Writing A 'Hit' Rock Song

And so the age old question - what is the formula for writing a chart-topping rock song? Of course there are various opinions floating around out there in cyber space (and maybe even in real earth space!) on how to create a 'hit', but in my opinion, the most crucial idea to writing a great song is all about time and place. A hit song cannot be forced, it must be a natural process. Musicians must know when they are feeling creative. In my case, my creativity is at its peak when I haven't touched the guitar for a few days. Taking a step back from consistent playing and then strumming away after a break really helps to get those creative juices going.

Dave Byers, founder of writingsongs.com, believes that one of the three things a song needs to impress the listener is that it contains an "interesting lyric that draws the listener in". As you may have noticed from prior posts, the significance I place on lyrics is not great and I certainly do not think that this is an essential part to creating a great tune. More conducive to my opinions, Keane Li of the website Guitarnoise.com pushes the importance of creating the guitar riff or chord progression first and then allowing lyrics to flow from the inspiration of the music.

An important aspect to consider when creating that 'hit' rock song is to not get bogged down in the form but rather to enhance the melody. Many songwriter's worry too much about trying to make a guitar riff sound technical or different. This is unnecessary, the primary focus should be to making a song sound as melodic as possible and not it's ability to surprise the listener. Another idea to consider is to keep the intro succinct. The average listener doesn't usually have much patience and it is important to hook the listener in early. In fact, most professionals believe that an intro length of around 13 seconds is ideal (Bakshi, 2007).

Song length is worth considering. The most popular rock songs run from between 3 and 4 and a half minutes. You don't want to make it too short or it's impression will not last long enough but you especially do not want to make it too long or your song will lost its 'punch'. We can't all make epic 'Stairway to Heaven's' or 'Bohemian Rhapsody's' and the odds are that attempting to do so will not result in the 'hit' song you are after.

In the end, there is no real formula or solution to creating a successful rock song. Measures can be taken such as the ones discussed to improve the chances of creating such a song but at the end of the day, luck plays the definitive role to the outcome of your song. All we can do is practice, practice and practice.