How to write a Christian song though you’ve never written one before

Hey everyone! So today, I’m going to get into a hot topic.

Let’s get into it.

How to start writing music 101

So you first start writing music by being a musician first. 

When I say that you need to be a musician first, you really need to be the top musician in the area. 

When people look for a musician to perform, they are looking for excellence. 

No one wants to hear a musician who doesn’t sound good. 

Now, when you first start out, you’re going to sound bad, and that’s okay. But it’s very important that when you first start playing instruments and singing that you don’t go to any open mics or concerts and perform. 

The reason is because people are mean and if you don’t perform the best, it’s really going to crush you if you perform a less than stellar performance.

I mean even if you were a professional singer-songwriter, you are still going to have critiques that are really going to play on your emotions. 

Nickelback has got to be the most hated band of all time and yet they sold 50 million albums worldwide. 

So, get good at being a musician first and then worry about songwriting.

After you’ve practiced your instruments and sang for a while, you might be wondering how you could compose your own music

I get it, it’s hard to start out.

and in all reality, you don’t really need a whole lot to start writing songs. 

A good foundation in music theory and maybe a whole lot of ear training is often a good starting point. 

So when you learn music theory, you should be aware that it can be a difficult topic to cover because you’re often times dealing with abstract ideas. 

But if you keep at it and really try hard to understand the concepts, you will figure it out. 

There is a lot of talk on the internet that says that you don’t need music theory in order to write songs. 

And though that can be true, it’s not the case all the time. 

Like if you’re trying to write a pop song, it’s often times needed that you know a little music theory to base your songs and shape your songs in the manner that you want to shape them. 

But let’s say that you have all of these things, what are some practical tips on how to actually write songs?

How to write music, advanced pop classes

So let’s start with the hook. 

You should be able to write amazing hooks to write a great song. 

But if you doni’t have that yet, it’s okay because everyone starts somewhere. 

Just start off by writing different lines and melodies and try to make them hooky. 

There are a couple of rules of thumb when making a hook .

The first is that it should be between 3 notes long, the second is that it can be more than 3 notes but having multiple melodic contours is what’s going to make it shine. 

But if you make a 3 note hook that’s multiple melodic contours, then you’re golden and it’s probably the hookiest song that there will be in this generation. 

Remember to write every line like it’s a hook and save your best hooks for the chorus. 

Next are the chords

When you want to write something with a harmonic balance, you have to write chords as well. 

Remember that simple chord progressions are often the best chord progressions. 

Don’t overcomplicate the song and make it sound bad by trying to make the chords all big and fluffy. 

The rule of thumb is that you should make your chord progressions between 2 and 4 chords and keep them either major or minor or 7s. But that’s about it.

Remember the I-IV-vi-V chord progression is ideal in most instances in pop and that there are a great deal of hits that have that exact chord progression. 

Now for the drums, it’s best practice to keep them within pocket. 

And pocket is basically keeping the snare on 2 and 4 and the bass drum anywhere else just as long as it’s a healthy mix of both on and off beats. 

Remember that you need to place the bass drum on the on beats so that you can create a strong hook. But it sounds too dull if you’re only on, on beats all the time. You need to also put some bass drums on the off beats because it helps to give it bounce and sound rhythmically diverse. 

And now for the bass line

This is different than the bass drum which is found on the drum kit. The bass line is the bass guitar or the bass piano. And the way that you theoretically create a bass line can be take in a few different directions. 

The first direction is that you can just follow the root of the chords. 

Another direction is that you could follow the skeleton of the chords.

but in all reality, you need to mix it up because if you do the same thing over and over again, it could get boring. 

Though some songs may just be playing just the root and others being the skeleton. 

You can do that, but there are 10 other ways that you could create a perfect bass line so do some homework and let me know what you find.  

Advanced Melody tips

Now you might be asking what is the most important part of a song?

Is it the bass line that causes people to dance? Is it the drums? Which makes people nod their head and head bang sometimes? Is it the chords which sound beautiful with the guitars? Or is it the melody which people sing over and over again?

Some musicians in the industry say that the most important part of the song is the melody.

In other words the part that is sung.

Quite frankly, I believe it’s the most important part of the song as well. 

Because if you were to take the rest of the instruments in a song, it really is just supporting the singer. 

The drums, the guitars, the piano, the bass, it all supports the singer. 

Even guitar solos aren’t necessarily made to take the lead, though they can, they actually do guitar solos often time just to take a break from the singer and support the singer in that capacity. 

There are even jokes in the music industry that say, “The lead singer rocks but the group does not.”

So how do we make sure that our melodies are top tier?

Let’s go over some melody tips that will make your melodies shine.

There are a few different types of melodies

There is static this note is a note on a piano (AAAAAA) that’s a static melody

There is an ascending melody (ABC)

There is a descending melody (CBA)

There is an ascending and descending melody (ABCCBA)

There is a jagged melody (ABABAB)

and I should Include this one because this is very important it’s called the Appoggiatura. 

(ACB)

There is another one and it sounds a little different but it’s basically an appogiatura inverted

(CAB) this is usually a sadder melody. 

Now There are such things as one note, two note, and three note hooks. 

And three note hooks is often the sweet spot to making a strong hook. 

But you can make 4,5,6,7,8 note hooks. 

Just be aware that the more notes you add to the melody, the more difficult it is to make that melody a hook. 

So when making a melody, you can make on note, two note, and three note hooks all day long, but shaping them is a little different. 

You need to use the melodic contours to your advantage. Melodic contours are the different types of melodies that there are (Appogiatura)

and what you should aim for is to use at least 2 melodic counters per melody. 

So you can do a Static and ascending melody (AAAAAABC)

Or you could use three or more melodic countours. 

But remember the more notes and the more complicated you make the melody, it can be difficult to make it a hook. 

Repetition is very important in music so use that to your advantage as well. 

Broadcast

I sure hope that I have been an inspiration and a hope to you all. Please remember to pray, read your bible, go to church, and love God above all else. Like, comment, share, subscribe, and I will see you all next time.

If you want to go to heaven, then believe in Jesus and you will go to heaven. (John 3:16)

Thank you all for listening in on this blog post. 

German Gonzalez, signing out!

P.S. I’m coming out with more music soon, so I’m going to let you guys know when it’s out. The song is hot, the bars are hot, and it’s of course a Christian song. 

The Lord will use my music to glorify himself. 

I pray that I can become the musician that I can be. 

The Lord will guide me.