How Hard Is It For An Adult To Learn How To Write Songs?
Whether you’re an Ed Sheeran fan or a supporter of indie music, you may have wondered what it takes to write your own songs. Perhaps you have a tune floating around in your head, or maybe you’ve written a booklet of lyrics that you aren’t sure what to do with.
Regardless of your stage in life, it’s never too late to learn the art of songwriting. The depth and complexity of your songs is entirely up to you, but whether you choose to work with a teacher or embark on a songwriting course on your own, you can get started today.
How Hard Is It To Learn To Write Songs?
Simple songs with a basic chord structure and melody are not particularly difficult to write, and you can most likely have your first song written within 3-4 months. You will need to identify 3-5 chords that will serve as your accompaniment, and you will need to be able to notate the tune.
You can expedite the process if you have a friend or acquaintance who has experience at the piano or guitar – they will be able to add chords for you and write down the melody as you dictate.
How To Start Writing Songs
Learn the Basics of Music
Your ability to write songs will dramatically improve when you learn notes and the chords they create. Start by learning notes on the treble and bass clefs: A, B, C, D, E, F, G. You will want to identify them on the keys of the piano and on the bass clef and treble clef.
Next, learn what a triad (a chord stacked in thirds) is. Start with C, and build a C Major chord – this is C, E, G. Proceed to D Major, E Major, Etc. We highly recommend that you take some piano lessons in San Antonio to get professional help learning your chords and notes, although there are many helpful tutorials on YouTube.
From there, you’ll want to learn the differences among major, minor, diminished, and augmented chords. The amount of color you can add to a song by simply turning a plain minor chord into a diminished chord is amazing.
Lastly, you will want to familiarize yourself with common chord progressions. You’ll need to know what the various scale degrees:
- I
- Ii
- Iii
- IV
- V
- Vi
- VII
And once you have those in your pocket, you can build scales on those scale degrees. From there you can explore the V7 chord, Major 7s, and Minor 7s – these also add a tremendous amount of depth to your music.
Learn How To Notate Rhythm
You will need to learn sixteenth notes, eighth notes, quarter notes, half notes, dotted half notes, and whole notes at a minimum. Otherwise you won’t be able to notate your music for yourself or others.
You will also need to learn time signatures: 4/4 time, ¾ time, 2/4 time, and perhaps even 6/8 (compound time). You can write plenty of songs in ¾ and 4/4 time, but you’ll have more options with a complete skill set.
Listen To Copious Amounts of Music
What you listen to will influence your songs, so plan your musical intake accordingly. Additionally, once you’ve learned the basics of music listed above, you will be able to identify those patterns, chords, and rhythms while listening. This will allow you to add those elements to your own songs.
For instance, you’ll be able to Identify Blues patterns, common chord progressions in pop tunes, or perhaps the arpeggios and simplicity of Adele’s most popular songs.
Fill your mind with country, folk, rock, blues, hip hop, and other music, and watch your songwriting ability evolve before your very eyes.
Improve Your Vocal Chops
You’ll most likely want to be able to perform your own songs, and developing confidence in your voice will be important. You don’t need to be at the level of a professional opera singer, but you’ll want to learn how to breathe correctly, how to sing without tension, and how to add color to your tone; for instance, you may want to introduce a gravely sound, breathiness, or chest voice. If you prefer the latter sound, you will want to take a few voice lessons in NYC – you can injure your voice and even develop vocal nodes if you practice incorrectly.
Start Writing Songs – It’s The Best Way To Learn
Contrary to what many people think, good songwriters don’t rely on inspiration to start working. Moments of inspiration certainly help, but you need to practice writing songs by working at it daily. Spend a few minutes writing lyrics, then invest a few minutes in writing melodies that will accompany the lyrics. After that, you can play around with different chords and progressions to accompany your melody.
In short, spend a few months learning the fundamentals of music, then get to work practicing your songwriting ability. Within six months, you could have your first set of original songs.
