Alana

I'm a huge theory geek, so I'm gonna go on a bit of a rant about counterpoint. Hopefully this will make sense to someone. Yes, I-IV-V-I works. But why does it work? Because it follow counterpoint! When writing a progression in a major key, this is how Mozart did it. And Mozart is pretty good, yeah? iii goes to vi. iv can go to ii or IV. ii and IV can go to V or vii. V and vii can go to I. I can go anywhere. iii - vi - [iV] - [V ] - I [ ii ] - [vii] EXCEPTIONS: V can go to vi, IV can go to ii. Note: A complicated chart In minor: VII goes to III. III goes to VI. VI goes to iv or ii. iv and ii goes to V or vii. V and vii go to i. VII - III - VI - [iv] - [V] - i [ ii] - [vii] EXCEPTIONS: V can go to VI, iv can go to ii, i can go anywhere. These charts are displayed much nicer in theory books. I recommend Tonal harmony. I couldn't find a picture of it anywhere... I tend to stick with I-vi-IV-V, with slight variations, but if I was writing a chorale, this is how I'd do it: Say you're in G major (my favorite key to write in). G major is I. I would pick a chord at random (because I can go anywhere), say vi. From vi I could go to either IV or ii. I choose ii because I-vi-IV is over done. from ii I go to either V or vii. I choose vii because I'm cool like that. Then to I. Then anywhere I want! I hope at least a little of that made sense to someone. Honestly, everyone else has it exactly right. When writing popular music, you're best to listen to other people. Figure out what progressions you like. Borrow. But, if you want to write something completely unique (you never will), I recommend following counterpoint rules at first. They will help. But, they are just rules. And you know what they say about rules...

Hello all! Even though piano was my first instrument, at age five, I've never been able to write a song on piano. Years before I learned guitar, everything that I tried to write was always on guitar in my head. Now that know how to play guitar and am getting more involved with song writing, I'd really like to try to write for the piano. I think my style for piano is kind of in the vein of Ingrid Michaelson or Lily Allen. I imagine a sense of pop-song repetition. However, even after learning to play these kinds of songs on piano... I still can't seem to come up with my own piano arrangements. I get stuck with a melody with chords below it, which I feel sounds better on guitar. How do I arrange these chords into an actual piano part? How did you all start? Can you recommend some experimentation or exercises? Am I even making sense? -Alana

I'm pretty new to the realm of songwriting, so I can only tell you what I do: I always write lyrics first. When I write them I try to rap them in my head. If I allow myself to sing them without music, usually the song usually comes out kind monotone, So I always rap at first. I let the natural rhythm of the words influence the rhythm of the song. That may be really unhelpful, but it's the only way I know. I rap out the lyrics as I'm writing them so they kind of have a feel. I make sure that my verses have a consistent feel. When I first started I would actually count the syllables in each line to make sure that each verse would balance, and each line of the chorus would balance. I don't do this any more (I find it a little constraining) but it kind of helped me find rhythms when I first started. If that doesn't make sense to you, I would recommend rapping over a chord progression. Just picking a strum pattern could help bring out the rhythm of your words. You just have to be willing to change things. You might start out with one strum pattern, which will inspire a rhythm which inspires a new strum pattern.

I tried to write my first song in the 5th grade... so around age 10? The song was called "Destiny" and the only thing I remember from it is as follows: (Chorus) Destiny, Destiny! Here on my Destiny, Destiny! The genius that started it all