How to Write a Song (Tips and suggestions to devoloping your natural ability)

Well people, what do you think? How does someone even begin to write a song?  The answer is obvious, first you must learn how to play an instrument and by instrument, this could mean your own voice.  After you have learned this, here are some suggestions I have learned from experience that I am passing on to you. Just so you know, I have been writing songs since I was thirteen years old and I hadn't even started playing an instrument untill I was 14!  I'll let you know how but first, some beginniner suggestions.

First suggestion:  Learn how to play a simple song. Whether you heard it on the radio, on a cd, on a commercial...learn how to play it.  Once you've learned how to play and sing it(regardless of how good or bad your voice is) begin to just play the chords.  Then, start to hum your own melody over the chords you are playing.  This may take a little while so let it be natural.  Let the melody flow out of you like a river, do not force it, it will come to you.

Second suggestion:  Begin to start putting your own chords together.  If you think it is absolutley neccisary to learn music theory before you learn how to write a song then your crazy.  Song writing is better learned before you learn music theory on my opionion because you are already devoloping a natural ability before a knowledge based ability.  While putting the chords together just start humming, it is ok if you start humming a song that was already created.  Infact, thats great because you are seeing for yourself how a song is created!

Third suggestion:  Be you.  Don't start writing a love song in hope the girl next door will hear you and fall in love with you.  Do not write for anyone except for you!  Lemme tell you, when I write songs I write from the heart, neer to impress anyone, I never worry about what someone may think while writing the song.  Because I write from the heart, my songs end up usually in the "love" category of subjects, but it is from the heart.  So, when I go play the song for the girl next door, she absolutley see's that it came from my heart and is naturally impresses.  Song writing should only come from the heart.

Fourth suggestion:  This one is just for fun(if you are 13-14 this is a good one).  Learn how to doo-wop.  It doesn't have to sound good at all, maybe get you and a couple of your friends together to try this, this is how I began song writing:  Take one doo-wop song (preferbley writtin in the 50's) and learn how to sing it.  Than devolope creative lyrics to replace the ones in the song.  Now you can add extra parts, get a little free style rap in there somewhere, BE CREATIVE.

Fifth suggestion:  BE CREATIVE AND DON'T GIVE UP:  As a devolping song writer you may become discouraged many many times.  When I started showing my friends my songs at 14-15 they would say "yeah that song is ok" and "yeah, but you need to do this and you need to do that" and that would frustrate me very much.  This is ok though! Your talent will devolope whether you realise or not but you MUST keep writing. 

Sixth Suggestion:  Sometimes good lyrics are hard to come by.  Just remember, the best lyrics come from your heart.  Some people are very good at sitting in front of a white page and writing down full songs, hell I am too sometimes, but personally for me I am a better free styler.  What I mean by this is personally, after creating a melody and vocal pattern I just start singing lyrics off the top of my head or from my heart(depending on my mood) AND THE LYRICS I LIKE, I WRITE DOWN.  Sometimes it takes me a month to write a song, because I allow it to be naural.  The words always come to me, the melodys always come to me as long as I don't force them.  When I force them, well, thats when I get the songs where my friends all say "yeah you should..." and when that happens, I still want to give up, but never do.

You can write songs, you can!  Anyone can, it is a valuable and theraputic ability, who knows, you may become famous.