To effectively finish your songs, focus on writing the ending before developing the rest. This approach helps maintain a cohesive story, avoiding unnecessary side quests and ensuring meaningful character development throughout the song.
If you really want to finish the songs you write, there is an extremely simple trick to it: finish the song first. This may sound crazy, especially if you typically start with the intro and work your way through the song chronologically. However, this method can significantly enhance your songwriting process.
A song is a story, much like a movie, with characters and a plot. In music, your characters are represented by musical motifs such as melodies, riffs, and lyrics, while the plot is defined by the song's structure. Just as in storytelling, you need to develop the musical characters you introduce, guiding them through meaningful growth and providing a satisfying conclusion.
Take the example of The Lord of the Rings. The trilogy revolves around the fate of three main characters: Frodo, Gollum, and the ring. If the story had not resolved their arcs, audiences would have felt cheated after investing so much time. Similarly, in songwriting, if you introduce new musical ideas without developing the existing ones, you risk creating side quests that distract from the main narrative.
When starting out, many songwriters generate a lot of raw material but struggle to piece it together into a cohesive whole. This often leads to frustration and unfinished songs. The key is to focus on the characters you've already introduced rather than seeking new ideas. Ask yourself: what will happen to the characters we’ve already met? This focus on character growth is essential for telling a strong story.
To determine if a part belongs in your song, consider whether it helps move the plot forward or if it serves as an unrelated side quest. If it doesn’t contribute to the main idea, it’s likely just filler. Instead of endlessly generating new material, concentrate on developing what you already have into a meaningful narrative.
Development in songwriting means taking your musical ideas and altering them to advance the plot. This approach is more efficient and focuses your efforts on meaningful work rather than becoming an infinite idea generator. Each part of your song can be viewed as a scene in a movie, with melodies and lyrics as the actors and the accompaniment as the set.
Before diving into production elements like instrumentation and mixing, ensure you have a compelling story. Building your song’s arrangement without a clear narrative can lead to unnecessary complexity and distractions. Sometimes, you need to make tough decisions, like cutting elements that don’t serve the story, similar to how Peter Jackson omitted certain characters from the Lord of the Rings films.
To avoid getting bogged down in side quests, write the ending of your song before proceeding further. Without a target, you won’t know where to direct your creative efforts. By establishing a clear destination, you can determine how to structure the rest of your song.
Once you have the initial parts of your song, use the most compelling section to create the climax. This could be the final chorus, bridge, or solo. Build this part out to its fullest potential, as it represents the peak moment of your song. With a clear climax in mind, you can now aim the rest of your song towards this moment, ensuring that every part contributes to the overall narrative.
With a defined climax, you can now map out the journey your characters will take to reach it. The musical ideas you’ve already created will serve as the cobblestones on this path, evolving as they develop. For instance, in Dream Theater's Peruvian Skies, the opening clean guitar part foreshadows the final heavy riff, showcasing how musical ideas can grow and evolve throughout the song.
The actual ending of your song is less critical than the journey leading up to it. Once the climax has been reached, the listener is simply enjoying the ride back home. The final variation of your main idea should serve as a conclusion, tying everything together without introducing new elements.
By writing your intro last, you ensure that it effectively introduces the story you’ve crafted. This method allows you to create a cohesive narrative that resonates with listeners. Remember, every song is a story, and every story comes to an end. Focus on developing your characters and guiding them to their destination, and you’ll find that finishing your songs becomes a much more manageable task.
