I know this 17-year old kid who is more of a starting guitar player and he already wants to write and record some original songs. I’m fine with that – it’s a great way to learn! A couple of weeks ago he showed me some of his first drafts and asked me for my opinion. Well, he did exactly what we guitar player all did at the beginning: record tons of guitars so you couldn’t hear anything else! Hahaha… It’s a classic! I tried to explain him in a very simple way: with an arrangement is the same as it is with slicing a pie – the more guests you have, the more pieces you have to get from the pie, the smaller they are. And if some of them get bigger slices, the others get very little or even none…
Things can get complicated
When you first build and arrange a song, the worst thing you can do is to NOT have a plan. You just throw a bunch of instrument parts into your song and hope that it’s going to work. Well, if you’re veeery lucky, maybe! But usually – that won’t work!
As a start you can visualise what your “band” looks like, which instruments do you have at your disposal, is it more a guitar band or more keyboard sounding!? Then you build your basic parts: drums, bass, rhythm guitars, keys (Of course, a basic recording setup would be a huge help here!). The parts don’t have to be perfect, they are just “placeholders” for the actual parts that you’re going to make later. You should use this first draft to find out the right groove, tempo and key of the song, as well as the type of instruments that you want to have in your song. Do you want more organic sound with acoustic drums, acoustic and/or electric guitars, pianos, organs, etc., or maybe more electronic sound with electronic drums or drum machine, synths, samplers and so on. You can even do a mix of both, why not?! It’s YOUR project!
It’s actually pretty simple… Is it?!
I won’t give you a recipe how to arrange the perfect song because something like that just doesn’t exist! There are a lot of blogs and videos that tell you that and they have some good tips but there’s just no one right way to do things. Who knows, maybe YOUR way will be the next “right way” how to make a perfect song?!
If you already have the structure in your head, then it’s relatively easy. You just build the song as you go. Don’t overdo it at the beginning. Always build it lightly towards the next section, change the parts, change the instruments, keep it interesting until the end. See it as a story. Be careful that your main character (singer, soloist) is always in the foreground and everybody else is there to support him/her. You should be just fine…
If you don’t know how to build a song (maybe it’s your first one?!) then I have a tip for you: start with your last chorus! The last chorus is usually the most powerful part in a whole song and most of the featured instruments are playing in it at the same time.
Build the most powerful chorus you can and then just work backwards! Cut some of the parts out, simplify them. If your song should have a structure like: Intro – Verse 1 – Chorus 1 – Verse 2 – Chorus 2 – Bridge or Breakdown – Chorus 3 – Outro/End, then your second chorus should be less powerful than the third one but still a bit more than the first one. The same with the verses: keep the first one pretty basic and develop the second one a bit more, introduce a new instrument and/or a new part. Take the bridge way down so the last chorus is going to feel even more powerful than it already is…
The truth is…
Nothing is simple! If it would be that simple, everybody would make hit songs. You just have to do it over and over again. It’s like practicing your instrument, learning music, honing your craft. It’s the 10.000 hours. You have to pay your dues but it’s fun! There are always these moments when something sounds just right and you’re so happy and proud of yourself! These are the moments that we’re all working for, the joy that we feel when it all fits together, feels good and sounds great to our ears.
One more thing: don’t ever be afraid to ask for help. Find fellow musicians who are writing original music, ask them for some tips, show them your songs and ask for their opinion but be open to (constructive) criticism. Sometimes it hurts to hear the truth but, trust me, you’ll get over it. And, hopefully, you’ll learn from it.
Don’t forget to listen to your favourite artists and their music. Take one of their songs and try to recreate it, figure out the parts and sounds and record it. You’ll learn a ton about arrangement by doing that! And then you can implement some of that in your own music. Everybody’s doing that, “borrowing” ideas from their heroes and musical idols. It’s always been like that and I find that ok! That’s the musical evolution! You take the good stuff from the past and implement it to the present and the next generations will hopefully do the same. Just remember what Woody Allen said: “If you’re going to steal, steal from the best.”
Go and make some great music!
