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
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