At this point there is infinity ways to reach the finish line. It’s the magic that makes songwriting so special: there’s no ‘best’ way to do it.
It makes your ears beg for certain parts. It takes you on a little song journey. It’s the structure that defines catchy.
The best way to craft the perfect song is to know the songwriting basics—and know them well.
Or you can keep your lead the same and turn your percussion sections into a verse, chorus, etc. It’s up to you how you work inside the form.
Song structure
The verse, chorus and bridge are the main parts of your song. But there’s a couple other parts you need to know before you start writing.
Ok, now that you know the parts of a song and song structure it’s time to start writing!
Listen to your favourite song and ask yourself what makes it so good? How is it arranged? What are the parts? Hum the melody, or better yet play it!
If there will be lyrics in your song, start with writing a few ideas out. It doesn’t have to be in song structure (we’ll get to that later).
Sheeran, Ed. Don’t. Asylum Records, 2014, Accessed June 5, 2017. https://play.spotify.com/track/34gCuhDGsG4bRPIf9bb02f?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open.
Sheeran, E. (2014). Don’t. On X. [Audio file]. Retrieved from https://play.spotify.com/track/34gCuhDGsG4bRPIf9bb02f?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open
Music is an art form—and just as you’d analyze a poem for a literary paper or cite a painting for an art history paper, you may find yourself using a song as a source, especially if you’re enrolled in music theory courses. Here, we’ve laid out how to cite a song, so if you’re deciding whether or not to include a song in your next paper based on whether you can figure out how to cite it, go for it! Citing songs, whether you’re working off the audio recording or using written lyrics, is actually a pretty similar process to what you might have done for other kinds of citations.
Citing written song lyrics is pretty similar to citing an audio recording, but if you’re used to mostly citing written work, you may find this procedure a bit easier since you’re citing words off a page rather than audio. Here, we’ve cited “Imagine,” a song by John Lennon which you’ve surely heard before—and one which could be the subject of rich analysis for your next paper.
Use the following structure to cite written song lyrics in APA format :
Songwriter’s Last Name, Songwriter’s First Initial. (Year of publication). Title of the song [Recorded by Singer’s First Initial, Singer’s Last Name if different from writer*]. On Title of the album [Audio file]. Retrieved from URL
To cite written song lyrics, you should make note of the following pieces of information:
1. Singer’s name
2. Songwriter’s name
3. Title of the song (and subtitle, if there is one)
4. Title of the album (and subtitle, if there is one)
5. Album’s Edition (if there is one)
6. Track number
7. Publisher
8. Year of publication
9. Website or Database where the lyrics were found
10. URL
11. The names of any other contributors
Songwriter’s Last Name, First Name. Lyrics to “Title of the Song.” Names of other contributors, Album’s Publisher, Year of publication. Name of Website, URL.
Although citing a song might seem unfamiliar, there’s no need to worry. We’ve got you covered for both audio recordings and written song lyrics, whether you need to cite in MLA format , APA format, or Chicago style.
Of course, lots more media have titles than just songs and albums. There are books, short stories, podcasts, TV shows, episodes . . . the list goes on and on. Want more italics advice? Check out our ultimate title-writing guide for answers to all your italics conundrums.
I love music. I’ve been teaching myself to play guitar, and I can stumble my way through four or five songs without wanting to poke holes in my eardrums, but my main appreciation for music is when other people play it. I’m an avid Spotify user, and I take a lot of pride in my ability to make kickass playlists. One of my girlfriends has even given me the green light to create her hypothetical wedding reception playlist.
Album titles, on the other hand, are always italicized. For example, while I will openly admit to loving Journey’s power ballad “Faithfully,” I think pretty much every song on their Greatest Hits album should be sung at karaoke nights across the country.
Song titles are always surrounded by quotation marks, like *NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye,” or “A Whole New World” from Disney’s Aladdin.
Other Italics Questions
Sunday night was the closing ceremony of the Olympics, and I don’t know if you were paying attention, but the Spice Girls were there and dancing it up (well, except for Posh).
So obviously, when I write about a song or album, I know when to use quotation marks and when to use italics. Let’s discuss.
Take fifteen minutes and write about the hypothetical conversation the ladies of the group had in determining the songs they would play for the ceremony (or any other band in any other situation is fine too). Post your practice in the comments, and leave notes for other writers brave enough to publish as well.
As you write your lyrics, keep in mind that there’s no right way to get started! You might already have a few words that you’ve written down, a story or message you want to get across, or perhaps even the full chorus figured out.
The Beatles’ “Ticket to Ride” is one of these songs — its structure is A-B-A-B-C-A-B.
Songs with both verses and choruses have two types of lyrics — we call the verse “A” and the chorus “B.”
- Prize: The Grand Prize winner receives $10,000 in cash and a publication of the winning song in Promo Buzz Media Base for one year. The second and third place winners receive the same prize but with lower cash values.
- Details: Participants need a lyric sheet, MP3 recording, and $25 entry fee to enter. This competition is open to all amateur and professional songwriters of all ages.
Determine Your Song’s Structure
The famous Bob Dylan song, “Blowin’ in the Wind,” has this type of structure – A-B-A-B-A-B.
Check out the articles linked below and to the right for more tips about how to write lyrics.
- Prize: $20,000 cash + other incentives for first place winner, with prizes for runners-up as well.
- Details: Open to amateur and professional songwriters who submit entries in any one of 12 categories. Entry requires the following elements: one song 5 minutes or less, lyrics sheet, $30 payment, completed application.
MuseScore is one of my favorites as it provides variety of tools to compose sheet music. Also, it supports a good range of formats (like FLAC, WAV, PDF, etc.) to export audio piece and sheet music. It is quite easy to use.
Import MIDI, Karaoke(.kar), FORTE(.fnf), XML, and other (.mmm, .sng) files to FORTE for editing. To save sheet music, you can export it as PDF or video.
It also provides an option to change sheet music layout, where you can customize page view, page size, scaling, margin, etc. Also, you can customize style, text font, etc.
Crescendo is a good music notation software. It also comes with additional install-on demand software which you can download when needed, like PitchPerfect Guitar Tuning Software, PlayPerfect Music Practice Software, Wavepad Audio Editor, TempoPerfect Metronome Software, etc.
My Favorite Music Notation Software:
It also provides an option of ‘Pianoroll Editor‘ with parameters like velocity, pitch, len, etc. to customize. You can also select an instrument to add elements in your music piece. It provides hotkeys for most of the functions.
It provides playback option and an option to set instrument and VSTi too. You can use hotkeys for each option to quickly access them.
Using this musical notations software, you can import only a Musink project (.musink) to edit and print. You can save a composition as a Musink project or export it as MIDI file. You can also publish your music composition as XPS, PDF, and PNG. You can also separately export drum loops as MIDI.