If you’re into the desire to throw your body and soul into writing your hit song, this article is for you.

The best way to learn the technique for writing a commercially solid song, be it Country, Rock or Pop, is to use a song that is already successful as a sample to write your own. Don’t draw hasty conclusions, I’m not saying to copy a song! Meanwhile, we begin to call it “ghost song” because once you are done, it will disappear into thin air. No one can ever say it existed. He will become a ghost…

Why use another’s song?

First, because writing songs is like learning to ride a bike, it’s something you learn by trying and trying again after seeing how you do it from an already capable one (do you remember daddy teach you?). Having a “right” reference song you can concentrate better on one aspect at a time: Text, Melody, Chorus…

The second reason is that by using a ghost song you don’t fall into the usual old ways by now while you write a new one. We all have our habits as we compose and these lead us to use the usual chord changes, the usual structure, trit and reel melodies.

The third reason: to write a song that is fresh, new, with a catchy text and a catchy melody, a refrain that makes the stones sing and that makes you cry “Eureka” to hear it … it’s so much to ask yourself! An established hit can help you get off on the right foot. To give you that extra stimulus that touches your creative zone. To dream big!

It is not a matter of copying a Hit but of learning from it to create something original that can please people.

9 steps to turn your ghost into a new song

1. Listen to the Hit of the moment and find the one you like best.
2. Use the song you like as a “ghost song” . Not all songs can fit. What you are looking for must have a solid structure and a melody that you can sing and memorize. If you have problems with this, change the song.
3. Write the text of the song in a sheet while you learn to sing/whistle the melody.
4. Find the hook or, as the Americans call it the hook, that is the hook. That moment in the song that catches you like a fish. It is usually found in the first line of the chorus. Now try to find a new melody that suits you in that particular place. I said “that we’re okay” not “perfect” so don’t go crazy finding excellence. Try to rewrite that phrase with the one you created. Use a topic dear to you, you’re about to start your song! A small suggestion is that in that sentence, being at the beginning of the refrain, you should put what will then be the title of the song.
5. Write the rest of the refrain. If the words are repeated in the ghost song, do the same. Use the same structure as the refrain you found in the Hit. Use the sentence you wrote as a guide for what will be the rest of the text (in the verses). What questions do you think of? What problems or solutions? This will be your text, so DO not look at the “ghost” text for ideas to use. That’s copying and I’m not saying do this!
6. Write the verses of the song about the melody of the ghost song. If you are writing just the text, use the structure and melody of your ghost song. If instead, you are writing the text and the melody at the same time, stop as soon as you have written the first verse and the chorus and move on to the next point.
7. To start a new melody, different from the ghost, try to use the natural melody that is already in your text. When we speak we use the same components that create a melody: intonation, volume, and rhythm. Try to read the first line of your chorus aloud. Feel the intonation and rhythm of your words and try to exaggerate the pronunciation. Slowly you will discover that a melody is forming. Your melody, which starts from within.
8. Once you find the melody for the first verse, you can use the structure of the repetitions and variations that you find in the ghost song to continue the melody on your whole song. If a phrase/melody is repeated in the ghost song, try repeating yours in the same way. If it makes variations on intonation, do the same. This is a great exercise to get a feel for the structures that make a song become a hit.
9. Use the chord progression you find in the ghost song to practice or find one of your own. Many songs use the same chord progression. You do not believe me? watch the video at the end of the article, fantastic!

These are just a few points you can use to create your song! Of course, mine are not absolute truths but a guide and I invite you to add or remove from the list what you believe best based on your personal experience. I am always available for comparison and to learn from you because by combining our ideas, something good certainly comes out!