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How To Write A Song - A Review Of Useful Websites

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Have You Ever Wanted To Write A Song?

Have you ever wanted to write a song, or just wanted to improve your songwriting skills?

That's where I found myself recently. Of course I had read books, browsed the web and generally looked around to see what material was out there and available to help me to improve and write better songs. I have been writing songs since I was fourteen and at school when I was bought my first guitar as a birthday present. That's quite a time ago as I am near to retirement age now. In that time I have written what I think of as passable songs but never anything outstandingly brilliant. I don't suppose that I will now however, I still like to knock out a few chords on the guitar and work on a lyric. I get a great deal of satisfaction from this hobby of mine. You will find three of my own songs included throughout the lens, hope you find that you can enjoy them.



I wanted to collect all the available information on writing songs into one place and so the idea for this page was born. I will list Squidoo pages with a song writing theme and also any other free song writing tips from other areas of the internet. I may move on to professional song writing lessons in due course.

One of my Songs,

This 'n' That

Just as a little taster of where I am coming from, I would like to present on of my recent songs. You may get the impression that I am still stuck in the sixties - and you would be right where my song writing is concerned. Maybe that's one area I should look at?
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Are You A Songwriter?

Would You Like To Write Songs?

Singer song writer

Even if you don't intend to be a famous rock / country / blues / classical singer, would you like to write your own songs as a creative exercise.

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Songwriting Pages By Artyfax

I have started to add what I hope will be helpful articles to help the budding songwriter. The first is about finding an idea for a song and structuring the lyric to make it memorable.
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Song Writing Help On Squidoo

A List Of Pages Offering Help On Tips And Techniques

I have garnered a list of lenses which offer tips and techniques on Song Writing. At the moment I have not ranked these for their content, on the basis that different people will react (learn) in different ways. Perhaps if the same thing is mentioned in several different ways it will be absorbed more completely.

I will however be using some of these to create some new songs in the forthcoming weeks and months and I will be commenting on how helpful I found each lens personally. You may want to take this added advice or perhaps tofind out which you are particularly taken with yourself.

I have also included a few lenses about marketing your songs / lyrics. If you do come up with something big then why not make use of it.

If you have or know of a lens which I have left out, please let me know by using the comment box below.
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Song Writing Tips

From Amazon

OK, these guys have given thier all to offer you advice - hoever sometimes you might just want to see what a professional has to offer.
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Song Writing Help from the internet

Lots of links, you will need to be selective and find out if they offer exactly what you need. In the fullness of time I will review the sites but my aim in the first instance has been to collect the links and make them available. As I said above different people will learn in different ways so that it is difficult to be more specific at this point. I hope the list will prove to be of help.
International Songwriters Association
Commercial enterprise offering a magazine with tips and interviews with songwriters and business people. Also offers services from critique of your lyrics to demo recordings.
Ultimate Song Writing.com
A very far reaching site offering help on all aspects of song writing and the business of writing songs
Something Out of Nothing: 21 Songwriting Tips
worth reading
Songwriting Techniques
from the same author as above, taking the article a little further, don't miss this one either
Tom Hess Music Corporation
Song writing techniques. Seems like a good read, part one of a series.
Song Wrting Techniques
Good from the point of view of structure anad form
Songwriting Techniques | Melody, Hit Songs
short postings, I have only looked at a couple but there could be something of interest. Commercial site
The muse's muse
Some good tips delivered in several short articles
Graham Gouldman's top ten tips
Grahame Gouldman wrote such classics as For Your Love (Yardbirds). I'm Not In Love ( 10cc) and Bus Stop ( The Hollies). With such a background you had better listen to what he has to tell you.

Another Of My Songs

Just thought that you might like to hear another of my own songs, "It's Later Than You Think".

I don't think I have ever used particular techniques in writing songs. My own favourite method is to sit down with the guitar and start strumming. An idea, phrase or tag will come into my head and match with a chord sequence. I simply build on the idea and a song arrives. Of course, maybe this is why my songs are never real big winners. A little bit of forethought or planning might well have an enormous effect. On the other hand................... who knows?
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Rhyming And Its Usage

Links To Useful Resources

It doesn't seem to be abig thing these days for modern songs, but I guess I still like to hear it done properly. For me rhyming seems to add a little something, maybe even a little magic, to the lyric and the song. Lots of resources to help with this abound on the internet and I am hoping to cover a number of these which could be helpful to you. I will add more for other aspects of writing songs as I improve and modify this lens. As usual I see it as a work in progress and hope that it will be accepted as such.
Rhymer
Rhymer is a free on-line rhyming dictionary, offering six different types of rhyme. This seems to be a very wide ranging search of words that give both storng and weak rhymes. You may find you need to be selective. But on the other hand, the more rhymes you have the more creative you can be.
Wiki Rhymer
WIKI rhymer, claims to be the best on-line rhyming dictionary. A claim I have not substantiated but why not try it for yourself. It seems to have a separate engine for weak rhymes ( eg those rhymes which are almost but not quite there but will work in the right place)
Write Express
Write _express seems to use Rhymer (see above)
Ultimate Songwriting
Ultimate songwriting.com is a site with lots of tips ( it claims) for writing good songs, this link is to the page on how to use rhymes. It is a blatantly comercial site, but it is up to you to pick what you need from its many pages of tips, etc. It also has a page dedicated to using a rhyming dictionary, and cautions using a rhyme for its own sake, make sure it fits naturally.
Types Of Rhyme
Michael Thomas has written a comprehensive explanation of the different types of rhyme. A good idea to at least understand the main points.
How To Use Rhymes
Song writing fever 3 has a page on using rhymes. Why and how. A short tutorial but opens the way to more information.
Advice on using Rhymes
A short article on rhyming ( Samantha Gonzalez), again you are urged to be natural and consider wether you need to rhyme at all. Something the commercial sites selling rhyming dictionaries or software never mention.

Adding Colour To A Song Using Chords

Chord Stucture And Harmony

OK you have a lyric and a melody; the lyric has been stuctured to provide interest and the melody is something that you feel like whistling all day. What else is there to do. Adding a few possibly unexpected, chords in the right places can add so much to the overall feel of a song. This list of sites provides information which will help you to do this.

Harmony essentials, chord structures and bass lines. It all seems so complicated but doesn't have to be. Why not experiment with a few well-placed chords, a simple chord riff or even a little silence at a crucial point. get to know a few basic ideas and the world may be your oyster.
Putting chords to an existing melody
A few simple home truths about the basic s of adding chords and a bass line to an existing melody. Every musician needs a little understanding of the steps involved in this.
Use Modal Mixture Chords for Added Colour
A short blog post with a useful tip about using modal mixtures - using chords that you would not normally find in the key that you are working in.
5 Ideas for Perking Up a Boring Chord Progression
This is by the same writer as the above link, in this post he gives 5 useful ideas including a link to that post. Common but often forgotten ways of adding colour to chord progressions
Chord sequence generator
A free guide to chord sequences with help given to automatically generate chord sequences.
CHORDS PROGRESSION GENERATOR
Another random chord sequence generator, may be good for a little inspiration

Do You Need a Guitar?

Amazon Has Lots On Offer

As I said The guitar is the catalyst for mysong writing, but you will have your own instrument of choice. Even if it is only a couple of fingers on a cardboard box - rythm is important when constructing lyrics.
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Tips On Less Common Aspects Of Songwriting

Help From Blogs On Songwriting

There are many aspects of writing songs (performing, getiing them published or even sold) which I have found are covered well in two blogs I follow. Occasionally, a musician / songwriter will strike it lucky and it appears that all you need is that one chance to become succesful. However as with most things in life, hardwork increases your prospects of finding that chance which brings success.

There are many more blogs on the subject of songwriting, which give technical tips
BloggingMuses
Songwriting tips, some basic but lots of very useful insights. describes itself as The #1 Songwriting blog
Success For Your Songs.com
Blog / newsletter which aims to provide valuable peripheral knowledge to songwriters of all skill levels.
The Essential Secrets Of Songwriting
Technical tips to help improve your songs
Musiic Publishing and Songwriting
Tiips from a publisher on making money from your songwriting

Songwriting In the News

What is the world saying about song writing?
Tenacious D Talks Comeback, the Death of Rock and How to Write the Best Song ...
THR: I've read that is your goal with every song you write to write the ?best song ever.? What goes into making the ?best song ever,? and how do you know if it is that? Gass: A lot of blood, sweat and tears, I'd say. Black: It's just one of those ...
Composer, Musician John Gordon to Write Theme Song for Reality Series ''Toast ...
Having toured with the band for several years, Gordon decided that it was the process of writing and producing that really made him tick. He started writing for other artists; to date his songs have appeared on more than 50 records worldwide.
Carly Rae Jepsen: 'I Want to Do Justin Bieber Proud'
It was a pretty easy song to write. I think it was a little before Christmas. What first sparked the idea? Was there an actual guy you were thinking about? Oh, there's always a guy ? and this case is no different. The first line was, "Before you came ...
Rhythm & Words Festival showcases music for kids
Mailander said they started writing songs for kids partly because "we still feel like we're kids at heart." They cite influences from classic folk singers such as Woody Guthrie to more contemporary influences like Dawes and Justin Townes Earle.
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OK Then It's Your Turn

Sound Off About Song Writing

I have tried to be fairly complete but of course there is a mass of articles and stuff on the internet on this subject. If there is anything you think should be added to these lists please let me know. I intend to add information to links covering other aspects, but if you would like to see something in particular, then please ask.

Or maybe there is a brick that I've dropped and you want to tell me about it, well I would love that too. In fact anything at all to get off your chest (about songwriting or this lens) would be more than welcome.

  • KarenTBTEN May 8, 2011 @ 3:38 pm | delete
    There are a lot of resources here to look back at.
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Table of Contents

One Last Final Song From My Repetoire

Here It Is..................

This one is called, " Going To The City". Thanks for getting this far and hope you enjoyed the songs and found the links / lenses helpful.
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Who Is Artyfax?

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You can see all my lenses listed by category on my directory page. Categories include art, atc/aceo, photography, music, song writing, home-cooking, quizes and zazzle related lenses.



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artyfax

As well as being a bit of an artist, I have a passionate interest in music. I stated writing songs whilst still at school and have written quite a few... more »

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