Think about a typical day in your life: wake up, eat, go to class or work, see your friends, go to bed. Chances are in between these events, you heard music. Whether you popped in a CD, plugged into Spotify or overheard it in a restaurant, music is everywhere. Whether you think about it or not, there is a science behind the songs you hear everyday.
Though there is not a specific formula to writing every single song, there are more effective ways to make songs more popular than their counterparts.
According to Larry Dvoskin, a Grammy-nominated musician and author of “Do What You Love: Songwriting,” there are three secrets to writing a best-selling pop song: pairing sad lyrics with upbeat music, beginning songs with a chorus and writing about dreams.
Adding sad lyrics to happy songs creates a dichotomy that is interesting for listeners. “It’s the contrast of colors that often makes a great piece of art — the white canvas against whatever color is painted onto its surface,” said Dvoskin in an interview with the Huffington Post. “It’s this contrarian principle that holds true for many of music’s greatest songs: bittersweet words, happy music!”
By using darker sounding chords, according to Dvoskin, the happy nature of lyrics can be pronounced. As far as starting a song with the chorus, Dvoskin has a similar rationale.
“A technique many hit songwriters use is starting with some variation of the chorus as the intro,” said Dvoskin. “Why not subliminally plant the melody, feel and mood of the chorus into the listener’s ear in zero to 10 seconds, instead of after a minute?”
Dvoskin’s final secret to writing a pop song is to write about things that happen in dreams. “Sting tells the story of hearing ‘Every Breath You Take’ in a dream,” said Dvoskin. “The most famous dream story of all is Paul McCartney receiving ‘Yesterday’ in a dream and writing the placeholder lyric ‘Scrambled Eggs’ to it originally.”
The formula to writing a song slightly changes depending on the genre that you want to write. According to Shawn McGovern, a writer for Guitar World, there is also a specific way to write a metal song.
As far as metal goes, McGovern suggests starting with a melody first. “I found in my own personal experience that the melodies I wrote were never as memorable as the riffs, and the songs didn’t possess enough movement to keep me excited,” said McGovern.
After establishing a strong melody, McGovern encourages writers to focus on their riffs and rhythms next. “The metal genre is known more for its intense guitar wizardry and its savage war-dry percussion than for its cleverly crafted melodies, but when they both align it is a marvelous sound indeed,” said McGovern.
No one song is the same: now that you know the formula, will you listen to songs the same way?
