Song Prompt Writing Guide
How to describe a song so the generator makes the track you hear in your head: the four things a prompt should name, how style tags and the prompt divide the work, and examples you can adapt.
A prompt is a brief for a session musician who cannot ask questions. The more of the decisions you make for them, the closer the first take lands.
The four things to name
- Genre and era. "Late-90s UK garage" is a decision; "electronic" leaves most of it open.
- Tempo and energy. A number in BPM is more reliable than a word: "92 BPM, laid-back" beats "chill".
- Instruments and texture. Name the lead and the bed: "fingerpicked nylon guitar, brushed snare, warm upright bass".
- Voice. Who sings and how: "breathy female alto, close-mic, double-tracked chorus", or switch Instrumental on.
Add the mood or story last, in a phrase or two: "about leaving a small town at dawn, hopeful rather than sad".
Prompt mode or custom mode
- Prompt mode takes one description, and the generator writes the lyrics, title and arrangement. Use it to explore ideas quickly.
- Custom mode splits the job: the style line carries genre, tempo, instruments and voice as comma-separated tags, and the main box carries your lyrics. Use it when the words matter.
In custom mode, keep the story out of the style line. The style line is read as sound, not meaning, so "song about my dog" there only confuses the arrangement.
Use the tag groups
The genre, mood, tempo and voice chips under the form add a tested tag in one click. Start with one chip from each group, generate, and change one thing at a time; changing everything between takes makes it impossible to tell what helped. Exclude styles is the place for what you do not want: "no autotune, no EDM drops".
Examples to adapt
| Goal | Prompt or style line |
|---|---|
| Podcast intro | Upbeat indie pop, 118 BPM, bright electric guitar, handclaps, instrumental, 20-second build to a hit |
| Study background | Lo-fi hip hop, 75 BPM, dusty piano chords, vinyl crackle, soft kick, instrumental |
| Wedding first dance | Acoustic ballad, 68 BPM, piano and cello, warm male tenor, intimate, slow build to the last chorus |
| Game boss fight | Orchestral metal, 160 BPM, double-kick drums, choir stabs, brass ostinato, instrumental |
When a result misses
- Wrong genre or feel: move the genre to the front of the style line and remove conflicting tags.
- Too busy: name fewer instruments and add "sparse" or "minimal".
- The vocal fights the beat: state the tempo, and keep lyric lines short enough to sing at it.
The exact length limits for every field are in Generator Inputs and Style Tags.
Next: Lyrics Writing Guide