Songwriting

Most people who learn theory are really trying to write better songs. These six pages are about that directly: what makes a fragment stick, where energy goes in a song, and how to finish one.

Start here

From Idea to Finished Song.

It names the four ways into a song and what each one tends to break. Worth reading before you write rather than after you get stuck.

Jump straight inPress the triangle to hear it, the name to read it

The idea

The craft

The idea

Title and ConceptA title is a compass, not a label. Test every later choice against one line, and hear how the title sits inside the hook you keep coming back to.
HooksA hook is defined by its effect, not by its place in the form. Hear melodic, rhythmic and production hooks back to back and spot what they share.
Hooks and ToplinesWrite the vocal on top of a loop that already exists. Set the rhythm of the line first, then the notes, then the words, and hear every pass.

The craft

Keep going

The other sections

Everything on this site sits in one of these, in the order they are meant to be learned.

The building blocks

How music works

In practice