How to start a song? Well, with nearly 1 million songs coming out per week (and over 7 million songs being created per day on Suno, apparently!?), one of the most important hurdles you face as a professional songwriter or artist today is, guess what?
Other people’s attention.
Not only are you competing against all the new music releases, but you are literally competing against the latest bingeable Netflix series, gaming, social media, and the entire history of recorded music! Think about that for a second.
Why should someone care about your new artist release? Or if you’re a professional songwriter, why should that artist cut your song? To say it another way: if an A&R person listens to 1,000 song demos for the week, how do you stand out at song #999?
That’s why this could be one of the most important articles you’ll read this year.
I set this up as context so you have a filter to apply both when starting songs and when finishing them: look at your song objectively and honestly, and ask yourself this question.
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Hell, forget that, what about the first four measures of the song?!
And what exactly is something that jumps off the page?
This could most often be the production: an incredible beat, a fresh sonic texture or sound, an amazing riff, a compelling signature vocal, or a lyric that just cuts through. In short: something that GRABS YOU, doesn’t let go, and says “I am different and worth your attention!”
Because today, it’s not enough to write a great song. We need to cut through and grab the listener instantly. Or, to say it in a visual TikTok way, from an audio perspective, how do you stop the scroll?
Of course, this is easier for uptempo songs, but it also works for ballads and chill textures. In other words: what energy do you need to come in at a level 10 to capture and fascinate a listener’s attention?
In regard to all of the above, you may have noticed that many songs making it onto “new music playlists” have only four measures of an intro, or no intro at all!
Of course, you could also do something contrary to all of this and write a symphonic masterpiece featuring an oboe where the vocal doesn’t enter for 90 seconds. But that, too, comes back to doing something that stands out and is different!
As a songwriter and artist, the core essential part of your job is to transfer energy, and to transfer energy inside of what I call a song vessel. So start with pulling attention immediately. You must grab people right away and hook them when you start a song.
What kind of song or production element or beat, etc., can you write today that “stops the scroll?”
This also applies to professional songwriters writing for other artists. Taking K-pop as an example: those A&Rs are receiving 1,000 songs per week. And they actually listen! So what type of song start do you need to present, so that when heard at the end of the day (as an example, song #999), your song totally crushes it and grabs that A&R’s attention immediately?
So, I think you got this!
Makes sense, right?
And look, this is not just for how you start a song! Apply this mindset to your live show, your social media, your first impressions, of anything!
So if you’re ready for a songwriting exercise and the “study” of the day (note: read my article on “studies” and why this is crucial to your development here), please check out the below song prompt.
Drum roll, please welcome the “JUMP OFF THE PAGE SONGWRITING EXERCISE.”
That’s right, I said “exercise.” If you want to be a champion, exercising is important! As a metaphor, if you’re an Olympic athlete, there’s no way you aren’t “exercising” and training between competitions. In my opinion, you MUST do the same as an artist or professional songwriter.
How to Start a Song: The “Jump off the Page” Songwriting Exercise
1. Try setting aside an hour each day this week and intentionally create song starts that EXPLODE! Go extreme, radical, louder, harder; use sonically different or underexplored instruments (vibraslap, jaw harp, harmonica, a Lamborghini exhaust transformed into an instrument (thank you, SOPHIE), or whatever!).
You can, of course, also go softer, sparser, and more confessional, and lead with your most heartbreaking lyric up front, too. Whatever it takes to make someone pay attention in the first five seconds!
2. Lean into the power of the riff and the second melody. More on second melody here. So many massive hits started with a key copyrightable riff!
3. Try creating a new genre or a unique genre blend. You can also go retro and dive into a subgenre. If it was me, I’d look into early 2000s electroclash, New Jack Swing, and 1990s House. Something that could be a totally fresh spin in today’s context.
4. Try a unique and fresh synth patch, or a guitar or vocal effect (vocoders are fun!), or a unique drum sound. Simply put, something that’s going to make a listener tilt their head and say “What is this?”
5. Don’t overthink it. Push the edges and push yourself. Part of this exercise is to suspend self-criticism. Save that for the following week, when you listen back to your ideas and assess what has merit.
6. Don’t be shy. Really lean into this! In fact, try being the extreme version of whatever lane you’re in, and push those boundaries further than you think is acceptable. You can always come back and smooth out any rough edges, but experiment here.
And if you’re a vulnerable, confessional sad-boy or sad-girl singer-songwriter, when you start a song, be even more vulnerable and confessional.
If you’re an EDM artist or writer, create the drop that’s more face-melting than anything you’ve attempted before: the drop of the year, not something that merely placates the pedestrian festivalgoers.
You get the idea.
And of course, the “jump off the page” approach, as I mentioned, applies not only to how you start a song but also almost certainly to your marketing, your TikToks, your live show, and beyond.
The artists and songwriters who not only create incredible songs but also capture our attention are the ones who will stand out in this saturated market.
And here’s the bonus in this exercise. Are you ready for this? You’ll probably have a lot more fun doing this and discovering the most authentic version of yourself.
In closing, how you start a song is everything. And you might have heard about “first impressions,” for example, if you’re going for a job interview or a first date.
Our human operating system runs on first impressions!
And for us, as artists and songwriters and producers, we need to send a clear creative signal that immediately says: “I’m worth your attention.” And that “I bring you something no one else has.” And of course: “I bring you value.”
Not just another robo resume.
This is the first impression you’re giving to the A&R, the editorial playlister, the music supervisor, and of course, most importantly, the potential new fan.
So make those first 15 seconds count!
Instead, turn those 15 seconds into a career with lifelong fans.
And not just a high skip rate.
Learn the art and secret science behind hit songwriting whether you’re an artist or aspiring pro songwriter for others.
Discover 16 never before shared hit making secrets (that you won’t find anywhere else) to elevate your songwriting.
