Custom Modes Explained
You will learn
- When Custom mode beats Simple mode
- How [Verse] / [Chorus] tags shape the form
- How to keep style tags short enough to obey
Custom mode is for people who already know the words or the form. Simple mode is a sketch; Custom mode is a brief with lyrics and style fields split apart.
Put lyrics in the lyrics box, not in the style box. Style stays a short English list: genre, mood, vocal, two instruments. Lyrics can be another language, but section tags still help the model find the chorus.
If you need a specific hook line for a brand or a game, Custom mode is the difference between “kind of that idea” and a take you can extend. Hear a jazz or cinematic example on the works page first so the style field has a target.
Steps
- 1
Switch to Custom mode on the create screen. You should see separate lyrics and style inputs rather than one combined box.
- 2
Paste lyrics with section markers: [Verse], [Chorus], [Bridge], [Outro]. Keep the chorus shorter than the verse; that is where hooks live.
- 3
Fill style as comma-separated tags, not a paragraph. Example: “indie pop, mid-tempo, soft female vocals, electric piano, intimate.”
- 4
Generate two versions. If the model ignores a lyric line, simplify the line and check pronunciation — especially for Chinese characters that map badly to phonemes.
- 5
When the lyric is right but the song is short, extend with the same style tags. Do not dump new genres into style on the same take.
Copy-ready prompts
- Style field: bedroom pop, mid-tempo, intimate, soft female vocals, clean guitar, no trap hats
- Lyrics sketch: [Verse] quiet city night / [Chorus] stay until the lights go down / [Bridge] one spoken line / [Chorus]
Common mistakes
Novels in the style field
Style tags should be short. Long prose belongs in lyrics or in a Simple-mode prompt, not in both.
No section markers
Without [Chorus], the model may sing the hook once and wander. Markers are cheap structure.
Fighting V5.5 phonemes with more adjectives
If a Chinese line is mis-sung, change the characters or pinyin. Extra English mood words will not fix a vowel.
Related Tutorials
Extending Your Songs
Turn a strong 90-second hook into a full Suno track: extend with a continuation prompt, trim the seam, and stop before the form falls apart.
Getting Started with Suno AI
Make your first Suno AI song in minutes: pick a mode, paste a six-part prompt, generate two takes, and keep the chorus that actually works.
Writing Effective Prompts
Write Suno prompts that survive a retry: style, mood, tempo, instruments, vocals, and a real use case — then change only one knob per generation.
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