ChatGPT is an incredible machine that does something with machine learning and AI and words – I’ll explain in more detail below (or more accurately, I will type prompts into the ChatGPT AI and let it answer for me) but the purpose of this post is to show you how I use ChatGPT for Music, how I used it to help me write lyrics, and encourage you to think creatively about the ways ChatGPT can level up your musical creations and take some of the heavy lifting off your back!
Honestly, it’s insanely fun (if you are willing to have fun with it) and is getting me VERY excited for a future where robots and humans are working together to solve all problems. But UNTIL then, here’s what I did –
How did you use ChatGPT for music?
I was working with ChatGPT and decided to ask for it’s help writing music. I asked it to help me write a banger song. I am not great at the kind of song, because I only like funny songs, but it felt useful to see if ChatGPT maybe had some ideas for a song about how to party.
It came back with a pretty crappy set of lyrics, but with one fantastic one – the phrase “where the funs at?” I could not possibly get enough of the phrase “where the funs at” – it’s just the best question to ask ever. All I ever wanna know is where the funs at!
ACTION ITEM: Prompt ChatGPT to generate lyrics for a style of music that you normally don’t feel comfortable writing yourself.
Can I hear a song made with ChatGPT?
Sure thing! Here it is:
How does ChatGPT Work?
How do I think it works, or how does it REALLY work?
Here’s how it works for me:
- I type in a loose prompt, with some keywords I want it to think about. I don’t get too prescriptive, I don’t try to have it write anything right away, I just wanna get it’s creative juices flowing!
- I start talking about the genre of thing I want to write! I’ll tell it “hey, I’ve been listening to a lot of funk, and a small amount of afro-pop, but I’m super into German folk music from the 17th hundreds! What do you think about that, ChatGPT?!
- Then listen to see what it says.
- NOW start asking it to write some lyrics for you.
How does ChatGPT think it works?
Well – I asked it. I said “How Does ChatGPT Work” and here’s what it said:
ChatGPT is a large language model that uses a deep learning algorithm called Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3.5 (GPT-3.5) to generate human-like responses to user inputs.
The GPT-3.5 architecture is built on top of the Transformer model, which is designed to process sequential data such as text. The model is pre-trained on a large corpus of text data using unsupervised learning techniques. During training, the model learns to predict the next word in a sentence given the previous words, and this allows it to develop a rich understanding of the structure and patterns of natural language.
When a user inputs a question or statement to ChatGPT, the model processes the text and generates a response based on its understanding of the context and meaning of the input. ChatGPT can generate responses in a variety of styles and tones, depending on the input and the task at hand.
Overall, ChatGPT works by using its extensive knowledge of language and patterns in text to generate human-like responses to user inputs, making it a powerful tool for natural language processing tasks.
BLAH BLAH BLAH
Oh My god so boring right?!
So what did I do? I did what I do when I’m trying to make lyrics – and I get REALLY SPECIFIC about what I want, but SLIGHTLY CONFUSING.
Is that a better answer for a 9th grade paper about generative AI? No, it absolutely is not.
But is it a WAY MORE FUN WAY TO THINK ABOUT CHATGPT!?? HELL YEAH!!!
Can ChatGPT write a good chorus?
NO! This is where you’re going to have to make a cocreation with the creation machine. For a chorus, you’re going to have to identify which word or phrase holds the core of the meaning of your discussion. Which one has lyrics that will help it pop.
Don’t forget to use everything you’ve learned in Music Theory, and hopefully the past 10-20 years of life listening to killer pop music so you know what a good song sounds like.
ACTION ITEM: Let ChatGPT do a first draft – then YOU decide which individual word or short phrase excites you most. That is now your chorus (or pre-chorus if your chorus is pure melody since you’re trying to write a song that will be used on car commercials or something.)
Does ChatGPT understand music theory?
YES. But it only understands what humans have said they think sounds good. If you are trying to write a moderately derivative song (you know, likke 99% of the music you hear) ChatGPT is gonna be PERFECT for you. Because lyrics are stupid and life is meaningless and we’re all going to die and music is the nectar that keeps our feet stepping forward and drinking from the teet of the universe and it doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad it just matters if it IS.
ACTION ITEM: Learn music theory yourself, don’t count on ChatGPT. If you aren’t sure where to start, just google 1-5-6-4 progressions in 4/4 time, listen to ten, and then write one of those.
Share your ChatGPT Song!
If you’ve made it this far, you must have also written a song! I want to hear it! If you haven’t yet listed it, you should consider using DistroKid (this, unlike 90% of my website, is not an affiliate link – but it’s a great site I use so if you need a cheap way to get your stuff up on Spotify, this’ll do the trick. Then post your song in the comments, and for bonus points – tell me what you did as a prompt!
Other Resources:
If you like my music, check out some of my other songs (that were not written with ChatGPT)
- It’s OK To Do Stuff featuring Jane Weidlin of the GoGos.
- Party on your Grave featuring Andrew WK
- Wingoman the Musical (an entire musical I wrote that no one is going to make probably)