Estimated reading time 4 minutes
Table of Contents
Introduction
Do you want to write exciting dance songs? Do you worry that it’ll be tough to create a good dance song groove? There are tricks that you can use to help get your creative juices going and consistently find good grooves. Keep reading to learn how to unlock the secret of writing dance songs.
This article uses musical terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the post.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission from purchases made through the links. I’ll only recommend products I use, use in lessons, or ones my students or colleagues have recommended.
How to Unlock the Secret of Writing Dance Songs: How Do I Write for the Rhythm Section?
What is a dance song?
- Dance music is about meeting people and having fun moving to the music.
- It’s an inherently social art form.
- So, how do you compose music that is so infectious that people will get out on the dance floor and let loose?
The heart and soul of a good groove is the rhythm.
- One secret of creating a dance song is that rhythm can’t be copyrighted.
- This means that you can easily emulate the rhythmic drum grooves of the hot, current dance songs.
- However, even though chord progressions and rhythms can’t be copyrighted, melodies and arrangement can.
- That means you can’t just copy someone else’s song.
- However, you can keep the same basic rhythm but arrange the instruments differently (including new melodies). In fact, this is a good way to break through writer’s block.
After you’ve come up with the drumbeat, create the bassline.
- If you want to make your rhythm section sound tight, you need to have the bass guitar or synth bass play the same rhythm as the kick drum or at least it should hit the main accents.
- Pick a key and noodle around in it until you come up with something you like.
- Your goal here is to create a catchy bassline.
What’s the secret of creating a mind-blowing dance song groove?
- The big secret to writing mind-blowing dance songs is to create as many grooves as you can.
- Nobody writes great music all the time. Sometimes you’ll write good stuff, sometimes bad stuff, and sometimes mediocre stuff.
- However, if you’re good or lucky or both, you’ll stumble across good grooves on a regular basis.
To do that you need to write a lot of material so you can find the keepers.
Mobile users: for best results viewing the videos, rotate your screen 90o to the right.
Video: The 20 Best Dance Song Drum Grooves
How to Unlock the Secret of Writing Dance Songs: How Do I Write the Melody and Lyrics?
The same is true for composing your vocal melody.
- You need to write lots of melodies to find the special ones.
- In fact, writing your melody is even more important than writing your groove.
- Why? Because your vocal melody is what sells the song with the groove coming in a close second.
For more information on how to create a catchy vocal melody.
When you write your melody, you’ll write your lyrics at the same time.
How to Unlock the Secret of Writing Dance Songs: How Do I Write the Arrangement?
Once you have your drums, bassline, and vocal melody, you can start to fill in the other parts.
- Record lots of tracks with guitars, synths, samples, sound effects, and backing vocals.
- Once you have all the parts recorded, you can create your arrangement using your sound board by fading instruments or groups of instruments in and out of the mix.
- Of course, you’ll need to know the style of dance music you’re writing for as the particulars can vary from genre to genre.
As you get the hang of writing dance songs, you’ll need to keep on top of trends, because they’re always changing.
For more information on how to arrange music.
As you’re arranging the instruments, you need to structure the music so that it makes sense.
Each style of music will have its own conventions on how the musical form will work. For more information:
To make this all happen, you’re going to need a DAW.
What is a DAW?
- The word DAW stands for Digital Audio Workstation.
- It’s the software that will allow you to record and sequence your dance songs.
- The better the DAW the more features it’ll have.
Here is a very popular DAW.
Video: The Role of Each Instrument in Pop Music
Final Thoughts
Takeaway points:
- The heart and soul of a good groove is the rhythm.
- You need to write lots of melodies to find the special ones.
- Once you have your drums, bassline, and vocal melody, you can start to fill in the other parts.
Have fun writing!
Glossary
Singing Lip Vowels
Do you have a hard time singing in key? Do you want strong vocal tone? Gaining control of your vowels will help you reach both goals. Today we'll deal with singing lip vowels, the second major vowel grouping in the vowel series. Read more to learn about singing lip vowels. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
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Singing Rhythm Syllables in 2-4 Time
Do you have a hard time sight singing rhythm in time signatures other than 4-4? 2-4 gets used a lot in marches, so you often find it used in patriotic songs, making it worth learning. Read more to learn about singing rhythm syllables in 2-4 time. Estimated reading time 4 minutes.
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Art vs Commerce in Songwriting
Ever wonder if writing a hit song means you’re selling out? When pitching songs, do you worry about losing creative control? The question of art vs commerce has only been with us a relatively short amount of time. Read more to find out what changed. Estimated reading time 6 minutes.
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Understanding Prosody in Your Songwriting
Do you have a problem with mis-accented syllables in your lyrics? Learning about prosody will help you deal with the issue. Read more to understand prosody in your songwriting. Estimated reading time 5 minutes.
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