Let's make your music - It just has to start

Have you ever looked at a beautiful image or read a line in a post and thought: “this would make a great song”? That happens to me quite often here on BP. Sometimes an artwork, a caption, or even a small comment sparks the feeling that it could turn into music. So let’s try it. Instead of writing everything from scratch, I usually start by asking an LLM for help. Starting with an Idea You don’t need a perfect concept to start. Sometimes it’s just: an image a phrase a situation a feeling For example, you could simply ask something like: What kind of song would fit this image? or Turn this idea into song lyrics. Even a rough question can give you a starting point. From there, you can refine things little by little. Sample: BudgetPixel To4kawa's AI Art | BudgetPixel Check out To4kawa's AI-generated content on BudgetPixel budgetpixel.com I made this track from this image as a simple example Prompting Lyrics with an LLM When I generate lyrics, I usually start with three simple elements: Phrase Situation Who the song is about For example: Phrase: “I love you” Situation: talking at a convenience store late at night Who: a couple in their twenties Then I ask something like: Write song lyrics about a couple in their twenties talking about “I love you” at a convenience store. That’s enough to generate a first draft. The important thing is that this first result doesn’t need to be perfect. It’s just a starting point. Trial and Error Is Normal My prompts almost never work perfectly on the first try. Sometimes the tone is wrong. Sometimes a line feels strange. Sometimes the whole thing just doesn’t work. That’s normal. I usually treat the first result as raw material. Then I simply ask things like: Change this part. Make this more natural. Make it slightly comedic. Make it softer. Little by little, the lyrics start to take shape. From Lyrics to Song Sections Once the lyrics feel right, the next step is giving them a structure. Most songs are built from a few simple sections: Verse – where the story moves forward Chorus – the main message of the song Bridge – a change in mood before the final chorus When asking an LLM for lyrics, it can help to mention the structure. For example: Verse – Chorus – Verse – Chorus – Bridge – Chorus But again, it doesn’t need to be perfect. Even a simple “Verse and Chorus” structure is enough to begin. Prompting the Musical Style After the lyrics, I usually think about the style of the music. You can start very simply. For example: Make it feel a bit like Michael Jackson. That kind of rough direction is completely fine. From there, you can ask the LLM to translate the idea into musical elements. For example: Rewrite that as a music style description without using the artist’s name. This turns a vague idea into something more usable for music generation. A Little Music Basics You don’t need deep music theory, but a few ideas can help when describing music. Genre This describes the general style of the song. For example: pop, rock, jazz, electronic. BPM Technically, BPM means “beats per minute,” or how many beats happen in one minute of music. You can think of it a bit like a heartbeat. Lower BPM feels calmer. Higher BPM feels more energetic. Key Major keys usually feel brighter. Minor keys often feel more emotional or dramatic. Instruments Instruments shape the texture of a song. For example: piano guitar synth strings drums Even simple descriptions like “soft drums” or “bright guitar” are enough. If You Don’t Understand a Word Sometimes an LLM will return words that sound a little technical. For example: “synth accents” If you don’t know what that means, that’s completely fine. Just ask. For example: What does synth accents mean? Please explain it in a way an elementary school student could understand. One of the best parts of working with an LLM is that you can ask follow-up questions as much as you want. You don’t have to understand everything immediately. You can learn while creating. Learning from Artists Artists are also useful references. You can ask an LLM to analyze a musician’s style and turn it into musical elements. For example: Analyze this artist’s musical style and describe it as musical elements. Then you can ask: Rewrite the result as a music style description without using the artist’s name. This helps transform inspiration into reusable prompts. Final Thoughts I started making music with AI about two years ago. Before that, I never thought I could make songs myself. I kept asking: What kind of sound would this phrase become? By repeating that process, little by little, I found that I could do more and more. I’d be happy if this article can help even a little with your own music-making. See ya — let’s make your music.