How to write a song understanding Line Length.

Every line you write will have some length to it. An obvious statement but very true. Take the time to look at your line length and feel how it affects what you are saying. Motion of your lines gives the emotion of your song.


Long flowing lines gives long motion and a flowing feel. You have time to create different feels with your line length. You can make them flow dance around smoothly and make your lines long and flowing.
Long lines feel relaxed and conversational.

Not only can you add a lot more content with long lines but you can create romantic, flowing feel to your song. Take the time to experiment with this technique. Grow your lines longer and longer to see just how far you can take that feeling of flow and movement.
Short lines feel Preston and Tight. You can add a hash purposeful stop like feel to your song with short lines. Rather than having a long flow they now have a short hard straight to the point feel about them. This is a great technique to use when you want to make your point and stop the flow quickly. Play around with this idea when you want to say something that will stick in the mind of the listener. Try running lots of short lines with hard endings to create a staccato effect to your song. Try taking this technique to the limits, this could be done by maybe writing “one word” lines. Im sure you have heard of songs that use this technique. One word lines are the shortest you can get and they are very hard and straight to the point. Obviously you are going to have to be careful which words you use as they have to encapsulate everything you are trying to say.

When two lines have the same length they feel stable. This is a great way of creating balance in your song. Keep your word count/syllables the same in each line. The important thing here is to make the feel the same. Don’t get too bogged down with counting words but it’s a great place to start. Just make sure the feel of each line is the same. When you do this you create a very stable, safe feeling song. The meaning feels believable and the listener builds trust in what’s being said. Look out for songs that use this technique and see if you have that same feeling. This is great if you want to give the character in you song credibility and trust. When two lines are unequal in length the have an offset motion and feel unbalanced. There are so many ways you can use this technique. Spend some time thinking about this and try different approaches to you song. Write a song using a good character and a not so good character. Give even lines to the one you are making good and uneven lines to the one you are making not so good. These are tips you can use to just add a little more weight to what you are doing with your song. Spend more time listening to music and see where others use this and work out why others are using these techniques in their songs. The best way I do this is get a copy of the lyrics and with different colour pens highlight which are the good and not so good characters and see which type of line lengths they give to them. Remember the Number of lines and the length of lines help to create stability or instability in your song so use it where you want it. Regardless if you parody them against each other or use them to reinforce what it is your saying, use them how YOU want them and take control of the forces they provide.
Let me know what you think of these tips and feel free to leave a comment if it helps you.
Cheers Darren

10 Steps to Write a Great Song

I just returned from an AWESOME! songwriting session with a friend. I had forgotten how great it is to work with other Songwriters and Musicians. Here is exactly how we did it.....



1. Form an idea of a story in your mind and chat back and forth with each other. Don't set limits just make up a story.



2. Plan three sections. A start, a middle and an end. (not chorus or verse just the story)



3. Get it clear in your head and write it down. This is where the songwriting part starts.

The main advantage you have now is a heap of great material. You have clear ideas about when it takes place, who the people are in the song, and what things happen to them. You can also at this point actually see if its a good story/song.



4. Now you can turn on your songwriting skills and start to play around with wording. We wrote most of the lyrics without any idea of how the music would go.



5. Block out sections and get a feel of rhythm, Im talking about the rhythm of the words not the music. Think about lines, 3 lines, 4 lines. Then fill them in thinking about flow and rhyme.

At this point you can get clever and make little surprises happen, maybe it was about someone else. You can play with the listener take them down a path and then introduce the real meaning towards the end. You can use word plays. All of this things you can put in here. Play with it and enjoy it.



6. Once you have a good draft of your lyrics start to think about Melody and chords. This is the part when we picked up our guitars and just started Jammin out progressions. Pick a key and start running over progressions. Run some of the lines and get a feel of the words natural rhythm and feels. It was the rhythm of the words that gave the idea of the hook.



7. When you have something that clicks with your ear, record it down and capture it.



8. At this stage we Stopped, Why now? Because we had a strong structure of lyrics. We had a firm idea of the story, and we had solid, recorded, progressions and grooves.



This was the perfect time to take a break and come back at it with a fresh new ear to judge if what we had was really as good as it felt in the groove we were in.

Its really important to give yourself time to breath and re-work your songs. I find the more I work on something at once the hard it is to let go of a section or a riff or a line that, although it may be good, it just doesnt work in the song. The longer I work on it the hard it is to see it, I think becuase it feels personal. Its like "No way im letting go of that line it took me hours to come up with it" or " I practiced that guitar riff for hours before I could play it!!! its stayin in" its not that its not a great line but just not here. Best to use it to make another great song where it fits perfectly.



9. After an hour, a day, a week, it doesnt really matter. Come back together and listen back to what you have. Re-read your lyrics. Dont try and capture what you had before, rather try and create something new. That was the last phase when you were creating, now you are re-writing.

Put on a different hat. Be a Producer, not a song writer. Think about the elements you have now and how they best server the song. Consider this as someone elses material that you have the honour of producing. Thing about sounds, instuments, flow, texture, colours in the music itself. Feel the song as a whole, not as lots of lines fitting together.



10. Once you have the song in your head then simply assemble it.



The biggest issue that faces most songwritiers is staying on the one track. Its Hard... Its sometimes impossible. So dont. Make it your plan to break it into phases. Play all the parts that go to making a song. Be the Writer and the colaberator and the Producer but as you do this make sure you take time and come back to each phase fresh.

Songs arnt writen they are Re-writen. Dont ever try and write the perfect song, always try to write the song for what it is. If its perfect thats great and you will make squillions but if its not its great practice, write alot all the time. Write with anyone who is willing to write with you.

It is a craft that takes a life time so enjoy the journey of each and every song.



Let me know how this helps you. Try it and leave me some comments of ways you create.



Cheers Darren