Estimated reading time 2 minutes
Table of Contents
Introduction
“Can I write a song if I don’t play an instrument? If I have a melody and lyrics in my head, how can I create backing tracks for my song?” Good news! You too can write songs, even if you can’t play an instrument. Read more to answer the question, “How can I write a song without an instrument?”
This post uses musical terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the article.
Using an Arpeggiator for Writing Songs Without Instrumental Skills
- “How can I write a song without an instrument?” If you’re serious about songwriting, you should try to develop at least some keyboard skills. However, even if you can’t play a musical keyboard, many keyboards come with an arpeggiator and/or internal drumbeats.
- What’s an arpeggio? You have an arpeggio when you play the notes of a chord melodically instead of together as a block. When you press a key, an arpeggiator plays broken chords for you. Thus, you can create chord progressions for your song.
- Once you’ve got a chord progression you like, try singing over it. After you’ve got your melody, you can write the lyrics.
Composition Software for Writing Songs Without an Instrument
On the other hand, you can write your lyrics, then sing them into a voice recorder. However, once you have your melody, how do you come up with backing tracks?
- If you don’t feel comfortable putting chords to your melody, you might want to collaborate with someone who has that skill.
- Can’t find a collaborator? Then, you could use a program like Band-in-a-Box (see the Glossary for software links). This PC/Mac program gives you the option of writing your song without an instrument. You can use it to generate backing tracks for your song. Then, you create your melody by singing over the backing tracks. Finally, you write your lyrics.
- If you have a Mac, though, you might want to try the popular music program Garage Band.
- Likewise, you can use an AI music generator to create the backing tracks for your song. You have many artificial intelligence music generators to choose from, such as AIVA and Soundful to name a couple. See the videos below for more information.
- These programs use machine learning to compose tracks that you can use with your melody and lyrics. For copyright purposes, you should write your own melody and lyrics, not use an AI generated melody and lyrics.
Mobile users: for best results, tilt your screen 90o to the right.
Video: Band-In-A-Box Backing Tracks
Video: Garage Band Backing Tracks
Video: Music Composed by AIVA
Video: Composing with Soundful
Concluding Thoughts to “How Can I Write a Song Without an Instrument?”
“Can I write a song without an instrument?” Yes, you can definitely write a song without instrumental skills. Whether you use an arpeggiator, collaborate with another songwriter, or use computer software, you’ll have plenty of options to get you started. Have fun writing!
Related Content
- Brainstorming Your Song Titles
- How to Extract a Melody from Your Lyrics
- Overcoming Writer’s Block in Songwriting
- How to Jumpstart the Creativity in Your Songwriting
- Do I Need Talent to Write Music and Compose Lyrics?
© 2023 Geoffrey Keith
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Glossary
12 Simile Examples That Aren’t Cliches (How to Write Them)
Are you unsure about how similes work? Do all the similes you write seem trite? If you want your writing to move people, you need to make sure that you use original imagery that has power and presence. Read “12 Simile Examples That Aren’t Cliches (How to Write Them)” to find out how it works. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
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Brainstorming Your Song Titles
Are you stuck in a rut like the guy in the picture above? Do you want to know how to come up with vivid and memorable titles? Most of the songwriting experts agree that you should first write your hook, which often ends up being paired with your title. This means you need your title at the beginning of the songwriting process. Read more to learn how to go about brainstorming your song titles. Estimated reading time 4 minutes.
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Singing in Tune with Vowels
Want to have better vocal tone? Want to sing in tune? Singing is all about the vowels. Vowels have a central role in singing, because the vowels impact your tone. Also, they impact how you tune when you harmonize. This happens when sound passes through the formants - the resonant folds in the vocal tract. The formants filter your voice’s harmonic overtones, which influences your harmonic intonation. Read more to learn about singing in tune with vowels. Estimated reading time 6 minutes.
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Shape Note Sight Singing Success
Have you always wanted to sight sing music, but found it too hard? Shape notes can help. Also, last post centered on singing melodies with a specially tuned synth-organ sound. Namely, we focused on harmonic tuning. This week we will look at the same melodies, but from the angle of melodic tuning. Most of the examples have sing-along sound tracks, but the last example is a shape note sight singing quiz. Read more to experience shape note sight singing success. Estimated reading time 6 minutes.
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