How to Write Songs for Drummers
Writing songs is something that many pianists, guitarists, and singers do. Did you know that there have been hundreds of drummers that have written famous songs in the past as well?
Being the drummer of the band doesn’t disqualify you from being able to write songs for the group. There have been some amazing songs written by drummers over the years, so you should take a spin at it to see if you can come up with something epic.
In this guide, we’re going to give a few songwriting tips from a drummer’s point of view. Read through everything here, and then get a pen and paper out to start jotting down some ideas of your own.
The first thing you should do when getting into songwriting is listening to other music. Listening to music will give you a good idea of what works and what doesn’t. It will also make you understand how song structures work.
Everyone listens to music casually, but it’s a good idea to listen to music critically. Analyze different song parts that you enjoy and ask yourself why you enjoy them so much.
This will give you a good idea of what you want to have in your own songs. The idea here is not to copy other songs. You should be using them as learning tools to gain inspiration.
Also, listen to songs from multiple styles to get an idea of how they create those stylistic environments with the instrumentation.
As drummers, knowing music theory isn’t a priority on our list. We just have to know how to count and subdivide rhythms. You can be really good at doing that, but you’ll be poor at songwriting if you don’t know a few of the basics of music theory.
You need to know what key signatures are, as that’s what all the melodic instruments will need to follow when playing the song. You also need to know about harmonies. If the vocal parts of your song don’t have any harmonies, it can sound quite plain.
You don’t need to know these things in detail, as other musicians can help you with this aspect of songwriting. However, you need to have the basic knowledge to feel competent with it.
When writing a song, you need to give it a structure. All songs with vocals have verses, choruses, and bridges. Some have pre-choruses and tags. It’s up to you to decide how those song parts are positioned in your song.
A good way to guarantee that your song will sound good is by using song structures that already exist in other songs.
Most pop songs have a basic structure that looks like this:
Verse 1
Pre Chorus
Chorus
Verse 2
Chorus
Bridge
Chorus
End
That song structure is popular as it works extremely well in making a coherent song that people want to listen to. You don’t have to follow it every time, though, as it can be cool to have a unique structure with your song.
You should decide what to base your song off of. Some songs start with a melodic motif, while other songs start with a few vocal lines. Once you have that, you can build from there.
As a drummer, you can even base your song on an interesting drum groove that you’ve created.
The next step is to try different things out to see if they stick. If you’re writing a song with a story, it’s a good idea to write the lyrics and then add the music later.
If you’re just writing a song for instruments, then you want to add a bass line and chords with a drumbeat and then create a structure from there.
This statement is so true for songwriting. The artists that have ten brilliant songs have written thousands that have never been released.
You have to just keep writing as much as you can. As you do this, your creative skills will be boosted, and your songs will get better and better.
Don’t be shy to sing in front of other people. Even though you’re a drummer, you have the potential to write some amazing lyrics. Sing as much as you can, and the song ideas will come with that.
Songwriting is an art form, so it’s natural that you may get writer’s block at stages. It’s another art form that relies heavily on inspiration.
People write songs after big things happen in their life or after they travel to beautiful places. The best thing you can do for your songwriting skills is to continue living life to the fullest. As you do that, song ideas will come to you very naturally.
Also, keep listening to music. You’ll hear things that you want to add your own spin to.
While you can easily write a song with only your drumming abilities, it does help to know how to play an instrument that can play chords.
If you want to be a songwriter, you should know how to play a few basic chords on a piano or guitar. This will allow you to pick chords for your song, and it will allow you to play and sing the song yourself before needing anyone else’s help.
Songwriting is an amazing thing to get into. Remember that drummers are full-on members of any band that they’re in, and you shouldn’t take a backseat in the songwriting process.
If you have a song in mind, work on it as much as you can and then take it to your bandmates. It may just be your band’s next hit.
Just remember to learn the basics of music theory, listen to other music to understand song structures, and get as much inspiration as you can from lived events and other life experiences.
Keep practicing your songwriting just as much as your drumming, and you’ll become an amazing songwriter.
Drum Teacher
Brett Clur has a Drum Performance Diploma from Trinity College London has been playing drums for over 20 years. He is passionate about advanced concepts and uses his years of experience to teach his students about them. While he is a full-time drum teacher, he is also working on growing a YouTube channel where shares his insights. You can see him playing there, or on Instagram where he posts daily videos.
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