Guides

Suno v6 meta tags: give your lyrics a structure you can hear

You have a verse you like, but the chorus arrives without a lift. Or you ask for a quiet acoustic opening and get a full band immediately. Before adding a long list of instructions, make the song's structure visible: where the verse starts, which lines are the chorus and how the song ends.

Meta tags are short labels or cues around the lyrics, often written in square brackets. They communicate an intention; they do not lock a melody, instrument entrance or performance into place. The section labels below are useful starting points. The more detailed arrangement cues are experiments, not a guaranteed official command language.

Check your selected model before comparing results. Suno's v6 announcement distinguishes v6, v6-wild and v6-mini; v6 and v6-wild are for paid users, while v6-mini is available to everyone. Keep the same model for a comparison so you are not testing two things at once. Suno's v6 announcement

Start with your lyrics, then separate the output

The Write a Song from Your Lyrics card prepares text you can take into Suno. Paste your own words into “Your lyrics,” choose a genre and vocal, and leave “Lyric edits” on “Don't change a word” when the wording matters. This asks the assistant to preserve your text; you still need to compare its output with your original.

For an English-language acoustic song, “Acoustic folk” or “Country” can be a starting choice if it fits your lyrics. Describe the sound you want, such as fingerpicked guitar and a soft lead vocal, rather than asking for a named singer's voice. The card produces a title, style description and tagged lyrics. Creating the audio is a separate step in Suno.

Copy the card's prompt into your chosen assistant and send it. Then move the resulting pieces into the relevant fields in Suno's Custom mode:

Suno's Custom-mode instructions separate lyrics, Styles and the title. Do not paste the assistant's explanation or cover-art prompt into Lyrics along with the song. Suno Custom-mode help

Use a small set of section labels first

Put each label on its own line, followed by the lyrics for that section. You do not need every section in a short song.

Start with a verse and a chorus if that is enough. Repeating the same chorus label also makes your own draft easier to inspect. Adding [Chorus] does not guarantee louder drums or a new melody; listen for what the generated track actually does.

Describe the whole song in Styles, then test a local cue

Here is an original practice lyric written for this guide. It is not an example of a generated recording. Begin with a compact overall style:

Acoustic folk, reflective mood, fingerpicked guitar, warm piano, soft lead vocal

Keep the first Lyrics draft simple:

[Verse]
The last bus turns beyond the square
I take the long way through the rain

[Chorus]
Leave one light on by the door
I'll find my way back home again

Listen to that version before adding instructions. If you want the piano to arrive at the chorus, try one change:

[Verse]
[guitar and soft vocal only]
The last bus turns beyond the square
I take the long way through the rain

[Chorus]
[warm piano enters]
Leave one light on by the door
I'll find my way back home again

The descriptive bracket lines in the second draft are experimental cues. They may be ignored or interpreted differently; they are not a promise that the arrangement will follow them. If a cue is sung aloud or makes the result worse, remove it and return to the basic section labels.

Avoid fighting your own instructions. “Full band throughout” in Styles conflicts with a guitar-only verse. Write the general palette in Styles and the requested contrast near the relevant section. Do not add several alternative tag formats at once, because you will lose track of what helped.

Parentheses also need care. A note such as “(everyone join in)” can become something you hear in the song. Keep performance notes separate from the words you intend to sing, and inspect the final Lyrics text before generating.

Put unwanted sounds in Exclude

Suno's help describes Exclude under Advanced Options in Custom mode. If drums are unwanted, enter drums there. Keep the desired guitar and piano in Styles rather than burying the whole description in a list of negatives. Suno's Exclude instructions

Check that you have not listed the same instrument as both essential and excluded. The interface can change, so follow the labels visible in your account rather than relying on an old screenshot's exact positions.

Check phrasing and pronunciation before adding more tags

If an English line sounds rushed, compare it with the neighboring lines. A dense sentence may need a natural break or permission for a small rhythmic edit. When you have chosen “Don't change a word,” the assistant should not solve that problem by rewriting the lyric without your say-so.

Listen for missing words, accidental repeats and an unclear hook. Record the model, Styles text and the one cue you changed. Even with similar inputs, generations can vary, so treat an improvement as something to compare across attempts rather than proof of a universal rule.

For a neighborhood business, the Shop Jingle card helps you draft a short refrain around a business name and signature item. A fictional bakery might use its name and cinnamon rolls as the hook. Check that the name is pronounced correctly and that the lyric has not invented a price, opening time or offer. A musical draft is not evidence of the shop's real services.

Check use rights before putting the song in an ad

Use lyrics you wrote or have permission to use. Suno describes free-plan songs as personal, non-commercial material, and its download FAQ gives the same restriction for free trial downloads. A free Promptpan card does not grant commercial rights to the resulting music. Free-plan rights, download and terms FAQ

For a store video, paid promotion or monetized project, check the current terms against the song's creation and download history. Subscribing later does not automatically give every older free-plan song commercial rights. Suno's guidance on songs made before subscribing

Finish by writing down one audible problem and changing the relevant line or cue. A clear structure, a short style description and a record of what you tried make the next draft much easier to judge.