My Songwriting Method

How I Write Songs Kurtus Richter, Guitarist

I have been playing guitar and writing my own guitar-music for over 50 years.  However, I do not sing (though I used to sing some backup in Rock bands I played with in younger days), do not write poetry, and have only put words to some of my Blues songs, yet do not sing myself, and recorded my Blues as instrumentals.  That said, I believe my songwriting method is valid for coming up with unique chord progressions and melodies usable by singers, other song-writers, and poets who may wish to put words to any of my songs that inspire them.  Example songs are included in this article, while all my albums can be heard using the link given here. https://audiomack.com/hkurtricher/album.

First, either I start with a chord progression, or else devise a riff or a hook of some kind that I put chords to.  Next, I try to extend the song by coming up with other progressions that will work as bridges, lead breaks, or other parts to the song; often in the same Key but sometimes changing Key.  I also write progressions that change Key within the same progression.  And after I have a fairly complete song structure with only chords, I put melodies to the different parts of the song. Naturally, in the recording process, once I have the chords to a new song ready, I play the chords on one track along with automated drums on another track as the click-track. Then I lay down the bass on a third track, and I typically do manual drums that replace the automated drums, though I may also leave the automated drums if I like them. After that, I begin creating melodies, then record them where I want them. That done I will include some other sounds, like stings or horns, extra guitar, etc., then mix that down to a stereo mix on another recorder, bound that back to the first recorder, add more sounds if needed or desired, plus some lead guitar, then mix all that down for a final stereo mix.

A progression can be as simple as changing between two or three chords, with a basic sort of strum, or as complex as going through many chords and/or key changes within the same progression.  Typically, the Rock and Funk songs I write begin with simple hooks or chord riffs, then go to bridges or other parts played in different ways but which fit with the first groove.  And I usually stick with an even number of measures for phrases in a progression, such as 4 or 8, or 16 or 32, in each phrase of a song, although there are instances where a two-measure thing is inserted at the end of a progression, such as a two-bar or three-bar fermata, to separate one part from the next, or to separate two iterations of the same set of parts. 

With the Blues, of course, there are only a few dozen basic progressions that remain in a recognizably Blues orientation, but there are endless variations on those themes, thus helping to keep nearly every Blues song you play from sounding the same.  That’s just a matter of changing keys and using a different drum groove, which helps when you are employing standard progressions that all Blues players use.  But after you exhaust all the progressions that Blues lovers expect to hear from a performer new to them, it helps to use unexpected chord changes to keep additional Blues songs from being obvious repeats, or altered-but-too-similar versions, of what you have already played.  This is where Jazz chords come in, and illustrates how closely related Jazz and Blues can be.

In the Blues, using cover-tunes is allowed as long as you do your own renditions, and making use of familiar progressions is permitted, if you put your own melodies to them.  But to break away from the tried and true, start inserting unusual breaks, some Jazz chords, key-changes, and variations in grooves used in different parts of a song.  Most Blues songs keep the same groove throughout.  And that’s fine until you have to start repeating the standard stuff all over again.  To remedy that, do things differently, while also remaining within the Blues genre.  That’s what many successful Blues people do.  Case in point, the famous harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite, who happens to be a good guitarist too, has for decades been able to include old standard progressions with wholly new and unusual ones on his albums, always in the Blues category.  You can, however, do the same progressions in one album as you did in a previous album, as long as you avoid using the same melodies in every album.  I only have one all Blues album in which I wrote all the songs, but I made sure that each of its melodies was unique on the album, although I would admit to similarities with other peoples’ Blues should such be pointed out to me, since I have been influenced by many artists.

As for Jazz, almost anything goes, but your target audience should be kept in mind.  Way-out Jazz compositions are fine as long as the audience you expect to please actually likes that sort of thing.  Otherwise, you might find yourself without an audience, after a while. I like all Jazz, when listening, but mainly write two kinds of Jazz, besides jazzy Blues; those two being standard style Melodic Jazz, with little or no distortion on lead guitar, and also hard Fusion Jazz, with lots of distortion.  And, as said, I always start with a chord progression, or a hook I put chords to, then lay down a melody specifically tailored for it.  And I use the same method for Country and Country-Rock type songs, but do not often do Rap or Soul, although some of my music could be altered to accommodate such genres.  And I have been influenced by many Black, Hispanic, and other non-white songwriters and singers over the years, such as Nat King Cole, Marvin Gaye, Jimmy Hendrix, and George Benson, to name a few, along with famous groups like Earth Wind & Fire, the Commadores, and others.

Sometimes I am inspired by a song by someone else and try to emulate that feel, such as coming up with a similar chord progression in a similar groove.  But I never copy a song by another songwriter and claim it’s mine.  On the other hand, I have collaborated with other musicians, either by using someone else’s progression or adopting a melody someone put to one of my songs, but I will always give them credit as cowriters.  

The best technique I have found for writing melodies is to start with either the 3rd or the 5th, or going from one to the other, for each chord in a given progression, to get one or two notes for each chord; avoiding the root until reaching the end of the progression, or waiting for the end of one iteration of the entire song.  There are, of course, exceptions to this rule, but I find that starting with 3rds and 5ths makes for more interesting melodies in most instances, but also use 4ths, 6ths, 7ths, and 9ths, here and there, if they work well in the making of a melody to go with an established progression.

Another trick is to go up in pitch while the progression’s bassline goes down, or else to repeat a melodic hook while the bassline goes up or down, with the most emotionally impactful of all technique being repeating a fixed melodic phrase over a descending bassline.

What follows are some original songs, with commentary, to help illustrate my method.  

I will be using some of my latest compositions to demonstrate what can be done.  This first song is called “Nice Tune”, and is the first song on my latest album “New Tunes 2”.  Here are the chords.  Notice that the first iteration of the overall set of progressions is like a standard kind of melodic Jazz thing, yet, beginning with the second iteration I involve distorted guitar on the melody, which is a common practice of mine.  You may also notice some of the melody-writing tactics I mentioned above.     

Play the album at this link:  https://audiomack.com/hkurtrichter/album/new-tunes-2.

1       Nice Tune    Keys C, A, F#, D#.     4/4 Time     Moderately fast beat.

Intro ||  Drums  |  Cmaj7  |  Cmaj7  |  G7  ||                [Key C.] Part 1 ||  Cmaj7  |  C#m-7-5  |  Dm7  |  D#m-7-5  ||                   ||  Em  |  Fmaj7  |  Fm(maj7)  |  G9  ||                  

||  Cmaj7  |  Bm7-5  |  Am7  |  G7  ||                   ||  F  |  Em  |  F  |  G7  || Part 2 ||  Cmaj7  |  Dm7  |  Em7  |  Fmaj7  ||                   ||  G  |  Am7  |  Bm7-5  |  E7  || Part 3 ||  Amaj7  |  Bm  |  C#m7  |  Dmaj7  ||                 [Key A.]                   ||  E7  |  F#m7  |  Gm7-5  |  C7  || Part 4 ||  F#maj7  |  G#m7  |  A#m7  |  Bmaj7  ||           [Key F#.]         ||  C#7  |  D#m7  |  Fm7-5  |  A#7  || Part 5 ||  D#maj7  |  Fm7  |  Gm  |  G#maj7  ||              [Key D#.]          ||  A#7  |  Cm7  |  Dm7-5  |  G7  ||

Part 6 ||  Cmaj7  |  Dm  |  Em  |  Fmaj7  ||                     [Key C.]      

||  G9  |  Fmaj7  |  Em7  |  G7  ||                  

||  Cmaj7  |  Dm7  |  Em7  |  Fmaj7  ||                  

||  G7sus  |  G7sus  |  G7  |  G7  || Part 7 ||  C  |  Cmaj7  |  Am  |  Am7  ||                         [Vamp.]          ||  F  |  Fmaj7  |  G  |  G7  || Part 8 ||  C  |  C  |  C  |  C  ||  C  |  C  ||                     [Bridge 1.]      Repeat Parts 1 through 5, skip 6, do 7, skip 8 and go to 9. Part 9 ||  G7  |  G7  |  G7  |  G7  ||                              [Bridge 2.]                   Repeat Part 6 once, then do 7 (the Vamp) five times. Outro ||  C  |  Cmaj7  |  Am  |  Am7  ||                         [Final Vamp.]    ||  F  |  Fmaj7  |  G7sus  |  G7sus  || End ||  G7  |  G7  |  C  |  C  ||  C  ||                        [Fermata last C.]

This next song is also a type of standard Jazz composition, but could just as easily be made into a Pop song.  It is simpler than the foregoing, but also has some guitar synthesizer on the melody, and distorted guitar after the second iteration of the four basic Parts. 

Observe the effectiveness of basing melodies on 3rds and 5ths instead of on chord roots. The unusual combination of Dmaj7 and Cmaj7 makes for a nice departure from the norm, since the Cmaj7 amounts to a key-change in the midst of the progression in Parts 1 and 4, but is achieved in the written music simply by using an accidental natural sign to lower the root of what would otherwise have been a C#m7-5 in key.

Notice also the standard vamp in Part 3 (Dmaj7, Bm7, A7sus, A7), and which is repeated as the Outro.  As explained in my lessons, this is the most common type of vamp, popularized in old-school Jazz, but which remains valid today.  I have made use of such vamps and similar moves in a number of my Jazz songs, which generically goes like this; I, VI, II, V.  Nearly all songwriters are familiar with this kind of progression.  A recent example is the chorus in the song All I Want by the band Toad The Wet Sprocket.

2       Joyfulness         Key D         4/4 Time     Moderately fast tempo.

Intro ||  A7sus  |  A7sus  |  A7  |  A7  || Part 1 ||:  Dmaj7  |  Dmaj7  |  Em7  |  Em7  || ||  Cmaj7  |  Cmaj7  |  Dmaj7  |  Dmaj7  :|| ||  G  |  Gm7  |  F#m  |  Bm7  || ||  Em  |  Em  |  A7sus  |  A7  || Repeat Part 1. Part 2 ||  F#m  |  G  |  Em  |  F#m  || ||  A  |  G  |  F#m  |  Em  ||                   ||  F#m  |  G  |  Em  |  F#m  || ||  Bm7  |  Em  |  A7sus  |  A7sus  ||            ||  A7  |  A7  || Repeat Part 1 twice, then Part 2 once. Part 3 ||  Dmaj7  |  Bm7  |  Em7  |  A7  ||  x  3                   ||  A7sus  |  A7sus  |  A7  |  A7  || Repeat Part 1 twice, then Part 2 once, then skip to Part 4.  Part 4 ||  Dmaj7  |  Dmaj7  |  Em7  |  Em7  ||                   ||  Cmaj7  |  Cmaj7  |  Dmaj7  |  Dmaj7  || Repeat Part 4 twice more.  Outro  ||  Dmaj7  |  Dmaj7  |  Em7  |  Em7  ||                   ||  A7sus  |  A7sus  |  A7  |  A7  ||  End ||  C  |  C  ||  C _  ||    [Staccato stop on last C.]

Next is a Hard Fusion song, with fairly simple progressions, and for which I employed my usual rule of relying on 3rds and 5ths to come up with melodies.  Here, the progressions all originated using power-chords, and I later figured out the triads.  This is also an example of how indefinitely timed pauses can be used to separate Parts. 

3       Tension              Key Am      4/4 Time     Fast count.

Intro ||  Drums establish beat.  ||  Am  |  Em  || Part 1 ||  Am  |  B𝄬  |  G  |  Em  ||  F  |  C  |  G  |  Dm  ||                   ||  Am  |  B𝄬  |  G  |  Em  ||  F  |  G  |  Am  |  Am  || Part 2 ||  Dm  |  E𝄬  |  C  |  Am  ||  B𝄬  |  E𝄬  |  C  |  Fm  ||                   ||  Dm  |  E𝄬  |  C  |  Am  ||  B𝄬  |  C  |  Dm  |  Dm  || Part 3 ||  F  |  Em  |  Dm  |  Em  ||  x  3    ||  Am  |  Am  |  Em  |  Em  ||

||  Am  |  Am  |  A  |  Indefinite pause.  ||  Drums restart beat.  || Repeat Part 1 four times, then pause.  Wait for drums again. Repeat Part 1 twice more, then pause.  Wait for drums one last time. Then go to Part 4. Part 4 ||  Am  |  G  |  G  |  G  ||  x  3    ||  Am  |  G  |  F  |  Em  ||

Outro ||  Em  |  Em  |  Am  |  Am  ||  Am  |  Am  |  Am | ___ ||

The following song was meant to be a love-song with an easy-going Pop feel, though it could also be a Country song.  Notice how Part 3 contrasts from other Parts by being a rather basic walkdown in which the melody also walks down with the chords, though a singer might wish to change the melody-line there, which I would certainly allow.

4       True Love           4/4 Time     Moderate tempo.

Intro ||  Drums  |  Drums  ||  F  Em  |  Bm7-5  |  G7  |  G7  || Part 1 ||:  Cadd9  |  G  |  F69  |  G  :||  F  Em  |  Bm7-5  |  G7  |  G7  || Part 2 ||:  Cadd9  |  Dm7  |  Fadd9  |  G7  :||  Cadd9  Csus4  |  Em  G  |  F  Em || ||  Bm7-5  |  Bm7-5  |  G7  |  G7  || Repeat, in order, Parts 1 and 2, then go to Parts 3 and 4.  Part 3 ||  Am  |  G  |  Fm  |  Ddim7  ||  Em  |  Bdim7  |  G7sus4  |  G7  || Part 4  ||  Cadd9  |  G  |  F69  |  G  ||  x  3  ||  F  Em  |  Bdim7  |  G7  |  G7 ||

Repeat Part 2, then skip to Part 5. Part 5 ||  Cadd9  |  G  |  G69  |  G  ||  x  6  ||  F  Em  |  Bdim  |  G7  |  G7  || End ||  C  |  C  |  C  |  C  _  || 

The following is a kind of Jazz-Pop song with some hard rhythm guitar in Part 2, to provide contrast between Parts 1 and 2, while Part 3 serves as a mellow middle-ground, perhaps the Chorus, and which also plays three times near the end of the song.  Notice that Part 4, used as an Outro that plays eight times, involves a progression of its own, but which fits nicely as a finale’. Observe also the technique in Part 1 of holding melody notes while chords change behind them, while the first two phrases of Part 2 have the melody tracking with the 3rds and 5ths of the chords, until later phrases of that Part. And the melody of Part 4, the Outro, differs from the others.  That part could be an instrumental finale’ (though lyrics would be nice too).

5       Pleasantness    Keys A, F#.          4/4 Time     Moderate tempo.

Intro ||  Drums  |  Drums  ||  E  |  E  |  E9  |  E9  || [Six bars total here.] Part 1 ||  A  E7  |  F#m  C#m  |  D  A  |  Bm  E9  ||                     ||  D  A  |  E  Em(maj7)  |  Bm7  D  || [Only three bars here.] ||  G#maj7  |  G#dim7  |  C#m7  |  C9  || Part 2 ||  F#  |  G#m  |  A#m  |  B  ||  G#m  |  A#m  |  B  |  C  || ||  B  F#  |  A  E  |  C#m  |  C#m  || ||  E  |  E  |  Dmaj7  |  Dmaj7  ||  E9  |  E9  || [Six bars here.] Repeat, in order, Parts 1 and 2, then go to Part 3. Part 3 ||  Amaj7 |  Amaj7  |  Dmaj7  |  Dmaj7  ||  C#m7  |  C#m7  |  E7  |  E9  || ||  Dmaj7  |  C#m7  |  Bm7  |  E7  ||  Bm7  |  Bm7  |  E7  |  E7  || Repeat, in order, Parts 1 and 2, then repeat part 3 twice, then go to Part 4. Part 4 ||  A  |  Bm/A  |  C#m/A  |  Bm/A  ||  x  8 * Ending ||  E7  |  E7  |  A  |  A  ||  A  |  A  |  A  _  ||

*Keep A-string and 1st E-string open while playing the first lower inversions of chord triads.

The song below could be a hit on the Soul charts, with the right singer.  This was not at first meant to be a Soul song, but after finding that the Motown beat was best, I used a sax for the melodies and labeled it “Soul”. It needs proper lyrics, and a great Soul singer.

6       Soul                    Keys F, B𝄬.          4/4 Time     Moderate tempo.

Intro ||  Drums  |  Drums  ||  Dadd9  |  Dadd9  |  C9  |  C9  || [Six bars here.] Part 1 ||:  Dm7  |  Am7  A𝄬m7  |  Gm7  C7  ||  || Edim7 |  Am7  Dm7  |  Gm7  |  C7  :||

Part 2 ||:  F  |  Am  |  B𝄬add9  |  Cadd9  ||  || Dadd9  |  Cadd9  |  B𝄬add9  |  C9  :|| Repeat, in order, Parts 1 and 2, then again (for a total of 3 iterations of both Parts). Part 3 ||  F  |  Am  |  B𝄬add9  |  C9  ||  x  4 Part 4 ||  B𝄬  |  Cm  |  E𝄬add9  F9  ||  x  4    [Like part 3 but in Key of B.] Part 5 ||  Cadd9  |  Cadd9  |  C9  |  C9  || Part 6 ||  F  |  Am  |  B𝄬add9  |  C9  ||  x  6 Ending ||  F  |  F  |  F  |  F _  ||    [Abrupt staccato stop on last F.]

The next song is pure Country-Rock, perhaps making for a nice Country ballad.

7       Country-Rock Ramble        Key A.        4/4 Time     Moderate tempo.

Intro || F E | E || Part 1 ||: A | A | D | D || A | A | E | E || A | A | D | D :|| Bridge 1 || C G | D F | E | E || Part 2 || A | A | D | D || A | A | E | E || A | A | D | D || Bridge 2 || D | C | A# | A || G | F | B | B || Part 3 ||: E | E | A | A || B | B | E | E :|| Bridge 3 || D | A | E | B || C | G | A | A || Part 4 || D | D | G | G || D | D | A | A || D | D | G | G || Bridge 4 || C G | D F | E | E _ || Repeat all above except Intro, then go to next instruction. Repeat Part 1 & Bridge 1, then repeat Part 1 & Bridge 1 again. End on || A ||.

For the following song, I came up with the rhythm hook for Part 1 first, but then everything else sort of fell into place.  It was meant to be a hard Fusion tune from the start, and turned out that way, but with nicely flowing melodies.   

8       Appropriate       Key Em      4/4 Time     Moderately slow beat.

Intro || C | C | Bm | Bm || Part 1 || Em7 Gmaj7 | Em7 Cmaj7 ||  x  8 Bridge 1 || D | A | C | Bm || Part 2 = Part 1. Bridge 2 || D | A | C | Bm || F# | A | G | Bm || C | A | Bm | Bm || Part 3 = Part 1. Bridge 3 = Bridge 1. Part 4 = Part 1. Bridge 4 = Bridge 2. Part 5 = Part 1 twice (meaning 16 iterations of progression shown). Outro = Intro.  End with || C | C _ ||    [Staccato last C.]

Extra Comments:

All of the songs on this album were written according to my habit of devising a complete set of chord progressions that go well together, then putting melodies to them, which seems to be a winning tactic for my kind of instrumental guitar-oriented songwriting. The difference here, however, was that, for all but songs 4, 7, and 10, I based everything on chord progressions derived from Lesson 4, on the Origins of Modes, and also on Lesson 13, on Extra Modes. 

In particular, I listed example chord progressions based first on the ancient Modes, then on Russel’s Lydian scales, and then listed more progressions based on the various Extra Modes. Then I went through them in search of decent sounding sets of progressions.  And that is how the songs on this album came about, in that order, except for song 4, called True Love, which I came up with out of the blue, song 7, called Country-Rock Ramble, which I intended to be a Country-Rock song, and song 10, called Funk Out, explained later.

The song below turned out to be a traditional Jazz thing.  It could well have been a show-tune from the 1950’s, or a movie theme from the 1960s.  But I hope it will nevertheless appeal to modern listeners who like mellow-style Jazz.  I kept the ad-lib guitar work to a minimum, and without distortion, to be consistent with an old-school sound. 

9       Motion       Key B𝄬                 4/4 Time              Moderate tempo.

Intro || B7 | F7 || Part 1 || B𝄬maj7 | Bm7 | Dm7 | E𝄬 || B𝄬maj7 | Cm7 | F9 | F7 || || E𝄬maj7 | B7 | B𝄬maj7 | F || Gm7 | Dm7 | E𝄬maj7 | F7 || Part 2 || B𝄬maj7 | Cm7 | Dm7 | Cm7 || Am7-5 | D7 | A𝄬m7-5 | D𝄬7 || || Cm7 | F7 | B𝄬maj7 | F7 || B𝄬maj7 | E𝄬maj7 | Dm7 | F7 || Part 3 || E𝄬maj7 | Dm7 | Cm7 | F7 || Gm7 | Cm7 | F7 | Fm || || E𝄬maj7 | E𝄬m-7-5 | Dm7 | Gm7 || Cm7 | F7 | B𝄬maj7 | F7 || Repeat Parts 1 and 2, but then skip Part 3 and go to Part 4. Part 4 || E𝄬maj7 | Dm7 | Cm7 | F7 || Gm7 | Cm7 | F7 | Fm || || E𝄬maj7 | E𝄬m-7-5 | Dm7 | Gm7 || Cm7 | F7 | B𝄬maj7 | B𝄬maj7 || Bridge || D𝄬maj7 | D𝄬maj7 | Cm7 | Cm7 || E𝄬maj7 | E𝄬maj7 | Dm7 | Dm7 || || F7 | E𝄬maj7 | Dm7 | Cm7 || F7sus | F7sus | F7 | F7 || Repeat, in order, Parts 1, 2, and 3, then skip to the Outro. Outro || B𝄬maj7 | Gm7 | Dm7 | E𝄬maj7 || B𝄬maj7 | Cm7 | F7sus | F7 ||  x  4 End || B (fermata) ||

This next song started with the funky rhythm in Part 1, which simply came to me one night out of nowhere.  I wanted to come up with something funky, and this is what I did just by taking a hook I had used before and modifying it to get what I had just imagined in my head.  Some of the other parts are also similar to things I have done before.  But I believe this song stands on its own merits, with its funky groove of Part 1, and intentionally simple melodies.  

10     Funk Out            Key Am      4/4 Time              Moderately fast.

Intro || Drums | Drums | Drums | Drums || [Drums establish beat.] Part 1 || Am7 | Am7 | Am7 | Am7 ||  x  3 [Main Groove.] Part 2 || G5 | F5 | B5 | C5 || D5 | B5 | E5 | E5 || [Power-chords.] Part 3 || Am7 | Am7 | Am7 | Am7 ||  x  4 [Main Groove.] Part 4 || G5 | F5 | B5 | C5 || D5 | B5 | E5 | E5 || [Power-chords.] Bridge || Dm7 | Em7 | Fmaj7 | G9 || Cmaj7 | Dm7 | Em7 | Em7 || [Mellow.] Repeat, in order, Parts 3, 4, and Bridge, then skip to next instruction. Repeat, in order, Parts 3 and 4, but skip the Bridge this time, and go to Part 5. Part 5 || Am7 | Am7 | Am7 | Am7 ||  x  4           [Main Groove.] Break || Am7 | Am7 | Am7 | Am7 ||  x  2 [Special staccato groove.] Outro || Am7 | Am7 | Am7 | Am7 || [Main Groove. Stop after last Am7.]

EOF