Answer those questions before you continue reading this article. Really examine what's going on in the song you chose and why.

I don't know what song you worked with, but if it's in rock genre I'm sure you could've easily separated some things from another. Answering these questions might be of some help:

-          Instruments – what instruments did you hear? Were they organized in some way?

-          Chorus, verse, intro – what parts did the song have?

-          Distortion, delay – what effects were put on instruments?

-          Key changes – did the song have any modulations or key changes?

-          Chord progressions – what chord progressions did the song have? Did they change?

-          Melodies – how many melodies did the song have?

-          Volume – did the song volume change at any points?

-          Pitch – what pitch was used for each instrument and has it changed?

-          Rhythm – how many rhythms did the song have? Were they accentuated?

-          Lyrics – did the song have lyrics? Did they have effect on the song?

-          Pauses – did the song have silence parts or pauses?

-          Tension – on what parts of the song did tension evolve? Has it resolved?

-          Atmosphere – what atmosphere did the song have? How would you describe it? Has it changed?

Now, our goal is to get most out of studying and analyzing music. The more things you identify in it, the more things you're be able to eventually manipulate and work with. All of those questions will help you get closer to what's inside the music and it's really up to you to take the real work and learn to realize it and then to use it for your songwriting.

So, you've got the assignment to answer all of those questions I wrote above. They will, if nothing else, make you become more aware of what's going on in the music and you'll create yourself some rules of what to do where and why.

Have you answered them?

Yes? That's good.

And now, I've got one more assignment for you!

To each of those answers ask yourself 2 questions. How was that done and why has it been done?

That's where the core of everything lies. Once you know why is something in the song, and how is it being done, then you can easily learn to do that yourself! Answers to those questions sometimes vary from song to song, but often the rules you can get from those answers repeat and can be used in multiple occasions, and therefore providing you experience and knowledge to enhance your songwriting skills.