
Songwriting 101:
Building Blocks!
In this lesson, we will start by having a look at the basic elements of a song,
and then use these concepts to create your own song!
1. Rhythm / Tempo
2. Chord Progression
3. Song Structure
4. Melody
1. Rhythm/Tempo
Guide Track
Whilst there are countless ways to start writing a song, one of the best methods is to start with a guide track.
Today, we are going to use a drumbeat as the guide track and build your song ontop of that.
Choose your favorite drumbeat and tempo from the examples below.
Pop
Pop Beat Example 70bpm
00:00 / 00:27
Pop Beat Example 90bpm
00:00 / 00:21
Pop Beat Example 110bpm
00:00 / 00:17
Pop Beat Example 130bpm
00:00 / 00:15
Rock
Rock Beat Example 70bpm
00:00 / 00:27
Rock Beat Example 90bpm
00:00 / 00:21
Rock Beat Example 110bpm
00:00 / 00:17
Rock Beat Example 130bpm
00:00 / 00:15
Blues
Blues Beat Example 70bpm
00:00 / 00:27
Blues Beat Example 90bpm
00:00 / 00:21
Blues Beat Example 110bpm
00:00 / 00:17
Blues Beat Example 130bpm
00:00 / 00:15
Funk
Funk Beat Example 70bpm
00:00 / 00:27
Funk Beat Example 90bpm
00:00 / 00:21
Funk Beat Example 110bpm
00:00 / 00:17
Funk Beat Example 130bpm
00:00 / 00:15
Song Builder Files (Drums)
Drum Blocks - A single bar each of all the above drum beats, drag and drop into your DAW (music software) Don't forget to set your projects BPM!
A Blocks = Verse B Blocks = Chorus
2. Chord Progression
Next, we need to decide on a chord progression. Feel free to get creative here, but for our example, we are going to keep it simple.
If you need help coming up with a nice sounding progression, here is the list of common progressions from last week's lesson.
Chords in C Major
C Dm Em F G Am Bdim C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
I ii iii IV V vi vii I
1. I V vi IV
2. I IV vi V
3. I IV V
4. ii V I
5. I vi IV V
6. I IV ii V
7. I iii IV V
8. I IV I V
3. Song Structure
Now that you have your chord progression down. Let's make another one for the chorus and then write out a simple song chart.
Example Song Chart
Verse
| I | V | vi | IV | x4
Chorus
| V | V | vi | IV | x4
Song Builder Files (Chords)
Piano Chords - Long piano chord samples, drag and drop into your DAW and resize the chord to be the same length as the drum blocks.
Bass Notes - Same as piano chords
