How to Write Songs Faster (10 hacks for speedy songwriting)
Racing musician generated with Adobe Firefly
Slow songwriting means less music gets finished and less gets shared with your audience. This also means slower growth.
So learning how to write songs faster is an awesome skill to strengthen. Luckily, there are some simple moves to start making music quicker.
This post shares my favorite tips.
Now let’s do this!
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1. Systematize Stuff
When you can, try systematizing your songwriting. It’s a serious productivity move.
While creativity doesn’t always do well in a box, there are plenty of moments where a template can speed things along.
For example, here are some systems and templates to write songs faster:
Use prebuilt vocal chains in music production
Have go-to instruments and sound selections
Create a unique songwriting process or workflow
Use templates for song structures
Automate parts of your songwriting
Like LANDR’s AI mastering tool (get 20% off here!)
Systems work. They save you time and make decision-making quicker.
I like to focus on systematizing the mundane parts of songwriting that either don’t move the needle or don’t interest me very much.
Explore more:
➤ My Music Production Workflow
2. Create Urgency
“Nothing makes you more productive than the last minute.”
A little outside pressure is motivating. It supports quicker action and sparks a sense of urgency.
Marketers do this all the time to us (you know the ads — “Buy now, before this deal ends in 2 hours!”).
So if you’re looking to write song faster, try making things more urgent. Here are some ideas:
Do a songwriting challenge
Use a timer
Set strict deadlines
Make it public
Explore more:
➤ I Wrote a Song Everyday for a Year 😟
3. Stop Trying to Be Perfect
Stop trying to be so dang perfect — nobody else is. It’s a false destination and wasted energy.
Of course, getting detailed and constantly improving is good work. But learn to let go too and not obsess too much. Because perfectionism can lead to low confidence, being overly detailed, imposter syndrome and unnecessary delays.
I’m not perfect at this (pun intended), but here are some things that help me:
Accept that too much perfection is just robotic
Don’t compare yourself to others
Step away — avoid ear fatigue
4. Don’t Rely on Motivation
“Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.”
Motivation doesn’t last. It’s fickle. And it’s an awful strategy to rely on for finishing songs quickly.
Instead, work on cultivating better habits and routines. Here are my favorite ways to write songs faster beyond motivation:
Have a strong and clear why
Use systems
Identify causes of low motivation— avoid or fix them
Create an inspiration board
Focus on the day-to-day with micro and nano goals
Form better habits — focus on adding new ones, not stopping old ones
Explore more:
➤ Songwriter + Music Producer Motivation
5. Write Shorter Songs
If you’re trying to write music post-haste, trying making your songs shorter.
It’s a simple hack and it works like magic.
Plus, this can even be a good social media strategy — what with the TikTokification of music and everything else going on.
For example, create shorter (or non-existent) intros and scrap the second double verse, bridge and final verse.
You could write short one-minute songs and still make them bangers. And for the mini songs that perform super well, you can go back and create extended versions of them.
Write shorter songs — and write songs faster.
6. Write Simple Songs
“It’s a broken record, but sometimes, less really is more.”
A great song has nothing to do with complexity. The simple stuff works amazing too (sometimes even better).
Some of my favorite songs are super basic. I mean, if something feels good and just works intuitively, then I say go with it. Even if it’s just a simple chord progression with an even simpler melody.
While a basic 1-5-6-4 chord progression doesn’t feel the most creative, it works awesome for writing a quick song. Plus, it always sound good. There’s a reason so many popular songs recycle the same progression. They just work.
So don’t feel bad about simplicity.
In fact, lean into it — especially if you’re trying to write songs faster.
7. Focus on the Nano
Tackling a whole project all at once isn’t realistic. It can feel overwhelming and lead to disorganization and sporadic work.
This creates a slow songwriting process.
So instead, avoid all that by breaking things down into smaller pieces. This way, you can chip away at a song little by little, which is more sustainable.
This makes your songwriting more strategic, organized and focused.
Finishing 20 mini tasks is way better than trying to take on the whole project all at once.
So reverse engineer your song into smaller component pieces and focus on the parts (not the whole). For example:
Song concept
Main sections and arrangement
Core melodies for each section
Instruments and sound design
Processing and effects
Mixing and mastering
Don’t worry about layering effects if you’re working on the arrangement. And don’t stress about doing every effect all at once — nail one (in the right order), and then move on.
Focus on the nano moments. They create macro change and speed.
8. Stack the Cards In Your Favor
I’m only as good as my environment. So let’s stack the deck in our favor.
Here’s how I like to do that:
My inner circle
The musicians I spend time with
My outer circle
The musical content I consume
My surroundings
The places and spaces where I write music
Optimize the context of your life to be the most motivating and supportive. This will help you write music more consistently and faster.
Even if you can only improve your outer circle, that’s a solid start.
9. Play to Your Strengths
When you’re write music leveraging your strengths, you write faster.
This makes sense too. Your strengths are things you’re better at doing, so you can do them more intuitively and quicker.
For example, one of my strengths is writing melodies and making songs on the guitar. So I leverage these strengths in my songwriting processes and tasks.
I can write a simple song on a guitar in 10 minutes. But building out a produced version of it? Well, that takes a lot longer since music production is still a skill I’m honing.
So outsource, automate or use samples and plugins for your weaknesses or the things you don’t enjoy doing as much.
You’ll write songs a lot faster this way.
10. Don’t Rush Too Much
“It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.”
Speedy songwriting is a great skill. But sometimes, patience is better.
I wrote a song everyday for a year, and one of the biggest downsides I experienced was rushing the creative process.
I would cut corners, rush decisions and settle for sounds I didn’t truly like.
So remember to take things slow sometimes too. Step back, enjoy the creative process, get lost in flow.
Patience can be just as powerful as speed.
Or as one quote goes, “slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.”
Later ✌️
