You have more opportunities to have your voice heard than ever before, thanks to music platforms such as SoundCloud, YouTube, and Spotify. How do you take advantage of these opportunities? You write a song. To do that, you need a plan.

 

Music is an art form. You can’t pin it down and say why something is a hit. However, as is the case with other art forms, there is a strategy for writing songs. The following five tips will help you turn ideas into tunes using a logical structure.

How to Create Your Own Song

With this in mind, let’s outline the process of writing and producing a song:

Step 1. Lock in an idea

A lot of ideas are fleeting. One minute they’re there, the next, they’ve disappeared. This is why you should write down every idea you have, no matter how small. A lot of them (maybe 99%) will be useless, but some ideas could be worth pursuing. Therefore, the tip here is to make notes on your mobile each time you have a creative brainstorming session or flash of inspiration. Then, after a day or two, go back to your list. If an idea still sounds good after time away, it could be worth pursuing.

Step 2. Putting Pen to Paper

 

You need words on a page to turn your idea into a song. This guide to writing a song stresses the importance of structure when putting pen to paper. Experimenting with unique structures is fine, but it’s always worth starting with the basics. As noted in the guide, you need a title, verses, a chorus, and a bridge.

Step 3. Arrange Your Words, Chords, and Thoughts

Songs are like puzzles. You write and record a section, then you write and record another. These sections should be flexible. What you initially thought was the first verse could become the last one. Arranging songs is a skill on its own, so don’t rush this bit.

Step 4. Edit, Edit, Edit

Once you’ve written the lyrics and put them to music, the next job is to refine them. This means editing. You may have to edit something multiple times until it’s right. Don’t be afraid to remove things. The final song might be markedly different from what you started with. Your first draft is the seed.

A seed doesn’t look like a tree, but we all know a tree grew from the seed. You can also use editing and producing software, such as Ableton Live, for this part of the process so you can take a raw recording and make it sound professional.

Step 5. Upload and Let the World Hear You

The final step to making music is uploading what you’ve produced. There are literally dozens of ways to get your song heard by the masses. You can upload and share music on SoundCloud. You can also put your music alongside mainstream artists on platforms such as iTunes, Spotify, Amazon and YouTube. Once your song is live, push it. Use social media to spread the word, and if all goes well, you might become the next superstar.