"Songwriting with AI. Digital partners in the creative process?!" Learning Modules

Use image-generating AI to create an image that serves as inspiration for your song. The image can then become your cover. Image-generating AIs for ecample include Copilot and ChatGPT.

Let Song ideas generator suggest a theme for you. Change individual words until you like the theme.

Let ChatGPT or another language-generating AI of your choice suggest a song theme and/or genre. If necessary, engage in dialogue with the AI until you have decided on a theme.

Using the Music-Map, discuss which (sub-)genre would be interesting for your song. You can zoom in to see more subgenres and click on the names to get more information and listening suggestions.

Name your favorite songs and compare them: Are there similar themes and genres that appear in all the songs? Is there a song whose theme and/or genre is completely different? Would it be interesting to write about one of the themes in a completely different way (e.g., in another genre, with a different mood, from the perspective of a character or object mentioned in the song, or from a different point in time)? Or could you write a continuation of a song -like a Part 2 in a movie?

Play a major or minor chord on the piano or guitar and discuss your closing line. Determine the mode (major/minor). Then set the key. Learn about the primary functions (see triad functions) and choose a progression.

Have ChatGPT generate chords for your lyrics. Adapt the bolded parts of the following prompt to suit your needs:

Generate chords for the following song lyrics. [lyrics] The genre is [singer-songwriter/hip-hop]. Use**[Basic chords / extended chords / jazz chords]**.

Mark the syllables in your lyrics that fall on the first beat of each measure. Place a chord on each first beat (including in measures without text).

Click on the button "Try for free". Have melodies and chord progressions generated based on “mood, tempo, and BPM.” Improvise with your lyrics over the generated music. If needed, export in MP3 / MIDI / WAV / text format.

Enter the name of your favorite song followed by “Chords” on Google to find a lead sheet with lyrics and chords (e.g., from Ultimate Guitar). Agree on a section that you particularly like. Play the chords of that section. Then, for example, change the order of the chords or replace one or more chords with others that fit your key.

Use a program to split your favorite song into stems (i.e., individual tracks), for example StemRoller. If you particularly like the bass line, import the bass stem into GarageBand and loop 4–8 bars of it. Ask your teacher for help in determining the key if needed. Then experiment by trying different chords from that key over the bass line.

Starting from an opening sentence, each person takes turns writing a follow-up sentence. The only rule is that you may not contradict the previous sentence.

If there are already clear ideas about the theme or song, you can choose a location or goal from the song. Then, in a few minutes, describe the place or express the feelings that the details of this location or goal evoke.

Here, you change the point of view of the narrative, for example by letting the location of the song “speak.” This can give the lyrical self a home. Again, the goal is to describe the feelings of the place or of the person within it.

Agree on a short passage from your favorite song (about 2 lines). Then discuss why you like these lines so much, for example using the following questions: How long or short are they? Are they, for example, phrased as questions, commands, descriptions, colloquial expressions, or short exclamations? Are there repetitions? Are special metaphors used? Once you have identified what makes these lines distinctive, apply this “recipe” to write your own lines in the same style.

Using a text-generating AI, you can create a new text or rewrite/expand an existing one, for example to include specific song sections like verse, pre-chorus, or chorus. Examples of text-generating AIs include ChatGPT (OpenAI), These Lyrics do not exist, LyricAI, Fobizz.

If you have generated an image related to your theme, create a song text by describing the image. In each song section, you can represent a different part or aspect of the image, for example: the overall mood in the chorus, specific details in the verses, and questions raised by the image in the pre-chorus.

Using translation AIs, you can, for example, translate your text from German into English. You can use, for example, DeepL.

Using an AI writing assistant, you can correct your text or have it rewritten in a specific tone, for example to make it sound enthusiastic. An example of a writing assistant is DeepL Write.

Further information on rhyming and links to online rhyme tools can be found here. !!ACHTUNG: WEBSITE AUF DEUTSCH

If you already have a song text, speak it rhythmically using a metronome, so that the text remains understandable. Where is the strong beat in the measure? Mark it in your lyrics and then decide on the time signature. Adjust the number of beats on the metronome if needed.

Have ChatGPT generate a rhythm for your lyrics in 4/4 time. Use the following prompt and, if needed, modify the bolded parts:

Generate a rhythm to the following song lyrics. [lyrics] The genre is [singer-songwriter/hip-hop]. Create a table with 2 rows and 9 columns. The columns in the top row represent the beats and are labeled: Beat, 1, &, 2, &, 3, &, 4, &. In the first column of the second row, write Text. Enter the lyrics in the second row. Divide the words so that each syllable is placed in the column corresponding to the beat on which it should sound. Include rests as well.

Use a program to split your favorite song into stems (i.e., individual tracks), for example StemRoller. Import one or more stems (not the drums!) into GarageBand and loop 4–8 bars that you particularly like. Then develop a groove using your voice or the drum pad. You can, for example, start with the original groove of the song and gradually modify it until you create your own new groove.