6 Easy Songwriting Tips For Guitarists
Guitarists who write amazing rock songs know how to do two things completely differently than other guitar players:
- They know the skills they need to hone in order to become killer songwriters and they practice improving them often.
- They think as great songwriters primarily, even though they also consider themselves as guitarists too.
What benefit occurs for you when you do these two things?
You write amazing music and have an incredibly fun time doing it!
This video shows you precisely what to do:
Even if you don’t have great songwriting skills, six tips help you start writing great music in no time.
The tips are:
Songwriting Tip #1: Know How To Properly Manage Pitch Range
What exactly do I mean when I say “pitch range?”
I mean this:
Pitch range = how high or low notes are. When you write songs that contain many instruments, this becomes a very critical idea to keep in mind.
When you use proper pitch range management, the instruments in your songs stick out from one another and really come to life.
The video above shows you how to manage pitch range when you write songs for guitar and orchestral instruments.
Songwriting Tip #2: Learn How To Use Solid Voice Leading
Voice leading means how the notes in a chord move independently to the next chord.
When you use solid voice leading, every note sounds like its own melody as it moves with one chord to the next chord.
This makes your songwriting sound professional (no matter what chords you write with).
Check out this video to see how proper voice leading sounds:
Embed video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVRLSvVNHec
Note: Voice leading is used regardless of the instrument you are writing for.
Guitar players often don’t have the same level of voice leading skill as piano players.
Songwriting Tip #3: Learn The Emotions Of Notes And Chords.
To write emotionally expressive songs, you’d need to know which notes create what emotions in any given scenario.
Once you do, writing emotionally compelling music becomes easy.
Want to see how this works?
Watch this video:
Embed video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaG9YEAND-M
Songwriting Tip #4: Write With Many Songwriting Styles
Do you have a songwriting style you continually come back to?
As a guitarist, you likely write songs by picking up the guitar and playing around until you find something that sounds cool.
Some excellent songs have been created this way.
However: you don’t have to limit yourself to just one approach!
These are several effective songwriting approaches that guitarists tend to overlook:
Write A Melody First
Think about writing your melody before writing anything else (including chords or riffs of any kind). This is not typical for guitarists.
So why use this approach?
Answer: To write new ideas you wouldn’t have even considered before.
Tip: Get better at writing melodies by listening to your favorite singers. Then use guitar transform their melodies into totally new ideas.
Check out this video to see how it’s done:
Embed video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS-odcHleqM
Begin With A Chord Progression
Will your song stay in the same key or change at some point? Figure this out.
Then, map out the chord progressions and voicings to be used for the entire song.
This creates the foundation for the song you are going to write.
Watch this video to learn how to build and resolve tension with chords:
Embed video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t3qf0j69Lk
Songwriting Tip #5: Write Throwaway Songs
It’s not enough to just write a few songs and hope you get better at songwriting.
Just like with guitar, you need to practice A LOT if you expect to get results.
The quickest way to get better as a songwriter is to write song after song after song.
This applies even if you don’t intend for anyone to hear what you write.
I call this exercise: “writing for the trash bin”.
Bottom line: Make it your goal to write one hundred songs as soon as you can.
Songwriting Tip #6: Keep Developing Your Other Musical Skills
Question: What are the most important musical skills to work on for songwriting?
Music theory –music theory isn’t just about memorizing dry concepts and rules.
So, what is it then?
It explains how emotion is created in music. (So you can write songs that are musically expressive).
Check out this video to see how music theory really works:
Embed video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1G506EquzM
Aural Skills — this has to do with hearing chords, intervals, note rhythms and melodies in your head… then being able to play them on your instrument. With an excellent ear, your songwriting improves massively (and it takes less time to write new songs).
How can you train your ear to make it better?
Do it in short bursts of a few minutes a time… away from your instrument. Practice it frequently and consistently. (This ear training column explains how.)
This is the single most important skill you need as a songwriter.
Fretboard visualization — you want to have a detailed mental map of the fretboard that you can access whenever you want. The better your knowledge of the fretboard — the more easy it becomes to write.
Check out this video to see how to practice fretboard visualization:
Embed video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBWNQZptHXg
You now understand powerful songwriting tips that make writing songs a breeze.
Now it’s time to learn how to write killer guitar solos that express more emotions with every song you create. Download this free lead guitar guide and see how to play guitar solos that make other guitarists wish they had your skills.
About The Author:
Tom Hess is a highly successful guitar teacher, recording artist and composer. He teaches guitar players from all over the world in his online guitar lessons. Learn more on the Tom Hess Wikipedia page.
