“Lyrics or music?”…Wrong question.
If you’ve ever asked, “Should I start with lyrics or music?” you’ve bumped into the biggest beginner lie: that there’s a single right way to start a song—and a bunch of wrong ones that will “ruin” your idea.
Today’s tutorial flips that. You’ll see how experienced writers actually begin: not with fear of doing it “wrong,” but with multiple reliable doors into a song.
The transformation? From second-guessing to starting—quickly, confidently, and with purpose.
By the end of this tutorial, you will be able to:
- Kick off songs with chords like a pro using three systematic moves (start away from I, create tension by avoiding I, resolve by landing on I).
- Build an “infinite” chord vocabulary by borrowing progressions and transforming them (key, tempo, time, song section).
- Turn tiny melodic seeds into compelling lines using repeat-and-vary (mix steps + leaps, vary note lengths, add space).
- Generate lyric starts on demand (sense writing, six-word stories, in-media-res, “look around the room”).
- Start with a title hook and explode it into imagery with quick word-banks (title + concept = instant direction).
Watch the tutorial here:
Once you know there’s no “correct” doorway, you stop waiting for permission and start writing. Chords give you movement, melody shapes emotion through variation, and title-first writing gives your song a clear target—so every verse, pre, and chorus feels inevitable and surprising.
Go make something you can react to—and then make it better.
—Keppie