7 Things to Check When Songs Aren’t Working

There’s often a very fine line between good songs and bad ones. Here’s a short checklist to get a weak song working.

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It’s sometimes hard to put your finger on why a song you’ve just written isn’t working for you. For audiences, they almost never know why a song doesn’t sound right. They practically never get beyond “I don’t like it,” and then they move on to something else.

When you’ve put your heart and soul into a song and it comes up short, don’t panic. There are several things you can check right away that may identify and fix the problem. Have a look:

1. Does the energy of the song build over time? Several elements contribute to song energy. For most songs, the end will be louder, higher, and musically busier than the beginning. That’s an important part of keeping a listener entranced.
2. Does the verse lyric adequately describe a situation or outline a compelling story? A verse needs to draw listeners in, and so the story needs to be one that has the potential to touch the heart of the listener. It can be as commonplace as “girl loves boy”, but needs to be something that speaks to the experience of most listeners.
3. Does the lyric use imagery and other poetic devices to grab the interest of the audience? If you’re simply writing a “first this happened, then that happened” kind of lyric, it may not be enticing enough. Metaphors, similes, alliteration, and other techniques will make your lyric much more interesting.
4. Does the melody show contour and a good mix of steps and leaps? Good melodies often use their shape as a design feature. If you find that your melody comes across as a mixture of random up-and-down gestures, it may not be pulling the listener in.
5. Does the melody use repetitive ideas? Good melodies will often use repetition, both exact and approximate, as an important design element. Repetition is what makes songs memorable, more easily sung, and more interesting. Repetition is often responsible for helping to build song energy.
6. Is the instrumentation interesting enough, and appropriate for the song? Sometimes, all a song needs is a well-played but simple guitar part. Other songs do well with something closer to a full orchestration. Whatever you choose, think of instrumentation as an important part of the final product. If you only play guitar, for example, think of ways that you can vary your playing style to match the energy of your music.
7. Do your chords represent a musical journey away from and back to the tonic chord? In most songs, the chord progression should support the key. That means that for songs in C major, the C chord itself should be a musical anchor. Certainly in the chorus, the C chord should be the most important chord, and progressions should use it as a focus. Chords that wander aimlessly with no apparent sense will cause audiences (and you, most likely) to become bored.

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Written by Gary Ewer. Follow on Twitter.

“The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 10-eBook Bundle looks at songwriting from every angle, and has been used by thousands of songwriters. How to use chords, write melodies, and craft winning lyrics.  (And you’ll receive a FREE copy of “Creative Chord Progressions.“)