12 Great Songwriting Tools - 2023 (Online Tools, Apps, Software) - Musician Wave (2023)

There are many great songwriting tools out there that make songwriting easier. They can be a great way to help you be creative and provide some help so you can stay focused while making music.

As a songwriter, you need a lot of tools, from DAWs to recording software. Fortunately, there are countless great songwriting tools at your disposal.

Here, we showcase 12 useful songwriting tools you may not have heard of before. Our list includes software, apps, and tools hosted entirely online, even accessible from your smartphone.

1. The Black Hook Theory

Visit the website:Hooktheory Hook Pad

Hookpad by Hooktheory is a handy online tool when you have an idea and want to know what it sounds like. Just go to the site and post it. You can add notes by pressing the keys 1 to 7, and set the duration of each note by pressing the H, J, K, and L keys on the keyboard.

In addition to quickly adding notes, you can choose key, tempo, instrumentation, and create a simple track with just a few tracks in minutes. Record the songs you create and export them so you can listen to them later. With Hookpad, you'll never miss a thought. You can just "save" it and then export the melody.

2. Circle of Fifths

Visit the website:around friday

Circle of Fifths is an interactive online tool developed by Rand Scullard to help you find the key of a song, transpose music into a different key, create new songs, and understand key , scale and key signature.

All you have to do is record the note progression of a song and use the circle of fifths to tune it or find out what key the song is written in. The tool uses different mods like Lydan and Locrian and all tonics and can even be used offline. To do this, simply use the "Save As" function in your browser. Then, when you want to use the tool, just double-click on the saved page.

3. Tips (iOS)

wear this:App Store (Apple)

Suggester is an iOS tool that helps you create chord progressions and even songs. It lets you find chords that really work well together in a highly interactive and intuitive way. Suggestor helps you build complex phrases.

Using the app, you can easily make edits such as changing tempo, scale and selecting a kit from the included catalogue. Enter your chords, choose a scale, and the app will suggest scales that fit your input. If the chords you want to use are not in the Suggestor catalog, you can add them manually.

4. Rhythm area

Visit the website:rhyme strip

RhymeZone is completely online and its most basic use is to easily find words that rhyme with what you already have. You can also take advantage of some advanced features. For example, RhymeZone lets you look up definitions, antonyms, synonyms, and even similar-sounding words. By using it, your texts will always be fresh and you can easily get away from situations where your brain is not cooperating with you.

5. Live Ableton

Visit the website:Ableton Live

Ableton Live is the most popular songwriting tool on this list. It's an almost universal tool for live music performance and composition, with an emphasis on electronic melodies. For many musicians, it is a tool used in every stage performance.

Ableton Live takes a unique approach to programming and composition. It's not like a traditional DAW, but it's fast and easy to use. The clip-based approach used is intuitive and helps you create music tracks quickly. You can use it for composition and live performance.

6. Gitara Pro

Visit the website:Gitara Pro

Guitar Pro is a very useful sheet music/tabulation program. It allows you to create and download music transcriptions. There are several functions available, but most guitarists will use the app for three tasks.

The first is to compose music for the guitar (although it is possible to compose for other instruments as well). The second is to improvise with transcriptions, and the third is to learn parts or entire songs of songs using included tools like Looper and Speed ​​Trainer.

With Guitar Pro you can download standard and TAB transcriptions from well-known industry websites such as ultimate-guitar.com. You can also compose music and find accompanying tracks.

7. Reverse Chord Finder

Visit the website:Inverted Chord Finder

Simply put, Reverse Chord Finder (also known as Chord Identifier) ​​is very useful when you have a melody with notes in hand and want to find the corresponding chord names. Find the chord of a note and the related chords.

Reverse Chord Finder recognizes all major chord types including major, minor, diminished, augmented, seventh, eleventh and sustained chords. If you want to match the chords to the appropriate scale, you may want to considerbest chord finder, if you prefer piano, usePiano Chord Finder.

8. Scale 2

Visit the website:scale 2

If you use a DAW, Scaler 2 is a plug-in you should consider as it enhances your melodies, expressions and ideas. It's very good at detecting audio and MIDI, allowing you to discover ways to improve your melodies.

Scaler 2 has countless benefits, including discovering musical keys, alternate scales, browsing chord collections from over 200 artists, identifying and viewing chord changes, using strums or arpeggios, and discovering possible chord substitutions. With Scaler 2, you can take control of your synth and enhance your entire composition.

9. Rhyme Brain

Visit the website:brain rhymes

RhymeBrain is a simple online text tool that helps you work with poetry and lyrics. It works in a very intuitive way - you write lyrics and get rhyming suggestions immediately. There is also something to be said about the last word in the line. This will help you improve your lyrics and find creative ways to rhyme when you get stuck.

Since the RhymeBrain editor is available on the website, you can access it from any device with an internet browser. It's designed for beginners, but it's also great for experienced songwriters.

10. sing

Visit the website:singing

Songcraft is a unique all-in-one online platform for songwriters. It's available for free and lets you effectively collaborate with other songwriters to improve the song you're writing. Write tabs, chords or text using the selected device. Then upload or record audio files to organize songs into collections.

The collaboration aspect is helpful, as you can work on songs in real-time using comments, chat, and even video. Songcraft also includes several integrated tools to assist songwriters, such as a syllable counter, metronome, tuner, and music dictionary. People who compose together but aren't in the same studio now have access to all the tools they need to continue creating songs.

11. GarageBand

wear this:App Store (Apple)

GarageBand is basically your mobile recording studio. When it comes to the songwriting process, you never know when inspiration will strike, so you need something close at hand to capture your thoughts, lyrics, basic beats, etc.

You can create a song from scratch and add drums, guitars, synths and bass to it. It's a proven method for artists who travel a lot.

While there's no one-size-fits-all approach to the songwriting process, this app is a great addition to your arsenal for capturing your thoughts in the moment and transferring them to the studio later.

12. A Simple Songwriter

wear this:App Store (Apple)

Another great iOS app is Simple Songwriter, which lets you securely record your thoughts. The app includes many useful features such as generating song ideas, recording, finding good chords and chord progressions that complement each other, identifying and changing keys, and researching existing songs.

The program's user interface provides the right atmosphere for creating song ideas quickly and easily, as well as recording songs for later study.

Not only is this app incredibly useful, but it's also a great tool for the entire songwriting process. When inspiration strikes, just pull out your phone and start recording for later when you bring it into the studio.

summarize

The songwriting process is a very personal experience for an artist. Every songwriter writes differently, and it's important to discover what works best for you. Technology has undoubtedly influenced this craft and made songwriting easier than ever.

Take your time, take your time - start with a simple tool that requires little investment and expand as you master it.

Use the songwriting process as another way to improve lyrics and collaborate with other artists. Experiment and find out what works for you and what doesn't so you can remember it for future reference.

The main goal is to have fun and discover new ways, like the ones mentioned in this article, that can help you become a better songwriter!