Song writing from
scratch
A resource for KS3
The Delia Smith approach to song-writing:
Simple ingredients done well
All you need is:
• A pencil and paper
• A chord instrument – guitar, keyboard, autoharp etc
• Something to record with – either manuscript paper, pencil
and rubber, or a mobile phone, voice recorder, midi
keyboard etc (from now on, ‘record’ means write notation
or record audio)
Choose Key and Style
Choose A Key where you know at least these chords;
Major key I IV V vi
(eg. in C: C F G Am)
Minor key i bIII bVI bVII
(eg. In Am: Am C F G)
Choose A Style
Imagine a band you like, performing a song you haven’t heard
before.
This will give the tempo, singing style, characteristic chord
changes, strum pattern, phrases, instruments etc.
Or choose a song or musical style to copy
Where to start
Most songs follow this structure
Verse1  Chorus
Verse2  Chorus
Bridge
Verse3  Chorus
(with an optional Intro using Verse or Chorus material;
Verse 3 is sometimes omitted)
So we just need to write:
• Verse
• Chorus
• Bridge
Thinking about the structure
• Initially, start with the melody: let it suggest the chords, and
add the lyrics last.
• If you choose to start with chords (a common approach), it’s
hard to resist the melody following them . . . so the melody
ends up without a distinctive character or quality
• A melody is built up from phrases so choose a simple phrase
– borrow one or imagine your own (see example 1)
• It can come from anywhere – rock, classical, folk, hiphop,
guitar solos... originality doesn’t matter – when you’ve
finished, it won’t be recognisable
• Just ONE phrase - work out which beat of the bar it starts on
• Record it
Creating the Verse melody
• Generate more phrases from the first
• You can:
 Copy the phrase verbatim
 Add notes to the phrase
 Subtract notes to make a melody (see example 2),
working one or two bars at a time
• Add Chords to this couple of bars:
 Hum the melody so far and try chords I IV V vi (major)
or i bIII bVI bVII (minor)
 Try chords until you have a sequence you like (see
example 3)
Use these options to add more phrases
• Copy – original or modified version, and
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•
•
•
•
•
Add or subtract notes (see example 5)
Alter timing – move timing of some notes (see example 4)
Alter pitches – move pitches of some notes (example 5)
Shift timing – move timing of whole phrase (example 5)
Shift pitches – move pitch of whole phrase (example 4)
Answer the phrase (example 5)
• After adding each new phrase, add chord/s as you go
• Choose custom or stock chord changes (see next slide)
Stock Chord Changes - Major
• I vi IV V
• I vi
• I V vi IV
• I IV I V
• I bVII IV
Blue Moon, Beautiful Girls, Stand By Me, Every
Breath You Take, Complicated, Girls Just Wanna
Have Fun, Bleeding Love
From Me To You, Buffalo Soldier, My Sweet
Lord, That’s Entertainment, The Locomotion
I’m Yours, No Woman No Cry, Torn, Fall At Your
Feet, With Or Without You, Let It Be, Since
You’ve Been Gone
Lion Sleeps 2nite RockinAllOverTheWorld
Sweet Home Alabama, Sweet Child O’ Mine,
Can’t Get Enough, Back In Black, Won’t Get
Fooled Again
Stock Chord Changes - Minor
• i bVII bVI
•
•
•
•
All Along The Watchtower, Don’t Fear The
Reaper, Stairway To Heaven, Rolling In The
Deep
i bVI
Something In The Way, Californication, Sober,
I Shot The Sheriff, Papa Don’t Preach
i bVI bIII bVII One Of Us, Save Tonight, Patience,
Complicated, IfIWere A Boy
i bIII bVII IV Boulevard Of Broken Dreams, Run To You,
Wonderwall, Mad World, Piece of Me, Fly
Away
See the site ‘The Axis of Awesome’ for more stock chord
songs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHBVnMf2t7w
Chorus - The Singalong Bit (see example 6)
Use the same process as the Verse to write the Chorus
To create the buzz, make a musical high point by using:
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•
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Much more repetition of phrases
Notes in a higher register than the verse
Dynamics, texture and arrangement
Different chord changes or rate of change
Bridge (see example 6)
Use the same process as the verse to create the bridge
Now take the song somewhere else by:
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•
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Using new phrases/different rhythm
Using different chord changes
Changing the rate that chords change
Leading back into the verse at the end
Lyrics - principles
‘Lyrics are pitched mouth noises’ - Frank Zappa
So lyrics just have to sound good, not mean anything.
No one likes a song for its great lyrics if the melody is no good,
but many good songs’ lyrics are gibberish
(Teen Spirit, Wonderwall, All You Need Is Love, etc).
Lyrics - strategies
So you can:
• Sing the melody with gibberish vowels and record it. Play it
back, write down what it sounds like, and impose a bit of
grammar as you go (Oasis)
• Allusion – refer to a story only you know about without
explanation (Dylan)
• Pick a title and free associate. Rhyme if you feel like it
(Nirvana)
• Choose a phrase or saying that fits part of your tune, then
fill in the rest like a crossword (Beatles)
• Musical diary – ordinary day to day stuff (Madness, Kinks,
Ian Dury)
Some final tips . . .
• Pull other songs apart to see how they’re made. Use the
ingredients in your work.
• These are just suggestions; if you have a better idea, use it
• There’s nothing wrong with simple
• Don’t be critical of your work at first
• Don’t worry about being original – you might, you might not.
It’s a pointless modern obsession that will only hold you
back.
• Being original is no guarantee of quality; most original ideas
are no good.
Some final tips . . . continued
• Work out your song-writing muscles. If you write 200 songs,
I guarantee the 200th will be better than the first.
• If an idea doesn’t work, try something else
• ‘Influences’ are other people’s ideas – AKA being inspired
by, borrowing, stealing etc
• Keep building – don’t review what you’ve already written,
get on to the next bit
• Try repeating a phrase over changing chords