How to Write a Song (Start-to-Finish) - A Repeatable Process
Video Overview & Insights
How to write a song from scratch, step by step. In this start-to-finish songwriting tutorial, you’ll write a complete song with me using a repeatable framework. We’ll turn a blank page into verse, pre-chorus, chorus, and bridge, then set it to melody, chords, and rhythm so you can finally finish your songs. Pause the video and write along at each step.
Very informative video. Thank you for sharing this. As a songwriter of over ten years, I follow many of the points you discussed here, and yet I still learned some things to take away :) Nice work! If you've never wrote a song before, and you are seeing my comment, get out there and start writing!!
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And if you want more tools and a supportive songwriting community, join me in the EMC Institute:
Wooh really educative
https://www.andreastolpe.com/emc-institute?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=YTvid-Oct2025-HowToWriteASong&utm_content=emc
What you’ll learn:
Wow. You are more than amazing!
• The 4 foundations of every song: melody, chords, rhythm, lyric
• Song structures: Verse, Pre-Chorus, Chorus, Bridge
This is really good, I’ve never really understood pre chorus and bridge before, this helps ❤
• Freewriting to begin lyric writing
• Repetition & contrast to make sections lift
Confucius says "the most important note on your instrument is silence"
• Rhyme as a tool + simple fixes for clunky lines
• Tempo, meter & harmonic rhythm, plus using rest space
"songwriting is an auditory art form, not a visual one." This is why I cringe a little when someone says they "wrote" a song. We say a lot of things that are clichés, but this one would be better said, "I created a song".
• Second-verse strategies (time shift & pronoun changes)
• Bridge options (new chord color / new starting pitch)
Thanks ever so much..!!
Write-along prompts (pause and try):
• Free-write 5 minutes about a person/place.
Nice video. Thank you.
• Highlight big ideas vs small details.
• Stack 1–2 big-idea lines → chorus.
amazing, thank you!!!
• Use 3–5 detail lines → verse scene.
• Add 2–3 chords + simple groove → sing 2–3 melody options.
Brilliant as always. When it comes to the chords and melody, do you have any videos where you're showing how to do this on the guitar?
• Shape a pre-chorus that contrasts and lifts into the chorus.
🎶 Lesson Highlights:
THIS IS FANTASTIC ☦️❤️🙏
00:00 Start: Process vs. Inspiration
01:04 The 4 bones of a song (melody, chords, rhythm, lyric) & production
man that 'writing a bridge' joke was underappreciated.
03:11 Big idea vs. small detail (highlight method)
04:14 How to get lyrics flowing: Free-writing
So helpful! Thank you
06:17 Building a chorus & verse with repetition and rhyme tools
07:46 Pre-chorus: create contrast and lift into the chorus
love your voice so so much <3
08:30 Second-verse strategies: movement via time shift & pronouns
09:50 Setting lyrics to music: chords, tempo/meter, harmonic rhythm + negative space
Good evening ❤
11:14 Choosing your chords to inform your mood and melody, and establishing the meter & tempo
12:32 Writing the Melody
I love your videos… Very direct, very practical. I know a lot of this stuff but you put it all together perfectly.
17:16 Moving onto the Bridge: introduce contrast, like a new chord or melodic motif
18:10 What to keep in mind as you write songs
Incredible ❤❤❤ This helped me so much. Thank you!!!
📥 Resources
• Download (free PDF): 5 Songwriting Tools that Change Everything: https://www.andreastolpe.com/five-songwriting-tools?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=YTvid-Oct2025-HowToWriteASong&utm_content=5 Songwriting Tools LM
I love your videos!
• Download (free PDF): 50 Songs Every Songwriter Should Listen To: https://www.andreastolpe.com/fifty-songs?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=YTvid-Oct2025-HowToWriteASong&utm_content=50SongsLM
• Join the 30 Day Songwriting Challenge: https://www.andreastolpe.com/30daysongwriter?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=YTvid-Oct2025-HowToWriteASong&utm_content=30ds
I feel like this is how The Blue Nile wrote their songs!
• Join me at a 5-day Songwriting Retreat in 2026: https://www.andreastolpe.com/retreats?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=YTvid-Oct2025-HowToWriteASong&utm_content=Retreats
🤝 Connect with me:
Respect teacher …. Lots of good ideas you provide here
• Website: https://www.andreastolpe.com/?utm_source=YouTube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=YTvid-Oct2025-HowToWriteASong&utm_content=home
• Instagram: @andreastolpeofficial
Honestly gives the best advice for songwriters, any suggestions on music theory for songwriters?
• Facebook: @andreastolpeofficial
• TikTok: @andreastolpeofficial
Thank you so much! This really helped!
⭐️ About Andrea Stolpe
Andrea is a songwriter, speaker, and author with over 20 years of experience in the music industry, penning songs for artists such as Faith Hill, Jimmy Wayne, and Julianne Hough.
Yeah I need to music under my lyrics 🎶
She has worked with Universal Music Publishing, EMI, and Almo-Irving, and authored Popular Lyric Writing: 10 Steps to Effective Storytelling, a staple text for songwriting programs at Belmont University in Nashville and Berklee College of Music.
Andrea helped establish the songwriting courses at USC Thornton School of Music, and her educational work has earned Grammy nominations and a Gold Telly Award. She continues to mentor songwriters through retreats and speaking engagements in the US and abroad.
I am seeking feedback on my songs. I am currently writing a song with an extremely strong message that the world needs now. Please can you help me with this. Perhaps you would be willing to collaborate on this one. It’s too important to get wrong.
More User Perspectives
So much valuable information that even seasoned writers can go back to. Love how you present. Thank you Andrea!
@MidnightRumbler365"And you're considering how you get out of writing a bridge"! 😂
@technictoneThis is not as easy as it sounds$
@Crimson-t5fLyric is great
@Crimson-t5fI was so excited for this video but now I have to take a breath and revisit it when I'm more centred. I have such an aversion for the song "Lovely Day" that I can't focus on the lesson. In my opinion, It's terrible.
@TangongThank you so much for this! I’ve been struggling with songwriting for over a year, and watching your creative process really reignited my inspiration. Truly mind-blowing! ❤
@guilhermehenriquedomingosd4162When you get to the Bridge you state that from a Cmajor you could choose to move to a Bb major, Eb major, or maybe an Ab major. What lead you to suggest those specific chords?
@geoffwatsonWhat a marvelous channel I found here! You have a great presentation and delivery! Looking forward to more! Sub'd
@jameskowalkowski2308Really usefull video. That's almost my own reciepy I apply to myself - though I think someday I should change; for sure the results will be different. And if you play an instrument, it's good to have some knowledgement, even little, of harmony. Thank you, Andrea.
@vitorhugo1976As ever, thank you, dear Andrea, for your generosity. Your melodies are so beautiful and you have the voice of an angel. Your magic is so evident in this video. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
@akmusicvoiceThe fact that you showed up on my feed talking about song structure was divine 😮. Someone commented that they don’t like all the stock images you used because they prefer just watching you speak and hearing what you say. I hope that comment doesn’t discourage your editing style. Please keep using the stock images!!!! I lean more towards visual and auditory learning, so I don’t think I would have had an easier time comprehending this video without the images included. Overall, this is so helpful to my journey on becoming a songwriter!!! Definitely will be coming back for more content (SUBSCRIBED) ❤❤
@BecomingABibleologistNobody ever gives this kind of actually constructive advice. Thanks.
@QBert904LOVE Andrea’s approach and explanations!
@mojogypsyGreat. Thank you for your teachings and positive intentions.
🌈✨️🐲✨️🪷🦅✨️🫀✨️🌹🕊✨️🦋✨️⚡️✨️
Such a great video- thank you so much! And you make it look so easy and doable which is really super encouraging too:-)
@thewellnessgreeki like your message but i really dont like all the stock video footage. i for one would be totally fine to just watch you speak and explain what you want to say
@lynguistGreat lesson!
@michaellittle7347Great video😊 thank you!
@miritsmFantastic. What a great tool. Thank you. Seriously, thank you.
@AntarGoodwin-TFSLove the video! The composition sounds so much like Jewel 😂
@radarbug5390Good teaching
@iuutoobLove your videos and your calm voice and explanation of songwriting
@Pulsebeat_studioSo great and concise - thanks that you put all that in one video <3. Really appreciate your work. Question for the chorus - after the 3 fasters it felt like now something "bigger" would happen, almost like a pre-chorus - should a chorus complete something or can it be open like that, because the next verse brings contrast again?
@worldwidewillowgreenwhat a great video, so grateful you took the time to do this. 😊
@markstrain8989As always, super video and great explanations and advice. Thank you.
@cmdrcorvuscoraxnevermore3354I always appreciate your videos. Thank you.
@kenrose4838