Original Don

How To Write Original Songs That People Like

So you would like to write your own original songs. However the few attempts that you have made did not turn out as you would have liked because the tune or the melody were not flowing so well or were not catchy enough for people to like.

So how do you write songs that people will like or will sing and hum along as you are performing them? Well, brace yourself because one of the methods to write catchy and be rather controversial, but it not only works and works darn well!

Sometimes, when somebody's original melody sounds good, they also sounded like another song. But you just can't figure out which other song it sounded like. There is this vaguely familiar feeling that you have heard a sort of similar song before. Have you had that feeling?

I am sure all of us had this feeling before and I can even dare to say that it will happen again and again with other new songs. Actually, this subconscious feeling is rather common as after all because every song is a somewhat recycled tune given the limited number of musical notation, chords and rhythms. So all new songs will somehow or other overlap other songs that are already in existence. Therefore all songs will have parts of their tune similar with another song or even songs. Therefore it is perfectly alright if parts of your song sounds like another song although you did not intend it that way.

As a matter of fact, if your new song sounds familiar, that may be a good thing. Before you jump up and shout copyright infringement, please be aware that I am not talking about infringing other composer's copyright, I am talking about a part of your tune that sounds somewhat like another song.

So why is this similarity a good thing? Well, it is simply because people can relate to your tune even more and so, they will like the song and remember it. They will want to listen to your song because of the familiarity. Song familiarity invoke a pleasant feeling of emotion and most of the time, they don't even know why they felt good hearing your melody. This is why your song can easily be remembered and will keep humming in people's head.

Even if your listeners realized parts of your song is somewhat similar to another song, so what, no big deal because as a whole, the song is in your own original song with your own original lyrics, your own melody and expressions and thus it is your own original song!

I must stress the point that you must not intentionally infringe upon other people's copyright. This is not about ripping off other composer's works. This is about creating your own melodies and tunes that sound like a familiar tune.

So how do I go about writing familiar sounding songs? Well, let's start by choosing a song that you like and is familiar with and hum the tune. Just hum it but don't sing the lyrics out. This will get you thinking 'melodically' and soon, you should be able to hum certain variations of that tune. Just let your imagination take over and toss the melody around as you imagined it and let your creative juices flow.

Once you can jumble out the tune nicely, then sing it aloud and this will become your own tune. It is really that simple.

Another way to do this is to choose a song that you don't even know or heard of before. Listen to this song once, and then listen to it again. The second time when you are listening to it, sing along with the song. Yes, you probably will not remember the tune very well, but nevertheless, just sing along and this is when you make up a melody line of your own with the melodic structure of this obscure song.

Whichever method you have chosen to write a song with a somewhat familiar tune, you must feel good about it. It is your gut feeling of feeling pleasant that you know you have written a good catchy original tune that people will like and remember.

About the Author

Chris Chew owns a music education website at Learn How To Get Perfect Pitch and Learn How To Write Your Own Songs

Don McLean- American Pie (with Lyrics)