How to Write a Hit Song | Compose a Hit Song

Hit songs are ‘easy’ to write from a technical standpoint. All you have to do is study the formula used in pre-existing hit songs. They are usually mid-tempo, in 4/4 time and have a memorable ‘hook’ in the chorus that makes you want to sing along.

That sounds simple enough, but it doesn’t tell you how to write that catchy hook. A natural talent for melody helps a great deal, but there is a loose kind of “formula” you can employ to help pull that hook out of thin air.

The first thing you want to do is familiarize yourself with the scale of the key you are writing in. This will most often be a Major scale on guitar, but you might want to examine some other scales relative to the chord progression you intend to use.

Next, after you’ve examined the scale in a linear fashion, you need to experiment with the harmonic intervals of the scale. Certain intervals are more melodically and emotively powerful than others.

For example, semitone and whole tone intervals tend to be melodically weak compared to minor ninths and major and minor sevenths. Sixths are stronger than thirds. Rising intervals are stronger and more ‘upbeat’ than descending intervals.

At this point, you may want to sit down with a metronome and start to play guitar. Let the beat guide you as you experiment. Be open to discovering not just instrumental hooks, but vocal hooks as well.

Once you think you’ve turned up something good, it’s time to come up with a lyrical hook for the chorus. In the early stages, I would recommend against deciding what the ‘theme’ of your song is going to be. Instead, focus on finding a phrase that sounds good and is open enough to interpretation that it could apply to several different themes.

For example, Ricky Martin’s “Livin La Vida Loca” could’ve applied to several other “stories” than the actual one told in the verses. When you have all of these elements in play, it is then simply a matter of editing and polishing up the song. Your song may or may not become a hit the way you imagine, but it will probably be one of the best you’ve ever written for yourself!

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