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For most bands, good songs are essential. This is where the magic starts and finishes. Without a good song, all the marketing in the world will get you nowhere. Conversely, a good song can take a band from relative obscurity and put them on the map instantly.

There are several elements to think about when writing, listening back or running the track in the rehearsal room.

Lyrics

Lyrics are usually of critical importance. They are also often the most personal element in songwriting. People can be put off an entire song because of the lyrics, but similarly they can fall in love with a track because of one phrase that strikes a note with them, (pun intended). The worst lyrics are often the ones that try too hard, or use words that are too big. If you can’t spell it easily, then it probably shouldn’t be in a song - a good song is usually about simple, direct communication. Don’t complicate things.

Be very, very careful of cliches. Not only have they probably been done before, but they usually don’t sound genuine – and remember, a song is a kind of communication – communication must be genuine. Cliches can easily be changed to something original, often by changing one or two words. Another common technique is to alter everyday phrases by one or two words to create something original. Whatever happens, try to be original, without trying too hard and alienating the listener with big words, or dated & stupid sounding cliches.

Melodies

Melodies are really the be-all-and-end-all. Besides lyrics, they are the most direct form of communication with most listeners. Often the simplest melodies are the best. Try to distill your melody down until it’s as simple as it can be. Any excess notes that you’re not sure of should not be there. Move that note to a better one, or just remove it completely. Once you’ve stumbled upon the right melody, you’ll know it. The right melody is usually easy to sing – it rolls out of the throat. That’s not to say that you should just stumble into what you find comfortable – on the contrary, the best melodies often come from removing yourself from your comfort zone. But once you have done that, you then have to whittle the melody down through repetition and analysis to the fewest notes possible, to achieve the desired effect.

As your melody moves from one section to the next, a good tool to use is keeping it consistent. If the melody line has 8 notes in it, try changing 2 – 4 of the most important or memorable notes for the chorus. This will have a great effect, without creating inconsistency between sections. The human ear is a sucker for familiarity - if you keep changing the entire melody every time the song moves from verse to chorus, then people will lose track, and eventually lose interest in the song.

Structure & flow

This is the overall “movement” of the track, how it proceeds from start to finish. This is the most obvious indicator of a good song. Plenty of tracks can have one catchy part followed by another, but if they don’t fit together, and if the flow is not intuitively right, then people will stop listening. Put simply, the less you can change in between sections while still getting the desired effect, the better. This creates a kind of subconscious flow that most listeners can detect. If too much changes between verse and chorus for instance (chord progression, drum beat, guitar part, vocals, bass line, melody) and there is no continuity, then the song will generally sound almost like two songs stuck together. It’s much better to change one, two or three parts – e.g. keep the same chord progression, keep a consistent drum beat, but change the bass line, guitar and vocals. This way, people can still groove to the same beat as before, the chords are familiar to the ear, but the bass, guitar and vocals change so that there are fresh elements. As far as structure is concerned, well, there are many different types of song structure – some are more difficult to write well with than others. But it’s always good to start simple – verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, chorus outtro.

Chord choices/progressions

Your choice of chords is very important to the overall mood of the song. It will often dictate the melody line, and an unusual or interesting choice of chords can make a song really stand out from the rest. If you  learned traditional chord progressions such as the 12 bar blues, try altering one or two chords for a bar or two. Experiment with a change, and see if your ear can adjust to it. Often, the human ear becomes very comfortable with what it’s used to. Obviously songwriters are not immune to this, so it’s important to push yourself outside of your comfort zone - you will be very surprised – an interesting chord progression is the foundation of any great song.

Hooks

The most memorable hooks in the world:

“We will we will rock you”
“De De Deahhh, De De Daneahhh, De De Deahhh, De Deahhhh” (smoke on the water)
“All you need is love” “da da da na na”
“Just dance – do do do do Just dance”"
“Beverly hills – that’s where I wanna be!”

OK, so you may not like all of these songs, but hopefully they show the timelessness of the hook. This is the part that every guy and girl can sing along to, laugh about, bang their head to or even try to play themselves. It’s the hook that sells records. The hook is often lyrical, but not always. It may be a combination of lyrics and an instrumental line. It is often the hardest thing to master, because the direct simplicity needed is often overlooked. Just remember – try to make it so that people will remember it, and be able to sing it back to you the next day. Simple, simple, simple!! Catchy, catchy, catchy!!

Last but not least, be yourself - find out what it is about you that is different from everyone else, capture that, and make it central to the song. That’s easier said than done, but persistence and determination does wonders. Remember, most songs sound inspired, but they are more often than not the product of hours of hard work. Inspiration = perspiration (there’s a cliche right there!) Let the number ones flow!!