Songwriting 101 by Matthew Hawk Eldridge

If you read my previous article, I hopefully convinced you to try songwriting. There are a few basics to help get you started, if you’ve never written a song before. I’ve met a few people who tell me, “I want to write a song, but I can’t carry a tune or play a musical instrument.” That’s okay. Your job isn’t to sing or create the melody. Leave that to the musicians. But you do need to understand timing and rhythmic patterns. If you are working with a musician, they can help you with this. Your job is to create powerful, unforgettable, believable, inspiring lyrics. Your instrument is the pen. The instrumentalists will put the paint on the musical canvas. Your words will make the musical painting come to life.

So how do you start? If you don’t have any musical background, this can often be the hardest part. Do you start with the words or the music? It’s the chicken and the egg syndrome. Sometimes I write the music first. Sometimes I have words I want to put to music. I have been in a number of bands where I brought in a raw poem and someone already had an idea for a melody. In a simple hour or two we stripped and shaped that poem into an inspiring song. Other times, I brought in music I had with no lyrics, and someone added lyrics to what I wrote musically. I remember one specific night writing a poem called No Identity. Our keyboard player grabbed it out of my hands and right away started playing chords on the keyboard to match it, followed by developing a sweet lyrical melody. Although he and I both sang in the band, his musical version of my poem became his baby to sing. A few months later we were singing that song for thousands of people on a huge stage at a Christian music festival. Hands were raised all around the stadium as he belted out the chorus. “And I—I don’t know who I am, I have no identity in me. I’m laid bare with no more cares, I only know the face of the one who embraces me—in my mind…” This is the breakdown of No Identity that started from a simple poem.

Verse 1

I’m standing small / I start to fall down on my knees /

Begging please break me

I cry, I crawl / Beneath your grace in weakness I stumble /

My heart it crumbles

Chorus

And I don’t know who I am / I have no identity in me /

I’m laid bare with no more cares / I only know the face of the one who embraces me /

in my mind

Verse 2

So take the weight off my chest / the heavy burdens that steal my rest /

I’m trying desperately to see / Who are you to me /

And who I am to you / and Lord, what can I do to / For you bore my sin /

And gave me life within so I could win / you wipe the tears away / and all my pain…

Sing chorus again

Bridge

Never let me fall again / Never let my life be sin / Come and take this life away /

And give me a new name / Paint it in the stain / of the innocent blood you shed /

for I am dead, but alive in you—

repeat final chorus

The first step in songwriting is to understand the importance of the chorus. The chorus in songwriting is the plot to storytelling. It’s what the song is about. The chorus is often a theme or a point that you are trying to make. If you were to make a logline for your song, it would be obvious by your chorus.  So let’s come up with a logline for No Identity: The song (No Identity) is about a humble, broken man who has lost his identity and only wants to find it in God. Choruses are usually the only part of a song that is repeated to make that point.

While there is definitely not a “one-size-fits-all” way of songwriting, there are some simple guidelines that can help. There are definitely no “you can’t do that in songwriting” rules, although some people may try to tell you differently. When our band attended GMA’s (the Gospel Music Association) conference week, one of the top producers (Reed) in Nashville at the time said, “You can’t do that in your bridge… you can’t put a calypso rhythm in the middle of your song there. Take the bridge out, it doesn’t fit for radio.” Reed was polished, experienced, and older/old school. But we felt strongly about the bridge, so we ignored his advice. As we started playing that song out in public, show after show after show, we received letters from fans that told us how No identity really spoke to them. And several said the funky bridge lifted them up. In fact, we had more fan mail over No Identity than any other song.

My suggestion? Start writing. Don’t worry about rules. Be poetic. Be powerful. Listen to a lot of acoustic-based storytelling songs on Youtube for growth. Yes, there are a few guidelines—I will share some of those next month! In the mean time, think about your chorus—what is it you want to say? Build your song around that!

Matthew Hawk Eldridge is a singer, songwriter, musician, film actor, and author, sleeplessly living in Atlanta, GA. His most recent works include playing guitar in Pitch Perfect 3, his novel, The Pan: Experiencing Neverland, and his album Overcome releasing March of 2018.