Tag archives for top 40

5 Musical Elements Hit Songs Have In Common

September 25th, 2020 by
Musical Elements Hit Songs

How do musicians write their hit songs? There are tons of opinions and books out there on this subject, written from songwriters. A majority of these manuals are written by analysts who do not have any songwriting experience but are good at studying patterns. Is there a secret formula out there that can push the aspiring songwriter to overnight stardom? 

As it stands, the search for the hit song’s secret sauce is still on. When asked about it, Lamont Dozier, a Motown legend said that he does not know what the recipe is that creates hit songs. Nevertheless, the songwriter who has crafted 78 top ten songs says that he can sense a hit song by what he ‘feels’.

Since hit songs have a certain ‘feel’, then it is proper to say that these ballads have common elements hit songs have in common.

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    If you, like most of us, have written a song that has all the elements of a hit but is just not working and you don’t know why, there are a couple of things that you can try before you tear up the page in frustration. First: monkey with the tempo. If you wrote it as a ballad, try taking it as a fast-paced rocker. Second: mess with the key signature. If you wrote it in 4/4 time, try it in _ time. The point here is to experiment with it every way you can think of until the floodgates open up and you drown in creativityÉ