Country music covers a wide range of topics from love and heartbreak, to religion and outdoor adventure. Even if you’re not a great country music fan, there’s one thing that you can’t miss about this genre, and that’s the vibe and beat of the music.
If country music brings to mind banjos and cowboys, you may be pleasantly surprised at how country music has evolved over the last few decades.
Before you start on your songwriting venture, do some research. Investigate the current trends in country songwriting. Then choose the type of country song that suits your style and personality.
More often than not, country music is perfectly complemented by a stringed instrument like a guitar or banjo. Still, you don’t have to be a guitarist to write country music. Though country music is very different from other music styles, the songwriting process is much the same. Read on to find out how to write a country song.
What is country music
Country music goes back to the 1920s and originates from the folk music of the south east of America. Country songs are often soulful ballads accompanied by stringed instruments. The songs focus on harmonizing vocals with beautiful melodies.
The emphasis is often more on the rhythm and melody than on the lyrics. Still, don’t make the mistake of discounting the importance of the words.
Country songs are often backed by guitars, banjos, and harmonicas. The music includes elements of bluegrass, folk, and the blues. This is the type of music written for the man on the street. It tells common stories in plain language.
Types of country music
There are two main types of country music
- Traditional country including country, and western and bluegrass
- Pop country is also known as new country and includes pop rock elements.
Traditional country
Traditional country harks from the Appalachian Mountains. Here, people sang songs accompanied by banjos, fiddles, and guitars. Superstars of traditional country like Johnny Cash and Willy Nelson emerged in the 1960s.
Traditional country songs are simple. They deal with the issues of real life, and they use just three chords. Usually, acoustic music accompanies these songs.
New Country
New country or pop-country songs are more complex than traditional country music. They use more chords and they are typically pop songs with a country mood. Unlike traditional country music, pop-country very often includes instruments like electric guitars, and synthesizers.
Sometimes these songs also make use of the traditional instrumental sounds like fiddles.
Country music themes
Country songs create a sense of nostalgia. Their success lies in audience participation. These songs seek to create a one-on-one connection between the singer and listener. The themes cover a wide range of life experiences including
- Faith
- Love
- Nostalgic memories of the past
- Failed relationships
- Alcohol
- Country living
- The seasons
How to write a country song
Before you even start to write your country song, you’ll have to find your authentic voice. You must write the song in your personal style or it will lack authenticity. The song must be genuine and heartfelt so choose a theme that lines up with your experience.
Good music evokes emotion in the audience. The listener must feel your joy and your pain and you can only put passion into your music if you feel the emotion.
Before you start to write your song, spend time listening to country music and don’t stop there. You can also gain inspiration from songs of a different genre. Collect ideas, phrases, and musical inspiration from everyday life and keep a central store of all your ideas.
A good story is the hallmark of a successful country song. Country songs are about ordinary people and they are very descriptive. They paint a vibrant picture of strong personalities in everyday life. They use sensory perceptions to connect with the audience and add realism to the story.
The goal of the song is to communicate with the audience in a way that they can empathize with you and feel your emotions. This doesn’t mean telling your audience how you feel.
Rather it is about painting a vivid picture and allowing the audience to use their imaginations to evoke the emotions. A good country song invites the listener to live the experience.
Choose an instrumental
Listen to melodies before you choose yours. This will help you to select the tune that best suits the theme of your song. You can create your own instrumental using a piano, guitar or banjo. Alternatively, download instrumental sounds from the internet or hire professional musicians to create the instrumental for you.
Most country songs use simple rhythms. The most common major keys are G, A, C, D, E, and F. They also follow similar chord progressions. Most contain three major keys and a minor. The melody and cadence of a country song are of utmost importance.
Many country songwriters do the instrumental first and then write the lyrics to suit.
Writing the lyrics
Once you have your melody, it’s time to start writing the lyrics.
Build your chorus around a catchy title
Choose a title that ignites the imagination. Think “Achy, Breaky Heart” by Billy Jay Cyrus or “When You Say Nothing at All” by Keith Whitley. These are two very different titles to two very different country songs. The title should lead you to the hook. The hook is the part of the song that sticks in your head, like an earworm because it is so memorable.
The hook also serves as the basis of the chorus. Usually, the chorus is four lines long. In country songs, the verses also consist of four lines, usually with an alternate rhyming structure.
If you’re looking for inspiration for your rhyming couplets, you’ll find rhyming dictionaries on the internet. They contain lists of words to ignite your imagination.
Verses tell the story
The verses tell the story and must support the chorus. The first verse should introduce the listeners to an interesting tale that attracts their interest. The second and third verses should support the first and continue the story without repetition.
Your second and third verses should develop and progress the story. Like any good tale, a country song should have a beginning, a middle, and an end.
A good country song will also contain a bridge. The bridge is a rhyming couplet that typically joins the chorus to the last verse. It adds some contrast to the song and breaks the repetition. The bridge usually starts on a different chord to the chorus and verses.
Writing the lyrics
It is vital that your song supports and revolves around the title, so start your lyrics by choosing keywords that relate to the title. Then use these to build your chorus and verses.
Country songs are most often written as collaborative efforts in groups. The song that results will have been through many iterations before publication. Your first draft is just that – a draft. You’ll have to revise every line over and over and over again.
When you believe that the end result is the best version of the song that you can manage, it may be time to publish it.
It also always helps to ask for input from family, and friends. Use constructive criticism to make changes and improvements.
Finding fame and fortune
The country singers that have made it to fame and fortune have not just got lucky. They have worked hard and have probably discarded more country songs than they have published. They know the importance of connecting with the audience, writing lyrics to a musical backdrop that speaks to the listener.
If you’re a country music fan with a good story to tell and an ear for cadence and tone, it may be time to get inspired and start writing country music.
