How to write good songs??!

[jessisays]

I recently turned 14. I play guitar (pretty well with chords, but no really complicated ones) and I play a little piano by ear.

Well I've been trying to write songs, but I end up with 50, and a lot of them either have choruses and no verses, or verses and no choruses.
When I complete one (which I am not too happy with), I will try to add music, and it will not sound good to me.

So how do you write a good tune and lyrics?
Are there ways I can improve?

I am a girl, so I can write about this stupid irrelevant stuff that will be forgotten. I don't know what else to write about...I want to sing this too, as in being able to preform it. Speaking of...I think I have anxiety when I preform (which has only been a few times on stage) and I accidentally switched the verses, and the audience wasn't sure if I had made a mistake, or they learned the wrong lyrics)

But it makes me excited at the same time. But I end up being so flustered, that I can't sing very well/preform. I know what I am capable of, but how can I achieve that?


Examples of a song: (not my best, and not the complete versions)



Honestly-
I appreciate your honesty
You told me what you like
And you always speak you mind
Really
I’m not kidding when I say
What you admitted wasn’t good
And not good in a bad way

(Chorus)
Honestly this line is getting old
Honestly
This water’s getting cold
From being used too much
But I guess I’m used to such

Honestly
I’m tired of being around you
Your type is degrading
When you’re always berating
Every single thing I do
I’m through I’m through
Honestly

Honestly
Did you know I cried
When you ignored me
Cause I had really tried
Really
I wasn’t kidding when I thought
You’d hold me forever
But I guess that’s what you didn’t want

What’s with the play acting
Why were you attracting
Other people and welcoming
The attention
There’s no reenacting
What was once real
And

Honestly
Did you know
Why did you think
I would never go
When I found out
What you already knew about

(Chorus)[/SIZE]

[crooked09]

There's no easy answer, if someone knew exactly how to make good songs there would be an artist who writes only hits every time (as far as I know this person hasn't existed)

The best advice I can give is to keep writing and practicing, in many ways it might feel like work sometimes. But you've gotta just push through and try to finish something whenever possible. In my experience its better to have a few finished songs of varying quality than a stack of unfinished ones.

It's hard to be any more specific than that without hearing examples or knowing what you want. If you write lyrics that really mean something to you then there's nothing more that you can do really. If you are mainly a lyrics writer and not that into the instrument part, maybe you could try working with another person who does that

[ryanoliver]

Hmmm...I like the one when you were 12 better.

Challenge yourself to eliminate certain rhymes from your head, like: lie, die, try or love and above or heart and apart. Too often we go straight for these canned lines, which takes away from what we really meant to say.

So what makes a good song?

If people believe you or not. You can have the greatest chord progression in the world with the best lyrics ever, but if no one believes you when you sing it, it's garbage. In order for people to believe you when you sing, you have to believe in yourself. It sound cheesy but it's all about confidence. A confident singer can sing the phone book and get a standing ovation.

I thought your topics were good. Just keep writing about what you know, your songs will mature as you do. And when you're bored with what you know, make up stories and write about them. We don't have to write about our feelings all the time. I recently wrote a song about a guy who catches his girlfriend cheating on him (below), we're not just songwriters...we're storytellers.

Dandylions
by me

We drove,
way out on a country road
where no one else could see us
it was just the three of us
And my hands were blistered
when I kissed her goodbye
underneath the willow
in a field of dandylions

Can you guess what happened when he caught them in bed together?

[mindundermatter]

Just try to be the Beatles. That's the key.

[shackman]

AMAZING!! KEEP GOING!

For me - I write with my partner - she's been writing since she was ten and when we met, she had a pile of verses and choruses and no music at all. Now she's had two top ten songs - albeit in some obscure independent chart in the USA.

And we STILL - fourteen years on - have a pile of verses and choruses and lots of thenm with no music.

For me, I just KNOW when it happens. When the music, the words, the sentiment all come together, and I get all flustered and I can't perform properly - and I'm almost 50 something years old.

It's a gift and I don't KNOW whete my music comes from. What I DON'T Do is sit here and try to finish soemthing that isn't happening. I file it and occasionally revisit.

One thing you should STOP saying is "I am a girl, so I can write about this stupid irrelevant stuff that will be forgotten."

Take a look at some of the greatest pop lyrics. They're about "stuopid, irrelevant stuff" except, often, it was none of those things to the writers.

It heartens me that you've had the guts to put your stuff up here for folks to see.

Keep going: Once in a while, you'll KNOW! and the more you do this, the better you'll get.

John

[EnSkorSang]

Originally Posted by jessisays

I
So how do you write a good tune and lyrics?
Are there ways I can improve?

If there was a formula all the songs in the world would be churned out by a single computer....
there are many different kinds of good tunes and many different kinds of good lyrics and different people have different opinions.
I think people who write the best lyrics write about things that are true to themselves. I.e....If you really are a deep and emotional person...write about your...deep emotions....
Or if you are like me and the majority or your thoughts revolve around ice cream and fantastical stories (i.e. lies) then...write about that.
good tunes are more subjective, but the more you play and write, the more chance you have.

Originally Posted by jessisays

But it makes me excited at the same time. But I end up being so flustered, that I can't sing very well/preform. I know what I am capable of, but how can I achieve that?

This is easily remedied by...playing more! Its only natural to get nervous, but the more times you trudge out there, the more used to it you'll get, and if you start to get confidence in your music, it will show on stage...
Rehearse what you are going to play 100000000000000000000 times so that you are prepared for any eventuality...even rehearse what you want to say between songs (if you want to say anything). And dont try to be something you arent on stage. be yourself. And then when you get older, sneak a few whiskies before you go out.........

[mindundermatter]

I still say try to be the Beatles.

[TonyB]

Originally Posted by mindundermatter

I still say try to be the Beatles.

You got something there, because that's what John Lennon did. He always said he put himself in the shoes of his favorite songwriters.

[rexde]

Originally Posted by mindundermatter

I still say try to be the Beatles.

I once heard Joe Walsh give the following advice to aspiring musicians:
"Learn every Beatles song. That's what I did."

[spaceonthebass]

Originally Posted by rexde

I once heard Joe Walsh give the following advice to aspiring musicians:
"Learn every Beatles song. That's what I did."

Hey...my first post! =)

I've always liked the beatles despite being mostly into funk/rn'b/soul, but lately I've been listening heavily to the beatles and I'm now a huge fan. They were very creative and I admire them a lot so that's good advice, I think!

I'm also starting to compose again after a hiatus of a few years...and it can be very frustating. My main instrument is the bass and although I can play well enough I always have a hard time coming up with a bass line that I really like. But what I've learned lately (and this is where I make my contribution to this thread) is that you should always record or write down your ideas, all of them...good and bad. Just last night I recorded a bass track that I felt that was horrible, but listening to it again today I realized it wasn't that bad and maybe I can elaborate it to become good, hopefuly.