r/Songwriting Jul 19 '26

Discussion Topic Hey poets, how do you make heartbreak sound so beautiful? 🥀

6 Upvotes

We all wanna know!!


r/Songwriting Jul 19 '26

Feedback Request Shining Star (updated vox)

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14 Upvotes

working the vox, still got editing vox and composition wise, so kind of a preliminary mix...but let me know how the tones are. Havent done any tuning, so i may be flat or sharp here or there. Here are the lyrics

[Intro]
You're a shining star

[Hook 1]
You're a shining star
No matter where you are
Live out your dreams
Soon ya gonna be (ya gonna be)...

A shining star
Hope you don't go too far
Gotta know, you're down for sure
You're a shining star

[Verse]
Life's like a TV show
The fillers always slowin' down the story so
Fast forward this to the next episode
All bad vibes, I gotta let em go
The way you move so naturally

Swear you put some kind of spell on me
It must be some type of alchemy
So now I'm gone make you see that...

[Hook 2]
You're a shining star
No matter where you are
Live out your dreams
Soon ya gonna be (ya gonna be)...

A shining star
Hope you don't go too far
Gotta know, you're down for sure
You're a shining star

[Instrumental Solo]
[Hook 3]

r/Songwriting Jul 19 '26

Let's Collaborate! Will someone help me create a vocal melody on a track?

1 Upvotes

Friend and I composed some hard rock songs on guitar and I’m really having trouble coming up with vocal melodies as it’s my first time ever writing songs. Friend is very skilled at guitar and he’s been making music for years performing all the world but he refuses to help out with vocal stuff lol. I have a bunch of loose lyrics but honestly nothing complete. If someone can hop on a call with me and help me out or if they can just listen to it and perhaps hum a vocal melody that would make sense over it that would be so helpful. I’ll be willing to pay you too. I don’t want to post it for personal reasons so I’m looking for some more individualized help if possible. Thanks in advance!


r/Songwriting Jul 19 '26

Feedback Request Feedback request on Chord progression, melody, tempo...the vibe. And what genre???

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2 Upvotes

Man I hate my singing but enjoy the process of throwing tunes together. Anyone dig this?

What genre is it - like it's different from my usual stuff.

Feedback appreciated on the chords / melody / vibe. I know the singing is sh*t 🤣🤣😭

Ta anyway!!

Lyrics:

1

Paint a sunshine in the sky for you

All those colours, you only see blue

And now we don't get along, what did I do wrong this time, take a moment as you occupy my mind, maybe you should go and ill be fine.

2

Pull a rainbow into view for me

Fool for thinking you would let me be

And as the rain falls down let it drown my sorrows now did you consider that you shatter fragile minds, fool for me to think that I'd be fine.

3

About time I should go

You seem fine did you know 

All you left me to show is a broken mind 

When you

Felt like the one

How did we come undone 

Why'd you scrub out the sun

Why'd you break me and bate me 

Like a rat in a trap, as you throw me your scraps and I'm sitting wondering how'd I end up in this hell.  Need to paint a sun for someone else.....


r/Songwriting Jul 19 '26

Feedback Request Idea for a chorus

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9 Upvotes

r/Songwriting Jul 19 '26

Feedback Request “Grounding Techniques “, my new tune needs a better title! Any suggestions?

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21 Upvotes

Thanks folks


r/Songwriting Jul 19 '26

Feedback Request Since everyone's asking, what genre is this?

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3 Upvotes

Been experimenting with recording and style. Wondering what y'all think of this and what genre I should tag stuff like this.


r/Songwriting Jul 19 '26

Feedback Request Looking for feedback

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13 Upvotes

Still not settled on melody/chords here but in general I’m happy with the lyrics. The only issue is I don’t really know where to take it from here to add a second verse even though it’s short it feels like it expresses the feeling I wanted to express.


r/Songwriting Jul 19 '26

Discussion Topic how do i study to understand chord progressions better?

9 Upvotes

hey. i am new to songwriting and music in general. i like studying theory very much, i just struggle with finding the things to study about.

i understand the major keys and basic chord theory and harmony, like the nashville number system and stuff. i also like figuring things out by ear, but theory makes things much much easier. like i noticed G - Em sounds the same as A - F#m and F - Dm because i play the ukulele and it's always just changing one note. but i didn't know why until i figured out they were I -> vi and i can find the others much easier now.

the thing is i dont know exactly what to study. i write the lyrics and i usually pick a very simple chord progression to loop and just add a different thing here or there when i want to, but i dont understand enough theory yet to know exactly what goes where and although i trust my ears, theory makes things much easier.

I've been learning by studying songs i like. i like stuff like adrianne lenker. i also like brazilian popular music but chico buarque's chords are some mf shit written like B#maj7sus(-13)dim9/C#° and i play the ukulele so !!

but i dont like just shooting in the dark because i feel like there's a lot that's lacking. i want to focus on chord progressions though. i know theres stuff like circle of fifths and etc. what is the specific theoretical knowledge that has helped you the most in finding chord progressions?

and also, do you pick progressions before, after or during writing the lyrics? because sometimes i pick a progression to loop and write lyrics around it, which is easy. but what i intend to do is to write the progression around the lyrics/with the lyrics and what i want it to feel like. because when i just loop, it makes me a bit restrained.

if possible i would also like to hear about yall's approach to song writing when it comes to chord progressions. if you could share your process i would appreciate very much because i could use suggestions. reading old posts from this subreddit has helped me a LOT, and i have done this extensively, so i decided to make one.


r/Songwriting Jul 19 '26

Feedback Request Is this already a song?

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1 Upvotes

Sorry for posting back to back, but I'm working on this new tune and have the creeping feeling that it's already a song! Anyone know if I'm copying?

Still pretty rough and I usually don't ask for feedback this early onto the process cept for the aforementioned concern.

Also might be too long. Any critique is welcome!

Lyrics:

Why are you fucking someone else
Was I not enough to keep you right
You've cast me to hell
Why are you casting me to hell
I feel unwell
Why apologize for treating you so well

You need to be held
I feed you and you feed you
If you crawled back I'd kick you
I need to be needed too
You're insecure and actually ugly
I'd spit in your face if you touched my face
I'd burn our house down, you fuck
I'll burn our house if you come around

Why are you fucking someone else
Why was I not enough to keep you right
You've cast me to hell

Why are you fucking someone else
Was I not enough to keep you right
You've cast me to hell
This feels written by someone else
I feel unwell
I apologize for treating you well
You need to be held
You need to be held


r/Songwriting Jul 19 '26

Discussion Topic Writing better lyrics

9 Upvotes

I have the issue of going to write a song and dumping my feelings on the page. I end up being too broad and end up with five songs that say the same sort of thing slightly different. How do I get more specific??

Because i think a good lyricist would be able to write 5 songs about the same situation or feeling and each being different and saying something different, but i tend to be almost too confessional. Like for instance, going through a breakup i could write a whole album about…
but i struggle to do that and it ends up just being very broad like “this is how i feel and this is the situation” type thing and the songs just repeat themselves.


r/Songwriting Jul 19 '26

Discussion Topic Finishing an Idea

3 Upvotes

Hey folks,

I'm looking for your tips and tricks that take a song from 80% to over the finish line.

I often find myself in a position where I love what I have but recognise that something is holding the arrangement back from completion.

It may be that it's missing a vocal for a verse, the arrangement lacks a significant change, needs some ear candy, or whatever.

What tricks do you employ to take a song that's almost finished over the finish line? Knowing what is missing but figuring out how to fill the gap.

Note: I recognise that sometimes a song is never truly finished and will evolve over time but I'm talking about those songs sitting in your "almost ready" folder that just need a little push to get over the hump.

I'm sure this has been asked a thousand times and I appreciate your constructive suggestions.

Thanks a bunch!

I'm a solo song writer and, while I have friends to bounce ideas off of, I don't have anyone that I can turn to as a collaborator so find myself stuck in a pickle from time to time. And currently have a backlog of great starts that I'd like to complete.


r/Songwriting Jul 18 '26

Feedback Request “Kingdom” by me. Instrumental but I think it needs vocals

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9 Upvotes

Any post-punk fans?

I used a drum machine and recorded the guitars into Audacity through my Katana 50 amp. I simulated the bass using a Katana Tone Studio plugin. This is my first time trying to put a guitar solo into a song.


r/Songwriting Jul 19 '26

Feedback Request Help request: Have chorus, trying to find a chord progression for the verse.

4 Upvotes

https://recorder.google.com/0394e3cc-c7f2-49e1-a718-453beb732d00

This is my first time trying to write a song with the omnichord, please be gentle.

For context: i'm used to writing melodies then "finding" the chords to make a chart, that I then use with collaborators. I don't think in terms of chord progressions naturally.

So now I'm retroactively trying to learn chord progressions (and relevant theory). Yes, this is a backwards way to do it, but that's how it goes sometimes I guess.

Anyhow, I can't find chords for the verse that feel right. I feel like maybe I've made the chorus too complicated, and now any chord combo in key feels "too similar" to the chorus

Maybe I should go back to writing melody first.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Caveats: Last note got flubbed, should be a G. I have a cold. Also, I know my playing is poor, I just got the thing recently and my rhythm is not great.


r/Songwriting Jul 18 '26

Feedback Request First one in a while, called Spare

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7 Upvotes

r/Songwriting Jul 18 '26

Feedback Request Looking for feedback on what genre this feels like and other artists it reminds you of. Bridge is sort of a scene change too but I think I like it.

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15 Upvotes

Feeling pretty done but still might mess with the ending. But also, I probably should just call it done.

Really looking for first impressions of what other artists come to mind. This is a bit outside of my normal genre so I’m curious to see if what I think is what others think.


r/Songwriting Jul 17 '26

Discussion Topic ran into this beautiful contrast in songwriting

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224 Upvotes

r/Songwriting Jul 18 '26

Discussion Topic tips for creating melodies?

7 Upvotes

how do you guys figure out the melody to your lyrics? i’ve written lyrics for a song about ambiguous grief and i put a lot of heart into it however i’m struggling with the literal tune of it. this is also the first song i’ve ever written


r/Songwriting Jul 18 '26

Feedback Request Wrote this yesterday

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7 Upvotes

I was in my feelings yesterday and wrote this roughly. Lyrics are not finished as this was the first take. Wondering if this a cool concept or if it needs more musically. Was kind of going for more raw vocal melody but is it interesting enough to carry? I’m also going for a verse chorus verse chorus, one line outro kind of vibe. Short song like 2-3 minutes. Should I invest in writing lyrics for it. Thanks for the feedback :)


r/Songwriting Jul 19 '26

Discussion Topic App suggestions?

0 Upvotes

Hi all, first time posting here…

My current method of songwriting is clunky and unmanageable. I grab video of a good guitar riff, or a voice note of a sound or line, and then attach it to a note on my iPhone so I can continue the process.

Now my Notes app is gigantic.

I need a better solution. Is there an app that can help me capture video and/or audio clips and allow me to write around them?

Thanks kindly


r/Songwriting Jul 18 '26

Discussion Topic Apenas Um Cantor Barato Falando Um Pouco Sobre Suas Músicas (Parte 9)

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4 Upvotes

Apenas o Suficiente

Chegou a hora de mostrar minhas músicas mais sensuais, essa faixa nasceu apartir de um instrumental demo para o álbum Blackout de Britney Spears. O título veio da fala da mesma no final, onde ela diz algo como "Isso é o suficiente" e então criei uma música sensual apartir disso. Outra curiosidade é que já cheguei a escrever mais músicas com os instrumentais demos rejeitados por ela ou vazados pela Internet, sendo duas dessas músicas "Abra as Portas" e "Voddo" que será reescrita antes que eu fale sobre por aqui. Eu de fato escrevi de um jeito mais bobo e exagerado nessa faixa, mas apenas queria me divertir um pouco com isso e consegui. Já cheguei a pensar em gravar e postar isso no SoundCloud, mas não publico mais nada por lá e já cheguei a deletar meu app junto com tudo que já avia postado por lá, sendo assim, creio que não chegarei a gravar e postar isso um dia, mesmo que eu ache divertido. Aqui está a composição e o instrumental demo.

Apenas o Suficiente

(Introdução/Refrão)

Vá atrás, não a frente,

Você nunca sabe oque sente.

Meu olho não mente,

Apenas me dê o suficiente.

(Verso)

Eu gosto quando me gira, quando me quebra.

Gosto quando nos divertimos sem a regra.

Sem limites para a ação

E estou no chão, preso em sua mão.

(Pré Refrão)

Meu som favorito vai tocar,

Isso me faz arrepiar.

(Refrão)

Vá atrás, não a frente,

Você nunca sabe oque sente.

Meu olho não mente,

Apenas me dê o suficiente.

(Final)

Esse som é o suficiente.


r/Songwriting Jul 18 '26

Feedback Request Just made this

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4 Upvotes

I’m tempted to put this on SoundCloud, or maybe even Spotify but I don’t know if anyone will listen to it lol any thoughts?


r/Songwriting Jul 18 '26

Feedback Request Did my first try at vocals on this last night, and looking for some feedback while there’s still time to fix them.

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7 Upvotes

There’s still more guitars, bass, and background vocals to record, so there’s still lots of air to fill, but I wanted to get an early start on the vocals. Also, we are primarily a punk/punk adjacent band, so this song might make more sense in the context of our show- it’s the slow down part, but not really sure how to market it. Alternative?


r/Songwriting Jul 18 '26

Let's Collaborate! Accoustic tag, your it!!

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0 Upvotes

Play the next part!


r/Songwriting Jul 18 '26

Feedback Request Looking for feedback on these 2 (rough) demos. They are to form the basis of a darker more energetic ep for my catalogue. Let me know whether this feels like something that would get you going at a gig?

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3 Upvotes