Many creators are wary of learning how songwriting actually works – as if it makes their music less “real.” However, the more you know about the basic building blocks, the better equipped you will be to create well-written songs that stand out in the crowd.
All musicians will agree that a song is more than just lyrics and a tune, but what exactly is a song? Is it the sounds that come out of your earphones? Or does it have more to do with the musical composition and the singer’s performance of those lyrics?
A song can be as simple as a sequence of notes played on a flute (or a flute-like instrument like a recorder) or as complex as a full musical arrangement with multiple verses and choruses. It can be a combination of melodies, harmonic progressions, rhythms and harmonies, and chord changes. It can make you cry, laugh, or dance – or even think. A song is a combination of all these things, but more importantly, it is something that connects to people and inspires them to take action in their own lives or even in the world around them.
Most songs fall into one or more music genres. A folk song, for example, may focus on traditional stories and events from an area’s history while an art song typically has a more sophisticated accompaniment to underpin, embellish or illustrate the vocal line. Even the most popular songs tend to blend aspects of one or more genres, and some top the charts in two or more genres at once.