What should you write first when writing a song?

For your first song, I recommend starting with a song that you are passionate about or that makes you feel something. After you find your topic, brainstorm interesting song titles that creatively express the feeling you're looking for. After you have a rhythm and feel like you love it, start writing those lyrics. Starting with a title will help you focus on a single idea of the song.

Create a one- to six-word phrase that summarizes the essence of what you want to say. Or search for an interesting phrase that suggests a situation or emotion. Try using an image in the title to give you more interest or a word of action to give you energy. For more tips on writing song titles, read Write a memorable title or watch this video.

How do you write your first song? Whether you want to write a song for presentation to music publishers, television shows and commercials, or record it yourself as an artist, this is a songwriting method that will help you convey your message and ensure that your listeners are involved from start to finish. That said, there are certainly artists who break the mold and write songs without a proper chorus. Whether you write the lyrics first, collaborate with other writers, or create lyrics that suit your music, your goal is to find the perfect combination that somehow expresses the theme of the song, conveys the right mood, and drives and inspires you (and your audience) to want to listen to it. So if you have doubts, remember that when writing songs, or any type of composition, to suck less, write more.

It's a simple and reliable process that will help you write a song of virtually any genre over and over again, whatever level of experience you're at. So if you want to write a memorable song that people call “good”, you need to connect emotionally with the listener. If you're doing both, you can write them at the same time you're writing the music, or focus on each one individually. Many composers say that the talent for writing songs is a special gift, whether you have it or not.

Although he lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival liked to write songs about the deep South and, in particular, about the swamp. While it is true that there are many songs that use the same four-chord progression at all times, my personal recommendation is to write new chords for the verses. In fact, one of the best ways to create some chords for your song is to write a four-chord progression.