Songwriting with Guitar

Songwriting for guitar

"Each song has its own secret that's different from another song, and each has its own life. Sometimes it has to be teased out, whereas other times it might come fast. There are no laws about songwriting or producing. "

~Mark Knopfler

You can compose or write a song about pretty much anything. No actually not pretty much. You can write a song about anything. The hard part is building a cohesive and meaningful song, from start to finish.

In my opinion, there are at least 3 ways that you can go about starting a song. I tend to follow the first two methods.

3 ways to go about writing a song

1. songwriting for a topic or a message
2. songwriting based on motif or phrase
3. songwriting based on technique

Elements of a song

Whenever you start writing a song, you'll bring in any or all of these musical elements. In this section, you will learn how to use each element of music for your songwriting.

Contrast

Varying your music, whether through rhythm, tempo, or other musical elements.

Dynamics

Not every song needs dynamics. But when songwriting adding dynamics can certainly add a lot of emotion to your song.

Harmony

Every melody needs support. Harmony fills out your song.

Melody

When you write a song, you need a hook. The melody is the hook of your song.

Song texture

Here you'll learn the two different kinds of melodic texture: monophonic texture and polyphonic texture. Take these and work them into your melodies. You can have a lot of fun doing it.

Motifs

A motif is one of the essential building blocks of songwriting. Once you have a motif, a little idea, you can add all the other elements to the song to complete the idea.

Phrasing

Phrasing is your particular style or flavor. But also, it's a combination of motifs. You'll see some examples and learn how to develop phrases when writing songs.

Repetition

When you repeat elements of a song, you reinforce them and help the listener get the feel of your song easier. Repetition is a very useful tool in your songwriting but it can be overdone sometimes.

Song structure

On this page you'll learn some of the more common song structures when you write a song. Of course you can make up your own too.

Songwriting example and study

In this section we'll look at a song I wrote called "A New Flower." This is a song I wrote based on topic or message: the wedding of my friend Kevin Flores. His last name means flowers in Spanish and he was getting married so I thought I'd write a song for his wife and him.

You'll go through the thought process of the composition of that song. This is just one way to do it. Hopefully it will give you an idea of how to go through the sometimes painful process of developing a musical idea to its completion.

Songwriting tools

You'll also get a songwriting worksheet that helps us map out stuff to think about when writing.

And finally I'm just gonna give you a list of words that maybe will serve as song ideasto write about. Have Fun!!

I give you a lot on this site on songwriting but if you really want to go further, Learn and Master Guitar is a fantastic home study course that I recommend. It has been around a long time, has won several awards because it's so good and it takes what I have taught you and structures it into practices, tabs, videos, and jam sessions. It's really worth looking at. Learn and Master Guitar.