Truth is; many people want to become perfect songwriters, which is a challenging task. If you are looking to become a famous songwriter, then it is essential to invest ample time and come up with a perfect story.

Whether you are writing song to pitch commercials, T.V shows or music publishers, you must pay close attention to the rhyming schemes and syllabic patterns as well. Believe it or not, you will be able to create new songs that can deliver the message without any difficulties.

But if you still find something is not working in your song, then the following list can serve as a checklist to diagnose any issues in the song.

1. Poor Arrangement

Even with celebrated songwriters, this songwriting slip is common. Typically, it suggests that the keyboard or guitar will play a constant rhythm or chords throughout the whole song. The approach is acceptable, but it is sometimes boring.

To make sure the song remains exciting and engaging, use another instrument to play rhythm or a counter-line.

Poor song structure also relates to which order you will follow when placing the intro, chorus, verse or the bridge. You can start your song with the chorus instead of the intro, and this doesn’t necessarily mean you will interfere with the quality of your song. What matters is whether your song energy will die during the chorus and weaken the song.

2. Weak Chorus

In most songs, especially those written by neophyte writers, it is hard to tell apart the end of a verse and the beginning of a chorus – they are almost sound the same. An exciting chorus must have something distinct from the verse.

Think of adding an accent, background vocals or even introducing another instrument. Also, the chorus could sound different from the verse if you could do a little alteration to the chords. Either way, you must change the chorus to add more energy to the song and keep it memorable.

3. Grammar Errors

You should also check your grammar when writing song lyrics. If you think plagiarism checker free for students is for learners only, then you are probably mistaken. It is annoying to hear songs heaped with grammatical errors – this is why some songs that would have been hits sink.

Some of the common grammar mistakes include the use of double negatives, using ‘i’ or ‘me’ after the coordinating conjunction ‘and’. Another error is the incorrect use of verbs that do not allow direct objects and those that do.

Using proper grammar is an excellent skill to promote your songs. Songs with lousy grammar make the lyrics difficult to comprehend and listen.

4. No Bridge

A bridge is a pause that joins two parts of a song. It builds a harmonic connection between the sections by decreasing or increasing the tension. Typically, the verse plays two times, and then the bridge is introduced. The bridge could then precede the third verse or even replace it. When it precedes the third verse, it delays an expected chorus and creates an essential quality in the song known as tension and release.

The chorus that comes after the bridge is mostly the last one. And it is usually repeated several times to indicate that the song is almost ending.

5. Too Long

Most unsuccessful songs have parts that are too long. Five-minute guitar solos, three-minute intros, four-minute outros are way too dull. You should keep every section of the song to the point, short and interesting. But if you have spectacular arranging skill, and be able to maintain the attention of the listeners, then you can make the parts as long as you want. For example, you can include kicks and accents after every sixteen bars.

Having very long songs means that they meander from one chord to the other, and they might lack an apparent structure. Also, the songs may not have a clear distinction among the sections. You will have a song with no focus, and possibly an unfinished one. To fix this problem, think of rewriting the song or check the sentence construction.

Take Away

Songwriting can be a challenging affair. And sometimes inspiration can be difficult to come by – even then, fixing your feelings and thoughts into a song can be a procedure akin to pulling out your teeth. Being such an uphill task, you are prone to making mistakes and experiencing so many frustrations in your music career.

Fortunately, you can keep an eye on the above five common mistakes to learn how to write lyrics effectively and come up with brilliant ideas about the art of writing lyrics. They were all focused on helping you see that every element of songwriting affects the other. However, they might not apply to every flavor or genre of music (although some of them might), but hopefully, they are your compass on your route to stardom.

Author Bio

Sandra Larson is a professional songwriter and a successful blogger. Authenticity is seen in her songs and it reflects her commitment towards storytelling that many listeners can identify with. It is easy to believe that Sandra can overcome any songwriting adventure she gets on.