How to Start Writing Songs: Finish Your First One in Five Sessions
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The best way to start writing songs is to finish a small one. A first song can skip the bridge, the pre-chorus and the perfect lyric. A verse, a chorus and an ending are enough, as long as it gets done. Once one song is finished, the next one is easier to start, because you know the whole road.
This guide is songwriting for beginners: how to write a song in five short sessions. You write only two sections, then copy them into a full song. Here is how small that can be:
What you write
The finished song (example layout written for this guide)
What you need
A way to record your voice, such as the voice memo app on your phone, and somewhere to write words. An instrument helps but isn’t required: humming is enough to write a melody. You don’t need to know music theory to finish a first song.
How to write a song for beginners in five sessions
Each session is 20 to 30 minutes and has one job. Stop when the job is done, even if the result is rough.
Session 1: Find one line
Write down a few short sentences you would actually say to someone: a complaint, a promise, a question. Pick the one you would most like to sing. That is your title. If nothing comes, borrow a starting point from our songwriting prompts.
Session 2: Write the chorus
Sing your title over and over, slowly, until it finds a tune. Record every attempt. When one sticks, add three more lines, with the title as the first or last line. Keep the words plain and give the title the longest or highest note. Our guides on how to write a chorus and how to write a hook for a song go deeper if you get stuck.
Session 3: Write the verse
The verse sets up the chorus. Write four lines of detail that lead to your title: where you are, what happened, what someone said. Sing them lower than the chorus, with more words and shorter notes, so the chorus has room to rise. See how to write a verse and how to write lyrics for more.
Session 4: Build the whole song
Now copy. Verse, chorus, verse, chorus, chorus is a complete song. The second verse uses the same melody as the first, so the only new writing is its words: four more lines that move the story on. Repeating the last chorus gives the song an ending.
Session 5: Record it and call it finished
Sing the whole song once, start to finish, into your phone. Don’t fix anything during the take. Write the date on it and call it done. You will want to change things. Save that for a rewrite later, or for the next song. When you want a clearer recording to share, see how to make a song demo.
After your first song
Write the second one the same way, then start adding one new thing per song. Between songs, short songwriting exercises train one skill at a time.
- A pre-chorus when the jump from verse to chorus feels sudden.
- A bridge when the last chorus starts to feel like a loop.
- New ways into a melody, from how to come up with a melody.
- A look at the whole layout in pop song structure explained.
Common beginner problems and quick fixes
| Problem | Try this |
|---|---|
| You start songs and never finish them | Shrink the song: one verse, one chorus, copied. Finish that first |
| Everything you write sounds cheesy | Swap one general line for a specific detail: a place, an object, a time |
| You can’t think of a melody | Sing the title slowly on one note, then let one word go higher |
| You keep rewriting the first line | Leave it rough and write the rest. The first line is easier once you know the ending |
Keep going
If you already have lyrics for your next song, go to how to write a melody for your lyrics. To build your first song section by section, start a free trial of Mouta Studio on a desktop browser.
Common questions
How long should my first song be?
As short as you can finish. The layout above runs about a minute and twenty seconds at 120 BPM, and it is a complete song with two verses and an ending.
How long does it take to write a song?
It varies from song to song and writer to writer. For a first song, the plan above is five sessions of 20 to 30 minutes, about two hours in all.
What should my first song be about?
Something small and specific that happened to you or someone you know. A single moment is easier to write than a big idea, and a listener can picture it.
What if my first song isn’t good?
It probably won’t be your best, and that is fine. The point of the first song is to learn the whole process once. The second one will be better because the first one exists.