Country

The story that is told in the lyrics is the most important part of a country song.

While you should use simple lyrics when writing a country music song, your lyrics should tell a story that is memorable and that creates an emotional reaction in your listeners.

The chorus should be easy to remember and should emphasize the emotions of the story.

When you write a country song, use simple chord progressions. Country songs are generally limited to about three chords.

You should write music for "country" instruments, such as the guitar, banjo, harmonica or fiddle.

Country music originated from the music of the American Appalachian Mountains and has evolved into a number of different subgenres. Country and western, sometimes just called country, is what we usually think of when we think of traditional country music.

Following are some other country subgenres:

Bluegrass

Bluegrass is a type of traditional country music. It is played with acoustic string instruments, including the acoustic guitar, the banjo, the fiddle, the bass fiddle, the mandolin, the dulcimer, the autoharp and the Dobro, or resonator guitar.

Bluegrass music is featured in the movie O Brother Where Art Thou?

Some bluegrass songs have lyrics that  have been strongly influenced by gospel music.

The vocals in a bluegrass song often include two, three or four part harmony.

A bluegrass song will often highlight the technical expertise of the musicians. Improvised instrumental solos are common.

Dueling Banjos, which can be heard in the movie Deliverance, is a good example of an instrumental bluegrass song.

New Country

New country, also known as pop country or country pop, combines features of both pop music and country music. New country songs usually contain more chords, and more complex chords, than traditional country songs.

They can be played using non-traditional instruments, such as synthesizers and electric guitars.

A new country song can have a similar structure to a pop song and is often just a pop song that has been given a country flavor, for example, by including music for traditional country instruments, such as banjos, fiddles and Dobros.

You may even be able to take a pop song that you have written and rework it into a country song just by changing the instrumentation.

When you write a new country song, avoid the very negative, depressing lyrics that can be found in a traditional country song.

As with pop music, the technical quality of a new country recording is very important. If you are submitting a new country demo to a professional in the music industry, make sure you use the best music engineer, musicians and vocalist that you can get.

Neotraditional Country

Neotraditional country emphasizes the vocal and instrumental styles of traditional country music, in comparison with the vocal and instrumental styles of new country.

George Strait is a good example of a neotraditional country musician.