Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
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Imagine you’re on a camping trip - the sun is setting, you’re sitting around a nice warm fire with a group of friends, and one of them pulls out the guitar and passes it to you, the songwriter of the group. Now, as you mentally scroll through the index of songs you know how to play, you’re asking yourself, which songs would sound good with just guitar and voice - what happens if you remove all the production from this song and strip it back to its bare bones - and this is the campfire test.
Now, if you’re in the process of writing a new song, the campfire test is an imaginary scenario we can run to analyse the structure of our song and really put the elements of song craft under the the spotlight. It allows us to really separate songwriting from production - looking at a stripped back version of the song asking ourselves, what are the essential elements of this song?
⚡ Want Free Weekly Songwriting Tips and Insights? Join our Newsletter: howtowritesongs.org/subscribe-to-the-newsletter
#howtowritesongs
#howtowriteasong
#songwritingtips
🌏 Join the HTWS Online Community - 14-Day Free Trial - Weekly Feedback Sessions, Live Workshops and Collaboration with songwriters from around the world: howtowritesongs.org/community
Imagine you’re on a camping trip - the sun is setting, you’re sitting around a nice warm fire with a group of friends, and one of them pulls out the guitar and passes it to you, the songwriter of the group. Now, as you mentally scroll through the index of songs you know how to play, you’re asking yourself, which songs would sound good with just guitar and voice - what happens if you remove all the production from this song and strip it back to its bare bones - and this is the campfire test.
Now, if you’re in the process of writing a new song, the campfire test is an imaginary scenario we can run to analyse the structure of our song and really put the elements of song craft under the the spotlight. It allows us to really separate songwriting from production - looking at a stripped back version of the song asking ourselves, what are the essential elements of this song?
⚡ Want Free Weekly Songwriting Tips and Insights? Join our Newsletter: howtowritesongs.org/subscribe-to-the-newsletter
#howtowritesongs
#howtowriteasong
#songwritingtips
