How to Make a Halloween Song


Halloween music should be creepy and in a depressed key. There are some simple ways to achieve this if you have basic knowledge of music and talent for creating melody. If you have no experience writing music, you will want to study music theory first or try creating a song based on a pre-existing melody. For instance, you could use the famous song “Are You Sleeping” and simply change the lyrics so that it reflects a macabre theme.

Step 1 — Start by creating the lyrics for your song. Aim for four sentences of approximately four to eight words. Writing about bats, ghosts, vampires and ghoulish creatures is a good place to start. If you have trouble coming up with lyrics, take an already existing set of lyrics and just change keywords to something that fits with a Halloween theme. You won’t be able to publish this content, but you can develop greater skill working with pre-existing lyrics.

Step 2 — Notate a melody in a minor key that fits with your lyrics. If you don’t know how to notate your melodies, then use a tape recorder to record yourself singing the lyrics. Play the recording, think about parts needing improvement, and edit as necessary. Continue singing the lyrics with the melody until you are happy with the results. When you settle upon a melody, memorize it. Alternatively, if you used a pre-existing set of lyrics from Step 1, you always can just sing the song to the already existing melody. Some good melodies to use are “Ring Around the Rosie,” a song already entrenched in macabre themes, or “We Three Kings,” which already is in a harmonic minor key.

Step 3 — Record your Halloween song. If you have any friends that are musicians, ask them to help you with your song. When recording your song, look for a quiet area in which you will not be disturbed. Use a cardioid microphone, since those will make your voice sound warm. Experiment with the correct distance to hold the microphone to get the best sound.

Step 4 — Download and install a free audio editor like Audacity. Import your song by dragging the audio file into the program. In the “Effect” menu, use the “Reduce Noise,” “Normalize” and “Compressor” options to finalize and master your song.

Study music theory if you are serious about learning to write music. Lyrics don’t have to fit a rhyming scheme, but they should lend themselves to creating suitable melodies. You can give your song away for free on social media sites or keep it within your close network of friends and family. If you have borrowed copyrighted material for your song, make sure you have the appropriate permission by contacting the original author.

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