MAKE YOUR OWN
Write & Record
Songwriting, playing for people, and recording your first songs at home.
What you'll explore
How to Write Your First Song on Guitar
Three or four chords is enough, and the first one is supposed to be rough. Borrow a proven progression, hum a melody over a phone recording, finish it.
Intro, Verse, Chorus: How Songs Are Built
Same music with new words is a verse; same music and words is a chorus. Every section's job, the standard song map, and which parts you can skip.
How to Turn Four Chords into a Song
Yes, one loop can carry a whole song. Sections come from delivery, not new chords: melody placement, dynamics, and rhythm are the three levers.
How to Write Lyrics When You're Not a Poet
A lyric isn't a poem: write how you talk, show the cold coffee instead of naming the feeling, and let near-rhymes work. The cringe is a compass.
How to Record Guitar at Home Without Fancy Gear
Your phone is enough for year one: about a foot away, aimed where the neck meets the body, never at the soundhole. Trust it on timing, not on tone.
Free Recording Software for Your First Songs
Your platform picks for you: GarageBand on Mac, Cakewalk on Windows, BandLab in any browser, Audacity for bare capture. Friction decides, not features.
How to Play Your First Open Mic
Bring two or three songs well below your ceiling, watch a night first, and never apologize on mic. The room is mostly performers rooting for you.
How to Put Together Your First EP
Three to six tracks, around twenty minutes, and done beats perfect. How to pick the songs, order them so they flow, and actually call it finished.
How to Finish the Songs You Start
Starting runs on inspiration; finishing runs on decisions. The bad-complete-version rule, the second-verse fix, and why done means recorded once.