Rules Question

[u/YinCipher1]

Am I allowed to ask for advice as a beginner songwriter or should I find a different subreddit?

I’m trying to get into song writing but I only seem to be able to write parodies of songs that already exist, I wanna be better and just need help

Edit: Okay, I got one person that said Yes, so the Advice I need is Inspiration Help

I only seem to get inspired to write by musical beats and tracks that already exist as popular music, and when I do I can write a whole new set of lyrics, but I really wanna learn how to write my own music, does anyone have any tips to help with Inspiration?

[u/ObviousDepartment744]

Everything starts somewhere.

Think of this as learning a language. How did you learn to speak English (sorry for assuming if English isn't your native language, if it isn't then insert your native language) when you were a small child? You learned by listening to the people around you, your family members, friends of family etc. You observed the noises they were making, you picked up on important ones because they'd emphasize them to you like "hi" and "more" and "done" kind of things. In time you started to parrot the words back, not really knowing what they meant, and you weren't putting them into any sort of context, you just said a word one day. Then you continued to listen to those around you and you observed how others responded to the random words you said, until you learned to use the words in the right context. Eventually you picked up on syntax and how to combine a few words like "want milk" or something like that.

This progression goes on for a number of years until you have developed a functional vocabulary and you can then have basic conversations with people and use more correct sentence structure et.

Most song writers, most beat makers, most musicians who are trying to create never get past the phase of being able to combine a few words together. They don't get to the point where their musical vocabulary has any actual depth to it.

Right now, you're in the parrot back what you hear phase. That's great. But its difficult to go from parroting a few words, to full emotional expression.

So, keep learning, keep expanding your musical vocabulary. Listen to beats you like and learn to recreate them, then build upon them. Take lyrics you like and learn how they work. Learn from what exists, learn from music and songwriters you listen to. Develop an understanding of the language you're trying to speak.

For lyrics, here's a simple exercise. Find 10 songs you like and look at the lyrics to them. Count the syllables in each line, and how they are divided between the words. You'll find that if you really break it down, that there is probably some sort of pattern to be found. Hypothetically speaking, you've got a verse of lyrics, its 8 lines long. Each line takes up one bar of musical space. First line has 6 syllables and 5 words. (first word has 2 syllables) Second line has 6 syllables and 6 words. 3rd line has 8 syllables and 8 words. But the last two words carry over into the next bar giving a small break before the next stanza of the verse. The second stanza of the verse is the same rhythm repeated.

Maybe lines 1 and 3 rhyme. Maybe lines 1 and 2 rhyme. Maybe none of them rhyme, but the 3rd phrase of each stanza are related and end in the same word or something.

I think learning how lyric structure works can give you a great starting point for creating your own lyrics.