ve written lyrics, ask a musical friend how they hear your words. Bounce ideas off of each other and sing the words in different improvised tunes. [14] X Research source
Sing the children’s song, “Twinkle, twinkle, little star / How I wonder what you are. ” Notice how the first line’s notes rise in pitch, then the second goes lower. The verses’ melody repeats itself, but that doesn’t mean it should be predictable or boring. Rhythm is key, so experiment with combinations of quarter, eighth, and sixteenth notes to give your melody fresh, catchy rhythmic accents.
Contrast is the key to the verse-chorus relationship. One musical passage repeated over and over isn’t interesting, so grab your listeners’ attention with rhythmically and melodically diverse sections.
