How To Write An Indie Song?
How to go from inspiration to writing an indie song & a polished final product.

Songwriting is an art. If you are an indie artist you probably already know that. But to write good songs you must have a lot of practice and consistency. Even your favorite artists, who inspire you to make music and who you listen to every day... have learned to write songs through practice. Writing a song is also a way to release feelings, sadness, or fears.

But the question is: how do you write an indie song? If you are interested in finding out, stay and read this article that will explain everything you need to know.

The first thing you should learn is the structures of songs:

As you can already imagine, songs generally have an order, that is, they have an intro, pre-verse, verse, chorus, and bridge. Depending on the composer, these structures can vary, but generally, this order is followed.

Intro: this section is extremely important in songs, as the name says, it is the introduction to a song, and through this, you can make melodic or rhythmic melodies and catch the audience's attention.

For you to understand what I mean, here is a list of songs with the best intros:

• The Less I Know the Better by Tame Impala
• Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance
• Blue Monday by New Order
• Baba O'Riley by The Who
• Chop Suey by System Of A Down
• Voodoo Child by Jimi Hendrix
• Gimme Shelter by Rolling Stones

Note: a song doesn't necessarily need to have an intro, so don't worry if you can't think of anything for this part. The important thing is the verse and the chorus.

Pre-verse: in this part, you make an introduction to the verse. You can take inspiration from the intro (if your song has one) and do something similar.

Verse: this is one of the most important parts of the song, in the verse you tell a story, an experience, or a memory. It is the heart of the song (along with the chorus).

Chorus: it is usually the most moving and catchy part of the whole song. For example, these are some songs with the best choruses.

• Third Planet by Modest Mouse
• Come on Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners
• Do You Realize? by The Flaming Lips
• Wake Up by Arcade Fire
• 500 miles by The Proclaimers

Bridge: Sometimes found at the end of the song. The bridge is usually a lyrical or melodic change that shows the listener that they are not listening to an ordinary song. This section is responsible for giving personality to the song.

Now that you understand the structure, you should think about what genre you would like the song to be, you can take inspiration from many bands to decide. You have several options to choose between genres:

Indie rock: You probably already know which bands make indie rock. But here I will explain more in-depth what indie rock is based on. First, it is a genre that can be associated with alternative rock that appeared in the early nineties. However, indie rock already existed in the late eighties, with world-renowned bands such as The Smiths, Arcade Fire, The Strokes, Sonic Youth, and Pixies. This genre is characterized by fuzzy electric guitars, so if you are an indie artist who likes to make music in this style, then indie rock is the genre for you.

Indie pop: Compared to indie rock, indie pop is much more melodic and with happy lyrics (kind of). Some of the best-known bands are Death Cab for Cutie, Belle and Sebastian, Haim, MGMT, The Pastels, Hippo Campus, Boy Pablo, Cults, Two Door Cinema Club, Foster the People, Of Monsters and Men, Bastille, and The Magnetic Fields.

Dream pop: It could be defined as a subgenre of alternative rock with strong psychedelic influences. However, it maintains typical pop melodies, with reverb, tremolo, and echo effects. If you want to know more about this genre I recommend you to listen to these bands: Still Corners, Wild Nothing, Cigarettes After Sex, Cocteau Twins, Alvvays, Mazzy Star, Men I Trust, The Sundays, Galaxie 500, No Vacation and Slowdive.

Indie folk: This genre is characterized by simple melodies and instrumentation, so they are not complicated compositions. And as the name says, indie folk is inspired by folk and country music. Regarding instruments, there are several rhythm guitars, bass, drums, and subtly harmonized vocals. Some of the best bands are Fleet Foxes, Beirut, Bright Eyes, First Aid Kit, Bon Iver, Wild Rivers, The Civil Wars, The Paper Kites, The Lumineers, The Head and the Heart, Fruit Bats, and Villagers.

The last step is to write a lyric for the song!!

From my point of view, this is the most fun part of the whole process, as you can unleash your creativity to the fullest. But if you're an indie artist and you’re new in the music industry, don't worry. Here are some tips to help you write a good song:

• Write down thoughts, words, or any kind of phrase that comes to mind. Then you can use that as inspiration, or even write a song based on that.
• Write about genuine things, remember that you are the composer of the song, so make sure you are as original as possible.
• Once you have at least the verse written, find an instrument and start singing the song. It can be either an acoustic guitar, electric guitar, or a keyboard.

Songwriting takes a lot of patience, experience, and time. It can even become a stressful process because not all artists succeed in making songs on the first try. Many times you will not be satisfied with the result of the song, but it is more normal than it seems. Just be patient, some compositions will be better than others. Remember to be constant, sooner or later you will achieve the result you want!

If you liked this article, please share it with other independent artists who might be interested! But before we finish... What kind of songs make you happy? Or what kind of artists do you like to listen to?