Songwriting software toolbox

If you’ve ever fancied yourself as the next big thing when it comes to song writing, then your PC can help get those creative juices flowing and launch yourself onto the world stage. I can’t guarantee the following selection will help you make a number one single – or even get into the Eurovision Song Contest for that mater – but they may give you a helping hand on your way to making sweet music.

Probably the most useful tool you can start with is MasterWriter. This excellent application is designed to help structure your songs correctly as well as free you of the dreaded writer’s block. Simply enter a word or phrase that you’ve been struggling with and MasterWriter will suggest rhyming possibilities and other suitable words that may help your song flow. VersePerfect performs a similar job in helping you find that elusive magic word although it doesn’t help you with the form and structure of your songs.

Meanwhile, if it’s your job to put music to the words of your frontman and you haven’t got the best ear for picking up chords, Chord Pickout “extracts” chords from songs for the tonedeaf. Simply load an Mp3 or WAV file into the program and Chord Pickout displays the chords that are being used in the song. However, don’t rely on it because it quite often suggests chords which are way off. If you’ve got a good ear however but you’re just struggling to tell your D-Major from your D-Minor chord, then ChordBook is a beautifully illustrated guide to all the major chords with a handy search tool.

Finally, if you really want to look like a pro, then Encore is one of the most professional tools out there for writing notation but if you haven’t got a clue when it comes to writing music, then MusicEase does the hard work for you.