From an Idea into a Full Song
In case you have a lots of unfinished song ideas, this post is for you. What I’m about to show you can help you with that. In this video I’m showing how my idea transformed into a full song.
Start from the Hook and Build Around It
I’ve found that once you start songwriting from the hook and then build around that, your song has a better chance of becoming a full song. This is because your song has a point and a reason to exist instead of being just a random line of chord progressions and beats.
On top of that, recording an acoustic demo beforehand is something that really pays off. It doesn’t have to be an acoustic guitar, but just vocals alone with one instrument to play chords with. As your song works with just one instrument, you know your melodies are interesting enough on their own.
This also helps you to nail down the structure of the song. If your acoustic demo has two or three parts: verse (, pre-chorus) and chorus, your song is already almost finished. These parts are used more than once in your song. Most of us are trying to compose way too complicated song structures. Focus on making the few parts of your song irresistible.
Please, do plan your song even just a little, before jumping in to recording it. This song would’ve turned way different (and not nearly as interesting) if I wouldn’t have taken the time to plan it after the acoustic demo.
Once you’ve figured out the tempo and the mood of your song, I recommend you to lay down a simple vocal track before any other instruments. This will make your arrangement process so much easier.
Vocals usually determine what everything else should play, so it makes sense to have some representation of vocals before anything else. It’s also so much fun and rewarding to arrange the song around the vocals.
I highly recommend you to try this method if you haven’t already tried it. This really works, so give it a go without preconceptions!
Hopefully you found this video helpful. If there’s anything you want me to cover in the future videos let me know. Send me an email or leave a comment below. Ask if there’s anything unclear or if I left something out. Cheers!
