Songwriting Advice #2: Skeleton Songs are NOT Scary
This is some more advice for beginning songwriters with some ideas or tips that can be helpful to start. So maybe you are already doing these things and just want some affirmations or a place to start. Songwriting can be pretty intimidating, and I know sometimes it is hard to find tips about it so you can get in the right direction. So let’s talk about Skeleton Songs
A “Skeleton Song” is where you take the chords of one song and put them in another song.
Disclaimer! Be sure to change the melody and such because you don’t want to get sued. (If you don’t ever plan on releasing it, it does not matter as much.)
It’s easy to get in a rut with chord progressions where you get into a place where you use the same chord progression over and over again. This exercise can force you out of your comfort zone by using a song you already like. If you aren’t into music theory, this also exposes you to all these new weird chord combinations you would have never thought to put together before.
So if you know of a song you really like it’s helpful to analyze it and see what chord structure they had because you can take bits and pieces of that and put it in your song. You don’t even have to copy it identically.
Chord Help: AutoChords.com
If you just wanted to use the key I recommend a website called “Auto Chords.” So you can put in what kind of mood you want and the key and it will give you all the chords In that key. You can either use the suggested chord progressions or I just make up one based on the chords in the key.
This helped me a lot because in my guitar class I was having an issue with Barre chords, so I wrote my own song with chords from one of my skeleton songs and forced myself to practice it. What started out as a challenge ended up being one of my favorite songs I’ve written!
It’s definitely a great place to start if you are in a rut with what chords to you because it makes it fresh and fun.
Want more songwriting advice? Check out this article!
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Songwriting Advice #3: Finish Your Songs!
