How to write a great song
Most people do not just wake up one day and decide to write a song. Most importantly, songwriters are huge music fans. We are deeply moved by music—to the extent that we know exactly what we like and dislike, regardless of a song’s popularity, public status, or the opinions of our friends.
A songwriter is someone who so loves music that you constantly sing along. One day, you decide that singing is not enough. You pick up a guitar for the first time, or sit in front of the keyboard, and you begin the long, enjoyable (but at first challenging) process of learning to play the songs you love.
As time goes by, you continue to build a massive music collection / soundtrack to your life. You also learn the chords and play almost every day. Without any goals or intentions, you gradually get better over the years.
One day, you become a little bored with the idea of learning to play yet another cover song. You start playing around with some of the chord progressions used in your favorite songs. You try different combinations, guided only by what sounds good to you. Eventually, you come across something that sounds so good that you get a bit excited.
From this beautiful feeling of inspiration, and without any thought, you sing whatever comes to your mind. You play and experiment with the melodies, just as you did with the chords, until you find something that inspires you further and makes you feel even more excited. You take out the voice recorder app on your phone and capture it. Do not forget to say what the chords are at the end of your little demo (you might forget later).
Now you have the foundation for a song. On a few occasions, I was able to create an entire song that felt complete this easily. Most of the time, I take the foundation and go to my laptop to start writing. This can be done the same day, or you can wait a while and listen to the demo again to see if you still like it.
While this final stage of the songwriting process involves some work, it is important that you feel good during the process. If you are not enjoying it, just stop. Nothing beautiful can be created from a place of not feeling good—and the purpose of great music is to inspire, to invoke awareness of beauty, and to communicate in the language of emotion.
Guided entirely by your own intuition and tastes, you continue to play with the words and melodies. If what you hear is not awesome, try something else. If it feels perfect, leave it. If you feel differently about it next week, change it. Keep going between your instrument and your computer until every part of the song, all the transitions, the whole thing feels even better than the songs you like. If you hit a brick wall, just put that song aside and come back later if you feel inspired.
You may spend years writing songs and very few become so great that they are better than what you listen to. Not every song turns out. Organize them into category A, B, and C. Keep writing. Play the best songs for your friends. Play them on your own. Notice which ones you want to play most. Enjoy the music and your accomplishment. You are a songwriter.
Great songwriting is a natural, unplanned, slowly evolving journey undertaken by the true music fan. In my experience, the best songs are written by music fans, not trained musicians. Too often, professionally trained musicians have become detached from their musical taste. Their tastes are corrupted by the external authorities (teachers). The trained musician fears making a mistake, not being good enough, and the process isn’t as playful.
Through the enjoyable, slow process I have described, the required technical aspects of music are understood at a deep enough level to create beauty. Too much analysis and technical perfection detracts from what gives music its value: its ability to emotionally communicate. For example, if a song is written from ambition, it will annoy the listeners with the emotion of ambition. If a song is written to be technically impressive, it will weigh the listeners down and fail to lift them up emotionally.
You want to write songs that leave your audience feeling inspired, positive, free, playful, and confident enough to trust their own feelings. This is communication, and true communication can only happen between two people who are honest and open. Greatness must be real and genuine. There is no hack, and you cannot fake it.
One day, you become bored with just writing. Now you decide to record. Perhaps that is a different post. Have fun with your songwriting. Check out Abscondo music anywhere you normally find music! We continue, in truth, beauty, and freedom, tomorrow and each day after that.