composing a song?

Question:

What are the steps to writing/composing a song?

Do you start with a bass line or with a lead guitar line? Or do you start with lyrics and try to come up with a melody that fits the lyrics or is it the other way around where you choose lyrics to fit in to the melodic line?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Stravinsky, one of the great composers, once said the easiest way to write was with restriction. If you want to write a song quickly and easily- especially if it's your first one- find 4 different chords on the piano or guitar that you think go together well, just keep playing them over and over, and hum or make up a melody on top of it. Then start writing words to that melody. Make two lines that are your favorite, and turn them into a chorus- even if its the same melody as the verse- just sing them again and again. and there you'll have a song. There are actually tons of popular songs that you probably know already that use the 4 chord style of writing- simple, restrictive, but effective.