Songwriting 101: Everything You Need To Know

Songwriting can be very difficult for aspiring musicians and emerging songwriters. If you are new, we recommend reading our article on Songwriting 101: 7 Tips That Help. 

 

Holding on to that insight that strikes out of nowhere, can seem tedious if you don’t have anything to scribble on. More often than not, these ideas lead musicians to nowhere, once you feel the music slipping out of your hands. 

 

 

A typical song format template contains an intro, a body, and an outro. The spaces between these sections are places where an artist can explore the most. The song structure layout aids in the protection of your original concept and the transformation of an inspired point into an actual song. Furthermore, knowing these templates assures you to go full speed since you know your concept will turn out fantastic.

 

Hence, here are three tried and tested song layout templates that you can safely rely on. 

 

Template 1

 

This song layout template is timeless. There’s an intro, verse, pre-chorus, bridge, second verse, pre-chorus, hook, instrumental, bridge, chorus, and outro in the same order. 

 

Ensure not to duplicate your vocals, especially the hooks. Make sure you add your cadenzas with each chorus and let it flow naturally so that your track does not sound robotic and monotonous. The natural flow is most possible when you are recording in your comfortable space. Speaking of the same, check out our blog article on Recording Music 101: Production at Home. 

 

Allow them to play/sing at varying intervals. Allow the sax to play the hook of your song right away. This introduces the primary topic while also making your song instantly recognizable.

 

Then comes your verse, with the primary vocals, percussion instruments, bass, and synths kicking in. Start building in the pre-chorus and bring it into the chorus. Try to double the chorus and, if desired, include a brief outro.

 

Note that the song layout templates are there to assist you, but you can modify them to accommodate your given instance.

 

Template 2

 

Here the drums take the main role in the intro. There are no vocals and no bass in the intro. This sets your first verse, with all the instrumentation complementing the vocals. There is a pre-chorus to the hook, followed by the second verse (yes there is no bridge between the first and the second verse). Then comes your frequency changes from mid to high of the chorus, after which there is a good bridge of just drums with a full beat. The outro is the chorus again. It's a pretty solid music arrangement, we'd say. 

 

The second chorus and the instrumental bridge are the crucial parts of your track here, and you can experiment with instrumental variety to get the variations you want that would make the track sound unique and different. It is a good uptempo song layout template - or for any pop-style song that wants people to dance. Start with the groove right away for it to work.

 

 

Make sure to keep the backbeat going throughout the first section of the song. Your listener will be deep in the groove as soon as the first hook ends and you fill the second verse with just the claps (or snares). A re-introduction of certain other drum components in the second half of the second stanza will be truly magical and interesting. Both repetition and novelty are important. Repeating a good part while introducing additional components will maintain your audience’s attention and keep them intrigued. 

 

Template 3

 

This song layout template goes like this: piano and drums in the intro, first verse, a high note chorus, mid note second verse, high note chorus, vocal bridge (pure cadenza/falsetto), and the outro with the fading chorus.  

This song structure template is an excellent loop-based framework. Merely adding two layers to your chorus - the melody and the percussion instruments - can totally separate your harmonies from your verses.

 

 

In the second part of verse 2, adding the high notes to your vocals and the extra layer of an organ in the following chorus has a major impact - with little legwork required. A whole other nice touch is the emergence of the clap in the final chorus. This way, the music appears to be worth the effort, we get a feeling of precision, as well as the music finally feels thorough after the crazy ride you ended up taking us on. 

Note that irrespective of the template you employ, the production quality matters. Even if you cannot afford high quality music production equipment, make sure you choose your production tools that would give you a fairly good mix. 

 

If you have a wonderful loop that you'd like to turn into a song, you should definitely try this template. These templates can be modified according to your needs and your creative autonomy. Hence, feel free to experiment and move around the sections. Either way, you will attain unique results. 

 

We at GreaseRelease, have a bunch of curators on our network who are looking for new & exciting music to push on their massive playlists. If you make music and want to reach a wider audience, check out our submission platform and get a chance to reach millions of listeners! Submit your tracks now!