Songwriting And Arranging Tips
Here you will find some useful tips for Songwriting and Arranging. If you have a tip that could help other musicians, don’t hesitate to share it with us – just use the form below! Thanks!
Last updated: 14. January 2021
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On your first attempts at arranging music you should keep it simple. Don’t overload your arrangement with countless instruments and unnecessary parts – better think “less is more”! The more instruments and playing parts you have the more difficult and complex the arrangement will be to get the instruments and their parts to work together. My tip would be to start with a basic combination like drums, bass, guitar, keyboard and vocal. With less instruments you have more space and less parts that compete in the same range. When you learn to do basic arrangements like that you can slowly start introducing other instruments to them – the best would be one at a time…
Did you know that the song ‘Love Me Do’ from The Beatles consists of exactly 19 words? But it’s still one of the most famous songs!
At the beginning of your songwriting career and even later on if you get stuck you should keep it simple. But remember: it’s not that easy to do it as it seems because we always want to write more complicated. To write very simple you have to be relentless. On the other hand simple lyrics can be very rewarding because they can lead to your songs being captivating and catchy and allowing others to easier identify with them.
Pros don’t wait for inspiration – they go to work! Why don’t you try it? Schedule your songwriting and stick to the schedule. It’s like practicing your instrument: a little songwriting session every day instead of a big one once a week goes a long way. Carve out some songwriting time in your daily schedule, go to your dedicated working/practicing space, grab your instrument of choice and try to write something. If after 5-10 minutes you’re not getting anywhere then it’s maybe best to give it a rest and come back tomorrow. But more often than not once you get going you’ll be hard to stop…
If your songwriting plan is to just wait for inspiration to strike it’s possible you’ll never write songs. I’m not saying that maybe someday you won’t get a wonderful idea for a song and write it in just 10 minutes but I doubt it that your first couple of songs are going to be written that way. The truth is: if you want to write songs regularly you have to write songs regularly! Crazy, hah?! Think of songwriting as a muscle so try to develop and maintain it that way. Consistency is the key.
Find or make yourself a dedicated place where you can make your music. On one side it’s practical if you can have your setup ready to go all the time and on the other (psychological) side your brain “switches” automatically to the musical mode when you go there and work. This also makes it easier for you to get used to regular writing, arranging and other musical activities.
Your biggest enemy is not the lack of inspiration but constant interruptions and distraction. When you try to write something you need to come into the “flow” but if somebody or something is constantly interrupting you that just won’t happen. You should find a time and a place when and where you can distance yourself from any kind of interruptions and distractions. Tell your family members or roommates that you don’t want to be disturbed. Turn off your phones, tablets, maybe even a computer if you don’t need it to work with. You’ll get a lot more done in a lot less time…