Songwriting in Sims 4
Screenshot by Destructoid

How to write songs in Sims 4

A masterpiece in the making.

The Musical Genius Aspiration pathway presents a series of objectives for Sim virtuosos to complete. Songwriting is one of the ultimate tests to prove your worth as a musician, but it won’t be available initially. Here’s how to write songs in The Sims 4

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How do you write songs in Sims 4?

Players can write songs when they reach Level 8 on any instrument in Sims 4. There are plenty of instrument choices out there, including the following tools:

  • Guitar
  • Violin
  • Piano
  • Organ (Vampires pack)

With Level 8, an option to ‘Write Songs…’ should be available when selecting the instrument:

Writing songs in Sims 4
Screenshot by Destructoid

It doesn’t matter which instrument you choose, just as long as you reach Level 8 with at least one of them. The Build Mode’s Study section items include the Pied Piper Acoustic Guitar, Tickle My Ivories Grand Piano, and Stringvarius Violin. Other packs, like Horse Ranch and City Living, provide more variety in musical tools to expand the base game’s collection.

Once you’ve chosen an instrument, you must play it to increase the Sim’s level. You can either do this with standard practice or a handy cheat.

Sims 4 instrument skill level cheats

Activate the cheats system in Sims 4 to increase an instrument’s skill level quickly. Use these strings (place a number at the end of it) in the chat box:

  • Violin: stats.set_skill_level Major_Violin
  • Guitar: stats.set_skill_level Major_Guitar
  • Piano: stats.set_skill_level Major_Piano
  • Organ: stats.set_skill_level Major_PipeOrgan

For example, you can enter ‘stats.set_skill_level Major_Violin 8’ to reach the rank required for the Violin’s songwriting talent. Or, set it to 10 to unlock the instrument’s maximum level. 

Compared to other Sims 4 tasks, songwriting may be one of the longest objectives to complete, even with the speed-up time feature. 

How long does it take to write a song in Sims 4?

Writing songs takes roughly three minutes in real-time with the Ultra Speed on. That means a day or so could pass while you’re Sim is finely tuning their musical expertise. I recommend using the ‘Make Happy’ cheat (select the Sim to activate it) to keep their sanity in check during this time.

How to resume songwriting in Sims 4

If you don’t want to use a cheat or are tired from songwriting, it is possible to resume your progress. Check the Sim’s inventory to find the song sheet:

Resuming a song in Sims 4
Screenshot by Destructoid

Click on it to resume songwriting in Sims 4. You won’t be able to do this from the instrument itself, as this process will only include new songs, starting it all over again. 

How do you send songs for licensing in Sims 4?

The Musical Genius Aspiration features another songwriting task that requires you to license a song. To do this, select a mailbox and press ‘License Song…’

Licensing a song in Sims 4
Screenshot by Destructoid

Keep in mind that you can only license a song once a week per instrument. So, if you’ve already sent in an Organ-specific piece, you’ll have to wait to send another one. Fortunately, Simmers can move onto other instruments, like Guitar or Violin, for alternative licensed songs. 

Simoleons will be sent to the family gradually in exchange for these masterpieces. It can also help boost your fame if you have the Get Famous pack. 


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Kristina Ebanez
Staff Writer - Kristina has been a video game lover ever since she saw Solid Snake get under that cardboard box in Metal Gear Solid. She continues to show off her love for gaming and has been writing about it for more than two years. Aside from the Metal Gear Solid series, she enjoys playing The Sims, Call of Duty, Disney Dreamlight Valley, Horizon Forbidden West, Minecraft, and many more.