How To Write (& Play) The Right Love Song

By Adrian Cavlan

Ahhh, love songs. If you stop and think about it, most pop songs are about love and relationships. Whether it’s looking for love, finding love, losing love, new love or old love, love and music seem to walk together hand in hand.

Most love songs are easy to understand. The lyrics inform of the topic and the music supports the emotions being conveyed by the words. If it is all put together right, in the end you are left with exactly the feeling that the composer set out to evoke. If you ever want to take a crack at writing one yourself, check this out.

Interestingly, not all love songs have words. It is incredible how these complex feelings of love can be communicated just by musical notes alone, with no words necessary. As an example, try listening to Pachelbel’s Canon in D and understand why more U.S. brides choose to walk down the aisle to that piece of music than any other. It evokes love, does it not? How about the sublime delicacy of part 2 of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto #2 (Adagio Sostenuto) or Vivaldi’s RV93 Largo, which sounds like a flower blooming slowly before your eyes. In fact, as a composer of instrumental music myself I just got done writing one that, as it came into shape, I realized was about my wife, and in listening to it I can hear how each part of it evokes a part of her that I love.

As a music programmer, the only piece of advice I always give when training others is that when you are DJing a wedding, it is a day that celebrates love, so we want to keep the songs what I call “love-positive”. This means that generally speaking, we leave the breakup songs and songs about unrequited love for another day. Maybe when you are choosing your favorites to be played at your wedding it might be a good idea to keep this thought in mind as well.

Thanks for visiting our blog, and remember, love positive songs come in all shapes and sizes!