Songwriting Mini Course Part 5 – How To Finish Writing A Song

Welcome to the final part of your step by step songwriting mini course. If you have finished each step in this mini course up to now, you are only one final step away from completing your song. Today, I will explain to you how to finish writing a song. Before explaining different ways to end a song, I will give you additional song structures you can use to put together a wide variety of different songs.

First, to go back over anything that was discussed in a previous part, click on the links below.

  1. Begin your song by reading part 1 on how to create a song intro .
  2. Review part 2 to start building the main section in your song as you learn how to write a verse for a song .
  3. Return to part 3 to make the most memorable part in your song by learning the process for writing a chorus for a song .
  4. Go back to part 4 to learn how to add variety and make a transition in your song by learning how to write a bridge .

Songwriting Step #6: Finish Writing Your Song

After you have all the parts of your song written, you need to find the best way to end your song. Similar to opening a song, it is common for musicians to struggle when trying to come up with ideas on how to finish writing a song. Also similar to the beginning of your song, the ending will leave an impression on the listener. It is important to finish your song in a way the sums up the music well, feels satisfying to the listener, or leaves them wanting more. One of the best places to end a song is after the final chords or melody in your chorus. One of the common ways to finish a song is to repeat the chorus with slightly altered melodies, chords, or lyrics. Many musicians use the final chorus to express the MOST important ideas of the song in lyrics.

Think of the end of your song like the end of a movie. It feels good to reach an ending that makes sense with the rest of the movie. A movie ending will often “tie up the loose ends” to give you a feeling of completeness. Often there will be a big build up to a climax before a movie ends, and the tension will be resolved in a satisfying manner that summarizes the movie as a whole. That said, sometimes when you watch a movie, the ending has a “twist” and leaves you wanting more (which usually leads to a sequel).

If you want to end a song in a way that feels satisfying, end it using the chord that has been used the most in your song. Since the listener has become accustomed to hearing that chord throughout the song, it will serve as a good final resolution. Additionally, to let the listener know that it is the end of the song, have the final notes sustain longer. For example, if you are playing a guitar in your song, this would be like strumming a chord and letting the strings ring out without stopping them. By holding out the notes longer, you are effectively “stopping” the rhythm in the song. This cues in the listener that there is no more music to come.

If you’d like to finish your song in a way that leaves the listener wanting more, try ending on one of the lesser used chords of the song. This will catch them off guard. Also try ending in a very sudden manner by NOT allowing the final notes to sustain or by using shorter notes.

There are many other ways to end a song. Experiment with other musical ideas such as ending by making the volume of the song/instruments more quiet, finishing with the highest notes in your melodies, or even by slowing down the overall tempo of your song (how fast or slow you are playing the song).

Additional Ways To Put Your Songs Together

Once you have opened your song with an intro, created a verse, chorus, bridge/break section, and understand the ways to end a song; you will have all the pieces in place to finish writing your song. One of the most creative parts about songwriting is the order in which you put things together. There are many different ways to build your song, and choosing a particular song structure will have a big effect on the overall feel of the song.

In previous parts of this mini course you have learned a basic “Intro – Verse – Chorus – Bridge - Chorus” format. This is one of the most popular song structures, and is very effective at maintaining interest throughout. However, you may not always want to use the same structure. To give you a few more ideas to experiment with, here are several more ways you can put a song together:

1. This is a simple song with no bridge that ends after the second chorus.

2. In this song, the chorus is used as the intro.

3. Sometimes a songwriter will use a pre chorus to build up anticipation to the chorus... but then return immediately to the verse! This is a great way to create tension until you finally use the chorus.

4. This song contains a both a bridge and break section.

Experiment by using these song structures, rearranging the different sections, and mixing different song parts together. This will give you nearly endless possibilities to keep your musical creativity flowing!

Here Is The Next Step You Should Take Right Now

Now that have completed this mini course and know how to structure a song step by step it is crucial for you to learn how to consistently think of creative songwriting ideas. When you have the ability do this consistently, you will be able to write high quality songs that accurately express your thoughts and emotions in much less time.

  • Discover highly effective methods for creating tons of unique songwriting ideas whenever you feel like it by taking this powerful songwriting course .