Song Structure

[Two-Twelve]

Alright, so here's my deal. Over the past few months I have learned so much about music production...except making a song. Like, I can't structure a song to save my life. I can EQ a kick to be super punchy, I can synthesize awesome basses and leads, and I have come up with some really sweet melodies and bass lines, but I just can't put it all together. I have so many 4-8 bar loops laying around that sound really good, but I just can't make a full length song out of any of them. It's so frustrating, and there are times that I feel like just giving up. So, is there any advice at all that you guys could give me on song structure? Thanks.

[Random111223]

Listening to your favourite songs and analyzing them is a
really good way to learn this. Replay the transitions of the song until you have the idea. I almost exclusively learned structures by doing this.

[Versilaryan]

Whenever I write a song, I always find a way to unify the whole piece. Whether it's something more concrete like a rhythmic motif or a chord progression that occurs through the entire song, or just an idea (like "I want it to sound empty in this particular way"), it not only helps creating a more coherent piece, but it also helps gluing together the separate parts of the piece together.

So, instead of creating a bunch of loops and putting them together, I think in terms of broader ideas. I'll come up with the idea first ("I'll just repeat this chord progression over and over while making it sound brighter before the bass drops") and then write the music second. So usually, I'll write out the whole structure in my head before I begin writing.

Another thing that happens a lot is I'll come up with a musical idea. Sometimes it's just a melody I can't get out of my head, something I discover while messing around on guitar, or even just a vague concept. And then I'll build my piece around it. There's a prog rock song I'm writing right now where the first thing I wrote was a three-chord pattern that repeated over and over again. I played the first two chords, and wondered, "I wonder what it would sound if I went here instead of here." And then I did, it sounded cool, and then I decided I wanted to put it in 5 instead of 4. So then I started thinking, what sorts of things could lead up into this? And then it all went from there.

So take those 4-8 bar loops and find ways to take things from them. Take one that you really like, and turn it into a chorus or something. Better yet, develop it. Repeat it again but make it different. Then, come up with other things that sound similar somehow and find a way to lead from one to another. If you have to, steal from another loop. Take the melody, or the bassline, or something from another loop and use it.

Instead of making little 4-8 bar loops, commit yourself to making a song. You shouldn't care how it sounds (though definitely try your best to make it sound as good as you can make it!). Don't criticize it except to make it better. And most importantly, don't give up. Churn out a finished product even if you aren't happy with it or felt you weren't inspired in the least. Then do it again if you have to. It's really the only way you'll learn how to do it yourself.

[the4thImpulse]

Versilaryan and Random111223 has some really good points!


I will expnd on this a little and tell you what has helped me in the past.

Listen to a song you like that is of a similar genre to one of your loops, pick it arpart and examine every little detail in the track. Look for stuff like how the bassline and melodies change and progress, how the drums change throughout the track, and the small noises in the background the fill a track up. It may help to write it down on paper along with everything else you want to accomplish in the track.

Break down those loops and bring in certin elements in at diffrent times:
Example: 4 bars of just drums - 4bars of drums and lead guitar/synth - bring in the bassline.
Jam out like that for a while, not all of it will sound good but when it does remeber what you did or record it.

I cant make all the elements to a track and then piece them together, my personal methord (it works for some people others hate it) is to start with a very simple drum loop often its just a kick and snare without any processing on it. Next I play around with a synth bassline or lead it doesn't matter but I get them to sound good and do some minor processing (rough EQing/sidechaining) to help me.

Once I have a few diffrent bassline lead and drum patterns working together I start on a very basic skelton of the track. Sometimes you just have to put what you have into an arrangement, whether or not you think its ready, to give you some ideas. Once you have a basic arrangement, even if its just an intro and a main section, experiment with ways on glueing the two together to make them more seemless.

Apply EQing and mixing as you see fit but do not spend too much time on it until you have all the elements of your song all laid out as you will likely grow tired of what your hearing and give up (I used to do this alot and almost gave up on production). If you run out of ideas take a break from similar music for at least an hour. If you still cant think of anything put the track aside for a week and work on something else.

Keep reminding yourself you wont become a pro overnight, most famous producers have been doing it for MANY years. Every track you finish listen to your older work as see how far you have improved.