Hear Elton John discussing his approach to writing with his long standing partner Bernie Taupin.

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By: wildsPosted on Categories : Categories : Creating A Hit Song, How To Write Soul Music, How To Write Soul Music Songs, Most Popular Soul Songwriters, Motown Songwriters, R And B Songwriters, Self Publish SongwriterTags:

18 Replies to “How to write a song – Elton John discusses his songwriting techniques”

  1. If I hear a catchy melody or beat, I will sometimes make up my own lyrics to the music. So I agree with what a lot of people are saying here: melody first, than lyrics, would be easier. But if this process works for the two of them – and it obviously does – changing it would be pointless at best and harmful at worst. 

  3. I've written many bad songs in my life.As a matter of fact most of my stuff is so bad I refuse to sing them anymore( unless the kids ask) but I still remember them.In all those songs I have written a few that have a good sound and I'm not embarresed by.One of them I call"This Little Dream". Its on this page,will you look it over and comment?

  4. the most effective way to write song is to practice more….no one can teach. great writers must have written hundreds of songs before writing their first perfect song.

  5. @realbleamer I was not being sarcastic at all. Don't mistake me – Bernie Taupin & Elton John are one of my favorite songwriting teams ever. But what insight is offered in this video? None, other than "I like writing the music, so I partnered with a good lyricist, and he did his bit first."

    Yes, it's a good tip to stick to what you're good at. I write theatrical music. I love doing Shakespeare plays because his lyrics are amazing. I'm much better at writing the music. This video adds nothing.

  7. Come on folks, this is the best songwriter in the world. Bernie is awesome I agree. But I think Elton could have done it without him-puhleez. Paul Mc Cartney woke from a dream to write "Yesterday" for petes sake.

  8. 0:15 "Sometimes I have suggested a title for a song, maybe a melody, 'DGBMH' is the only one I can think of…" Does he mean title or melody? I hope he means just the title, as DGBMH has to be one of the lamest/ most irritating songs ever…of 1976 or any year, (IMO of course). – Only Philadelphia Freedom compares as far as my dislike of his old hit singles. — "It's always a non-collaboration…" interesting description… while maybe (?) BT felt he was writing lyrics tailormade for EJ's style.

  9. interesting because i've heard many artists talk about how its more important to start the songwriting process with the music and then they write the lyrics. but as long as it works for the song it doesn't really seem like it matters which part of the song you start with.

  12. @eltonjohnish I agree to a point. I also write from chords, melody first. I tried to start with lyrics but it does not work well, because the words will have to be changed to fit the music anyway. The baselines are my prime inspirations for most part except when writing from the piano. It takes me 3 days to complete a song, Sometimes you have to put it down for a day or two and then bam!!! There it is.

  13. I usually have a melody in mind when writing lyrics. I cannot compose very well, so I just write lyrics. I believe the best lyric should be written in one setting and should be done in under a half hour. You can always go back to tweek it a bit, but the best comes at once.

  14. Wasn't there an album or 2 where Elton wrote a lot of the lyrics, Blue Moves maybe?
    I like to write the song 1st, (sing nonsense words onto tape) then listen back to 'discover' the subject.. let the melody suggest wordshapes.
    I think one of Burt Bacharach lyricists said something about how the beginnings and ends of the notes would suggest what words should fall into the melody line.
    Obviously the Taupin/EJ way works as well. I bet sometimes BT had a melody in mind while writing the lyrics

  15. The music is the main course, the lyrics are the dessert, the music is the meat, the lyrics are the potatoes, Elton should get the credit he deserves for coming up with the music…pretend the lyrics were gibberish or in a foreign language and tell me which one you'd rather have… but please don't tell me Elton doesn't know anything about songwriting…he was just being humble here..hard to imagine, eh ?

  16. How to write a song? Another misleading title used to get more views. The only how-to in this video is that you can write a song by getting someone else to write the words first and then write music to fit your own emotions about the lyrics.
    .
    How to write a song: Use someone else's words and then add music. Gee folks, thanks for the tip.

  17. Different things work for different people. There are songwriters who use vaious methods depending on the moment or the mood etc. At the end of it all, what matters is the quality of the result.

  18. Billy Joel said the opposite;
    He said it's easier to write lyrics around a mellody;
    Meaning he usually wrote the words 2nd.
    I don't know how to follow.?
    Both were successful song writers.

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