Throughout history, love has always been one of the most talked about themes in songs. There are thousands of songs simply titled "I Love You,". If you want to learn how to create your own version of a love song, this article is for you. Keep reading!
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Writing the Text
Step 1. Write about your love
Before devoting yourself to poetry and music, you should try to express yourself without the limitations of metrics and rhymes. To do this, describe the person you love, how they make you feel and how you feel when you are together.
- You can describe his physical attributes, including his appearance, his movements, his way of loving, his way of dancing - everything that is part of the physical sphere.
- Also describe the emotional side of the person. She is strong, courageous and direct, or perhaps calm and thoughtful. Write down anything that describes who the person is and their personality traits.
- Describe the us of your relationship. Talk about the things you do or don't do. Write how you found each other, and what your hopes are for the future. Even if you are not together with your love, you can imagine what it would be like if you were together.
Step 2. Create metaphors
At this stage you will need to use creativity. Extend your love story by describing it in non-literal ways. A metaphor, in its simplest form, is a description of something using a different subject.
- For example, you might be in love with her because she smells good, but you won't be able to fit that verse into a love song! Instead, you could write that she is a field of flowers on a warm summer night.
- Work on your description, adding as many metaphors as possible. Some will be elegant masterpieces, others will be thrown away. At this stage, just explore what you can say about love.
Step 3. Embellish your description with similes
Like metaphors, similes are ways to describe your love using a symbol. A simile, however, merely suggests that one thing is like another.
Using the scent of your love again as an example, you could say that she is like a flower field. But without explaining why this is so, you will leave those who listen to you on their toes: is it like a field of flowers because it is colorful, it smells good or because it attracts people like nectar attracts bees? These are all valid possibilities, so be sure to make your description complete
Step 4. Find your image
Once the description is complete, and when you have a clearer idea of the object of your desire and how you can describe it, you can start thinking about your song. To shape the text, create a space to fill with stanzas.
Using the example above, you might decide to use the general image of a garden. You already have the flowers inside. You could use the roots, or bees, other parts of the garden to build your text
Step 5. Create a word list
To create new associations from your description, use your image and a thesaurus to create a list of words to use.
For a "garden" for example, you could use words like "growth", "flower", "heal" or "greenhouse" for a warmer image
Step 6. Find rhymes
Using the word list you created from your image, use rhyming to find the best word to create a rhyme.
Words like "flower" are easy to rhyme: "love", "heart", "ardor", while others are more demanding, like "growth". You can use rhyming to narrow down the list of words to use, eliminating those that don't allow you to create effective rhymes
Step 7. Define the arc of your song
Now that you have an idea of how to frame the ode to your love, sketch out what you want to say and how to say it. A typical format for a love song is "verse, verse, chorus, verse, chorus."
- Each verse communicates something new about the subject and the chorus concludes it all. Sketch what you mean in each section.
- In verse 1 for example, you could talk about how you see your love; in the second verse of how it makes you feel; in the third you could describe the future together.
- In the refrain you can do many things: you can recall the garden where your love grows; you can complain about how all the things you described exist only in your imagination. You can use all the elements present in the description you created!
Part 2 of 2: Add Music to Your Song
Step 1. Think freely
Before you can tie words to a melody, you will need to find the basic idea of the melody. In many cases in the writing stage, this will happen spontaneously. In this case, consider yourself lucky! In other cases, however, the muse will not inspire you, and you will have to develop a melody.
- Start by turning on the recording device. Whether it's a simple cassette player or a computer with ProTools, the idea is the same: take note of your ideas.
- Using text as a metric aid, start humming the melodies that come to mind. If you wish, you can use the words you wrote to develop the melody, or you can do as artists like Peter Gabriel do, and sing nonsense syllables just to find the right melody.
- Do this for about half an hour, then take a break. Take the dog out, watch your favorite TV show - it doesn't matter what you do, but you'll need to clear your mind and ears of the song for about an hour.
Step 2. Listen to what you have recorded
Sit with pen and paper, and listen. You may find parts that excite you, and others that make you sleep. Take note of the ones that arouse strong feelings, and use them to develop the melody.
When developing melody ideas, play them on guitar or piano. If like many people you are not a skilled singer, playing the melody on the piano or the guitar will help you a lot in composing it
Step 3. Add the harmonies
Once you have created the melody, you probably already have in mind the harmonies you will use. Sing the song, building the basic chord structure. It doesn't have to be complex or fancy - you can change the harmony later, to create interest or a different style.
You can also decide to start with the harmonic structure, and find the melody starting from the chords. In fact, you could even create the text after creating the instrumental part. Some people prefer one approach to another. If one method doesn't work for you, try another
Step 4. Play the whole song
Once you've composed the lyrics, the melody and the harmony, play the song! Using your recording device, record multiple versions, then wait overnight. The next day, listen to what you recorded, and choose the best parts of each version, to create the final version of your song.
Repeat the process until you are satisfied. Once you're done, serenade your love
Advice
- Make sure you write from the heart.
- Even if it's a simple crush or a girl you've already won, don't be afraid to express your feelings.
- Write down what you really feel about someone.
- Write a text full of emotion and heart.
- Think about how the other person makes you feel to make the song better.
- Try to make the other person feel special. Add lyrics that let the person know that the song is about her without letting others know. In this way the song will be much more romantic.,
- Have fun and don't let anxiety be a barrier to your creativity.
- Don't abuse the word "love"! Try to express your feelings without saying "love", "heart" and other trivial words.
- If you don't want to understand the subject of the song, just say "you" or "her".
- The more songs you write, the easier it becomes.
