Make a Good Punk Song

If you have always loved punk music, and wanted to make your own song but didn't know how. This will help…

Steps

Think about what you want to sing about. Punk music can be about almost anything: a relationship that’s soured, politics, your feelings towards something in general, or just something completely random.
- If you write a song about your feelings towards something, make sure it stays “punk” and not ‘emo’. Emo is short for emotive punk rock, and is actually an offshoot of punk. We're trying to write punk here, not an offshoot of punk.
Choose your style. Make your lyrics match they style of punk you are playing (but remember that within all these styles there are variants).
- Hardcore should be shouted with just a couple phrases repeated, about politics or something relevant.
- Psychobilly/horror-punk should be about B movies or killing.
- 77 punk or post punk can be about love or pretty much anything.
Create lyrics that rhyme most of the time. Most punk songs use rhyme a lot. If you can't come up with a perfect rhyme (as in: seedy / needy / greedy), try using imperfect rhymes. There are two main types:
- The vowel sounds of the words are the same (e.g. subtle/bubble)
- The consonant sounds are the same (e.g. middle/muddle)
- To make words rhyme, you can also try using an alternate pronunciation. To make “more” and “sure”rhyme, for example, you could pronounce “sure” as “shore”.

Combine your lyrics and melody (or absence of melody) to create your song. Try stressing different syllables on different beats.
Keep the music fast. Most punk music is fast and uses only 3 or 4 chords. Your guitar needs to be fast and catchy, with distortion up high. The chords ‘A’, ‘E’, ‘D’, and ‘B’ are a good place to start.
- Be creative and add minor chords to make it stand out. Feedback is good.
Drums need to be fast and furious. Throwing in a few snares also gives it a good sound.
Create deep bass notes that back up the main guitar.
Give your song a title. Your song title can be a line from the chorus or about the overall theme you are trying to get across. You could also go and try to make a name that is ridiculously long and relates to the song in someway. A song can also have a random name that has nothing to do with the song, but this is not a great idea unless the name is catchy.
Remember that punk music is defined as being yourself. So, if you follow this guide to the letter, your song will not be ‘punk’.