Build a prompt from a song brief

Start from a plain-English description of the song you want, then translate it field by field into prompt vocabulary.

Write the brief in plain language first

Before you touch prompt vocabulary, write two or three sentences describing the song as you would to a friend: who it is for, what it should feel like, what it reminds you of, where it would be played. This takes thirty seconds and it prevents the most common failure — assembling impressive-sounding words that add up to no particular song.

The brief is also what you check the result against. Without it you will accept whatever comes back, because you never defined what success meant.

Translate one pillar at a time

Genre — one primary, at most one modifier. Two genres is a blend request, three is noise.
Mood and energy — one mood family, one energy shape.
Instruments — three to five named, with roles rather than a shopping list.
Vocal — type, tone and delivery, or 'instrumental'.
Tempo and groove — a number plus a feel word.
Production — distance, tone, width, era; four lines maximum.
Song arc — structure tags and one transition.

Fill every pillar, even briefly. An empty pillar is a decision handed to the model, and the model's defaults are the generic-sounding parts of your tracks.

Then cut

A first-pass translation is almost always too long. Read it back and delete anything that does not change what a player would play: superlatives, quality claims, repeats of the same idea in different words, and any instrument you named but do not actually care about.

A finished brief for most songs fits in six to ten short comma-separated lines. If yours is twice that, the later lines are probably being diluted rather than followed.

Keep the plain-English brief in the same document as the prompt. When a generation disappoints, comparing the two tells you whether the prompt was wrong or the idea was.

Example

BRIEF: a late-night driving song, lonely but not sad,
something you'd play on an empty motorway at 2am.

PROMPT:
synthwave with post-punk guitar, 108 BPM straight feel,
lonely and forward-moving, restrained verses into an open chorus,
analogue arpeggios, dry bass guitar, gated drums, one clean guitar line,
male baritone vocal, low and understated, close-mic'd,
wide synths with a dry centred vocal, dark tone, 80s markers,
intro figure returns in the outro

Practice

Write briefs for three songs you would like to make, then translate all three in one sitting. Doing several at once exposes your habits: most people discover they always fill the same two pillars and always leave the same two empty. Fixing that blind spot improves every future prompt more than learning new vocabulary does.

promptingworkflowmethod

FAQ

Does the order of pillars matter?

Somewhat — earlier words carry more weight. Put genre, mood and tempo near the front and production near the end.

What if I genuinely do not care about a pillar?

Write one neutral word anyway, like 'instrumental' or 'standard kit'. It is still more controlled than silence.

How long should the finished prompt be?

Six to ten short lines for most songs. Long prompts dilute rather than add.

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