Simple Songwriting

Songwriting is a skill, not a personality trait. You build it by finishing songs, not by waiting until you have a better idea. You already have enough chords. The question is whether you'll put them into a structure and write words over them.

Pick a Progression and Commit to It

Open-chord positions are the backbone of guitar songwriting for a reason: they ring clearly, they're comfortable to hold through an entire song, and they give your right hand room to vary the feel.

G-D-Em-C is a reliable starting point. It's the I-V-vi-IV progression in G major, and it underlies more songs than you'd expect:

Strum through it for five minutes. Notice what it sounds like strummed with a pick versus fingerpicked. The same four chords in the same order feel completely different depending on your right hand. That's a compositional choice, not an afterthought.

Don't try to write an original progression for your first song. That's a separate skill. Use something familiar and put your energy into the words and structure instead.

Verse-Chorus Structure

Two sections. Verse carries the story - the specific detail, the image, the situation. Chorus carries the central idea, repeated. The chorus needs to feel like it lands somewhere definite.

You can use the same progression for both and change only the strum pattern or picking style. Or use a different progression for the chorus to create contrast. Either is valid. What matters is that the listener can hear the difference between the two sections.

Keep it short. A complete 60-second song teaches you more about structure than an unfinished four-minute one.

Writing Words Over the Rhythm

Speak before you sing. Say something true and plain over the chord changes. Skip the abstractions: "she never came back" is more useful than "I felt a profound sense of loss." Specifics hold a song up.

Fit syllables to the rhythm. Tap out the chord changes and speak the line over them. Too many syllables: cut the line. Too few: hold a word across two beats. You don't need to rewrite the line to fix the meter.

Rhyme is not mandatory. A forced rhyme pulls attention to the awkward word and away from what you're saying. If the right word doesn't rhyme, use it.

Record It Before You Revise It

The first song you finish will not be the best song you write. That's normal. Finish it anyway. Once verse and chorus are in place and you can play through the whole thing, record it on your phone. A rough recording locks the song down so you don't forget it between sessions. Don't revise before recording. Record rough, revise later if you want to.

Practice Exercise

1. Set up G-D-Em-C. Strum through it and notice the mood - write one word that fits.
2. Pick a strumming pattern and a fingerpicking pattern. Try each. Choose one for the verse.
3. Write four lines for a verse. Speak them over the chords first, then sing them roughly.
4. Write two lines for a chorus. Use a different right-hand pattern or the same one with more drive.
5. Play verse, chorus, verse. Record it on your phone. Done.

Next up: Basic Improvisation - building melodies and fills on the spot using the scales and chord shapes you already know.