Songwriting Help - 3 Quick & Easy Solutions To Help You Complete Your Song And Become A Better Songwriter
Are you looking for songwriting help because you get stuck while trying to think of the best way to continue or finish a song you are writing? This situation is certainly frustrating and you may feel tempted to give up – but don't quit just yet! Truth is, this problem is quite common and is easier to fix than you think. The reason why many songwriters struggle to complete their songs is they don't understand how to connect one musical idea (or section) to another in a way that feels 'smooth' and 'makes sense' with the overall sound of the rest of the music. This causes them either seek help writing their song or quit prematurely and leave potentially great songs unfinished.
In this article, you are going to get fast songwriting help in the form of techniques that will help you smoothly connect together two separate parts of a song. Once you are able to connect your music together in a smooth and flowing manner, you will be able to:
- Minimize the amount of time it takes to write a completed piece of music so you can write a lot of great songs in a fraction of the time.
- Write musical parts for your songs that work together well 'as a whole' instead of sounding like a collection of 'random ideas'.
- Keep your music interesting and engaging for the duration of an entire song, leaving you more satisfied with the finished product.
Note: Before I show you several techniques to help you with your songwriting, understand the following:
The concepts presented in this article are only 'part' of the solution and should be used in combination with one or more effective 'strategies' to get the absolute best results for your songwriting. Until you do this, your songwriting will improve at a slower pace and you will not be able to 'consistently' think of great musical ideas. To find many proven and effective songwriting strategies, read this page about creative ideas for songwriters .
With that in mind, there are MANY ways to smoothly connect one musical part to another. In the interest of helping you write a song right away, I will only be covering a few in this article so do not become overwhelmed.
Here is songwriting advice to help you write parts for your music that are connected together in a smooth and flowing manner:
Balance The Level Of Musical Tension
A common songwriting mistake that will make your songs sound more like a collection of random musical ideas rather than a unified song is overlooking (or being completely unaware of) the role of 'musical tension'. In order for each part in your song to flow smoothly into the next, there must be a strong balance of tension and release. While building tension in your music, you are essentially 'leading' the listener. When you release this tension, it creates the effect of 'relaxing'.
It is common that songwriters will unknowingly try to combine two different sections of music together in a way that does not effectively 'build and release' tension. For instance, while writing an 'intro' for a song, they might write a lot of notes with fast rhythms (building tension) and continue using fast rhythms into the next section without any kind of musical pause to resolve the tension. As a result, the two sections feel connected in a way that is awkward and forced.
Songwriting Help For This Issue - To connect together two parts in your music 'smoothly' using tension and release, focus on 'building' tension in the first part and 'releasing' tension as soon as the second part begins. For example, while writing the intro section to a song, use faster note rhythms to create a sense of urgency, then resolve this feeling of tension in the next song section using slower note rhythms.
To learn more about writing a great intro for a song using this concept (and several others), take this free songwriting mini course .
Use Variations Of The Same Melody Or Musical Idea
It's easy to get stuck in your songwriting while trying to either:
- Think of a new melody to put into a song that you've already begun writing
- Create a song based on a single melody or musical idea
Most songwriters feel overwhelmed in these scenarios because they are unsure about how to make their musical idea 'fit' together with all the other ideas in their song. This is especially common for singers writing a vocal line and guitarists writing guitar riffs. It can definitely feel 'paralyzing' trying to evaluate all the potential options and ways to connect together your new musical idea with other ideas in a song. Fortunately, this problem is fairly easy to solve (and the process is fun to do as well).
Songwriting Help For This Issue - To make a new musical idea fit together well with the other ideas in a song (if you have already partially written it) or use effectively use it as the basis for a new song, do one of the following:
- If you are adding this new musical idea to a song you have already started, observe the other melodies or ideas that you have already used. Then use those ideas as inspiration and create a new variation of them (using 'similar' note rhythms, melody lines, chords, etc.).
- If you are writing a new song based entirely on a single musical idea, think of ways to use that idea throughout the song. For example, if you begin the song with a short melody, think of ways you can alter that melody once it has repeated several times. For example, if you begin with a piano melody, see how you can 'vary' that melody using guitar chords that 'partially' match the rhythm. Then arrange the music to where the piano melody plays first to introduce the song, then the guitar comes in (as accompaniment) to transition into the next song section. This is just one way to approach this scenario – experiment by thinking of at least 3 – 5 more ways to combine different instruments and musical elements to make a variation of the original idea.
Overlap Notes To Seamlessly Transition Between Musical Ideas
Do you ever feel like some of your song sections seem to 'go nowhere'? This feeling often occurs because a songwriter is unaware of how harmony works and/or is using notes in a manner that feels 'unresolved'. This is common for songwriters who use notes that are 'out of key' but do not fully understand how they function to enhance the musical expression in the song they are writing. Although it is very useful to invest the time to learn more about harmony, you can use the following approach to smoothly connect two adjacent musical ideas without a strong understanding of how music works.
Songwriting Help For This Issue - Choose a specific scale or series of chords that you will be using. Then you will 'begin' and 'end' your first musical idea on a specific note or chord (for example, 'E' or 'E minor'). Then just as the first musical idea is coming to an end, begin the next musical idea at the same time, on the same note/chord. So if you write a melody that begins and ends on the note 'E', the next melody would begin on 'E' as the first melody was ending on 'E'.
How To Get The Most Value From This Article
Now that you have learned several solutions to help you write a song without getting stuck and create music that flows smoothly from one idea to the next, take these steps to apply these concepts into your songwriting:
- Take this free mini course about writing a song step by step and implement what you have learned in this article to write a truly great song that is smoothly connected from section to section.
- Apply the ideas of this article into any music or songs you are currently writing to quickly gain momentum and speed up the songwriting process.
- Practice the songwriting techniques given to you in this article by writing three short musical ideas using the approaches described under each point above. By actively 'using' these techniques, you will solidify them in your mind and remember them easier next time you feel stuck.
To get your FREE mini course "writing a song step by step" click on the button below:
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