How to make your own song

Songwriting is a very useful skill that can come in handy in many areas such as the music industry, television, advertising, and others. You can write lyrics both for yourself to start your own career in music, and for other artists. Therefore, many aspiring musicians often wonder how to write their own song at home.

In fact, anyone can do it! This only requires some basic knowledge of the musical instrument you are using, such as a guitar or a piano, an idea and the correct technique. Special programs such as Amped Studio can also help with this, where you can not only record and edit your composition, but also share it with the whole world.

But writing a good song is notoriously difficult. After all, professional songwriters spend their entire careers in pursuit of success. But everyone has to start with something, and it doesn’t take a musical genius to make quality material. In fact, there are so many different ways to do this that each songwriter has their own unique workflow and style. While there are no rules here, there are a few simple steps you can follow to learn how to write songs, which we’ll cover in a moment.

Creating music

Choose a style

Decide in which genre you want to work on your song. Different genres of music have certain classical features that you can use. If you are writing a song in a country style, you can take a steel guitar and create your melodies and lyrics on loss and hardship. If you are writing a rock song, you can apply power chords and write lyrics on protest.

Create an arrangement

Necessary equipment

Arrangement is a big topic in music. It includes such concepts as key, tempo, instruments, vocal chords, and more. While the arrangement seems daunting, it isn’t if you’re working in DAW.

Experiment with music production software. If you don’t know how to play a musical instrument, don’t let that stop you from writing songs! Many people use music programs such as Amped Studio for creating their own music, especially electronic artists. This program has a huge number of ready-made drum sounds, basses, chords, and melodies available online, allowing you to manipulate and combine them in endless ways to write your own songs.

In addition, the program allows you to experiment with synthesizer sounds, guitar effects, apply filters, and much more. You can also add standalone plugins with entire libraries of new sounds to the standard software sounds. The possibilities are truly endless.

You can read how to use Amped Studio for songwriting and try recording your own song online.

Decide on the rhythm

Choose the rhythm and beats that match the mood and genre of your own song. Faster tempos are best for funny or chaotic songs such as techno and punk rock. Sad or emotional tracks like pop and country tend to have a slower rhythm. If your song doesn’t fit into any of these categories, you can try the mid-tempo approach, which is typical of classical rock music.

For example, the punk rock style usually has a fast, dynamic rhythm and uses a 4/4 timing (a beat is a quarter note lasting 1 second and each measure has 4 beats). Reggae music often uses syncopated beats that are played out of rhythm to convey an unconventional atmosphere. Try searching the internet to find out which rhythm is used in the specific genre of music you want to play.

Develop a melody

To start writing your own song, you need to develop a basic melody using the piano or guitar. Even if you’re not going to use these instruments, it’s easy to experiment with them when it comes to creating a melody. Start by playing with common tonalities such as G, A, C, D, E, and F. Be aware of the intended theme of the song and choose tonality that you think can convey it.

Develop the melody using major and minor keys. Use scales in your chosen key to convey the mood you are trying to express. Experiment with different tunes until you find one that sounds and suits right for you. Primary keys are generally considered to be happy, optimistic, or energetic. Small scales are usually considered melancholic or emotional. For example, D minor is often referred to as the saddest key. C major is one of the best-sounding keys. Depending on the theme of the song, you can also alternate between major and minor keys to convey a wide variety of feelings.

Take training

Take guitar lessons if you need help writing your own song at home. You don’t need to master a guitar to do this, but it does help to learn the basics, such as how to create different notes, play chords, and experiment with settings. You can find a local guitar teacher at your nearest music store or search online.

You may also consider using online video tutorials to refine your skills. Once you understand the basics, start experimenting with melodies for your song and use your guitar to develop ideas.

Seek help from a contributor if you need help writing music. If you’re coming up with elements for your own song that you can’t create yourself, consider asking a musically gifted friend to join you in the writing process.

Writing lyrics

Song structure

With a great basic idea and general direction, you need some structure to get your song into shape. Many songwriters consider structure to be the hardest part of songwriting, but that doesn’t have to be a sticking point.

In fact, the vast majority of popular songs are based on only a few possible structures. Most songs have three key building blocks: verse, chorus, and bridge:

Verse is the section that builds and develops the story.

Chorus is a repeating piece that usually contains the most direct expression of the main idea of a song. It is also the most memorable moment.

Bridge is a contrasting section that leads the track in a different direction before returning to the verse or chorus. Bridges are commonly used to shake up a pattern and make familiar elements like the chorus more powerful.

This structure is standard, but your design doesn’t have to follow it in order to work.

Choose a title

It may sound counterintuitive, but one of the easiest ways to come up with ideas for your own song is to think about potential titles. Listen to and search for particularly memorable or meaningful phrases in TV shows, movies, books, and everyday conversations, and write them down in your notebook or on your phone. You can also name the song when you write the melody and lyrics.

It would also be helpful to have a list of questions to ask about your title. Then by the end of the song, the lyrics can help you answer all those questions. For example, in the song Heartbreak hotel, Elvis asks the questions: “What is a hotel of broken hearts?” “What is happening there?” and “Where is it?”, and then answers all these questions in his text.

Write down ideas

Whenever a good idea comes to mind, you need to be prepared. The fixation of musical fragments at the moment of inspiration is a key part of the author’s work. If you create a box of ideas, you can come back to them later. In addition to this, creativity helps shape the mindset of the author. The more you pay attention to it, the more often you find new ideas.

You can start keeping a special diary of your own lyrics in order to form a similar habit. This could be a notebook in which you write down phrases, fragments of words, or other written material to be used in the song. Many authors keep diaries like this for sudden flashes of inspiration or for sketching ideas that come to them throughout the day. Keeping a diary is a great first step to learning how to write lyrics.

Write verses

Write a verse based on the themes presented in the chorus. Your lyrics should use strong images and specific examples to develop more vague themes in the chorus.

After you have written the first verse, the next two will be easier and faster to write. At the same time, they should follow the same lyrical and melodic patterns as your first verse, but contain new information.

Also decide if you want to add a bridge to your own song. It’s like another chorus that is only played once and introduces the themes of your song in a new way. Use your bridge to liven up your song by singing new words in a new key, or with different chords in the same key. Make sure the bridge text is as vague as your chorus text. Do not enter new details.

Record your song

After you’ve written your own song at home and memorized it, you should record it. You can use various devices to do this, such as a telephone, a voice recorder, or a camcorder. You can also record a track directly in Amped Studio, since all the necessary instruments are already built into the program. When you already have a recording, be sure to make a copy of it or upload it to the cloud. So you will never forget your song or lose it.

How to promote your song

You can use different tools to promote your own tracks, here are some of them:

Post your material on dedicated websites and social media like SoundCloud, Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok.

Spread your music by leaving comments on blogs, forums, and other social networks, but don’t spam! This will lead to a loss of trust in you and can potentially annoy people.

Ask people for feedback, but don’t get angry if the response is negative. You can never please everyone.

Submit your content to Spotify. It is currently one of the most popular ways to listen to music in the world, so you should be where everything is!

Check out your local radio stations, blogs, and podcasts. Outdated promotion methods shouldn’t be ruled out. Local radio stations need new music rotation.

Conclusion

Writing good lyrics is one of the most enjoyable experiences for a musician. It may seem difficult at first when thinking about how to record your own song, but in reality everyone can do it with some effort and learning the basics.

Songwriting has many stages from inspiration to creating final lines and chords. But discovering each of them is a fun part of the creative journey which will help you grow as an artist. This guide will be a great start to writing your first song.