Writing Songs

[StevenRichardsRules]

How do you do it? I'd like to start but I'm not really sure how. How do you do it? Any tips and tricks you could give me would be appreciated.

[NIN Horror]

What kind of genre are you going for?

[Evil Chase K]

When my band writes we all get together and go over riffs or pieces each of us already has and then we take some we like and jam on them. We piece a song together piece by piece then I go off into my hole and write lyrics, and then I emerge and we work on adding the vocals.

[Skummy]

Do you mean whole songs or just the lyrics? Lyrics-wise all I can recommend is waiting until inspiration hits you with a good line or two, and working around that as much as possible, that's what I do. It's not something you can force. Music, really, all you can do is jam until something works. It needs to be something natural, you can't try and force out a factory line style of song production.

[StevenRichardsRules]

I mean more lyric-wise, sorry for the confusion.

[TheCrippler]

Like Skumfrog said, just wait for a line or two to hit you then write the song around them. That's how I do it.

[IAceI]

Wait for your girlfriend to dump you?

[K]

I've got a couple of lines written, but I'm stuck. Any help?

Omnisexual Pangendered Neo Nazi Scientologist,

Slit The Nuns Throat And Skull Fucked The Priest,

It's going to be a love song.

[sirdavinator]

That song is sounding awesome already

[TheCrippler]

It sounds like an At The Drive In song.

[NobBe Nobbs]

I've got a couple of lines written, but I'm stuck. Any help?

Omnisexual Pangendered Neo Nazi Scientologist,

Slit The Nuns Throat And Skull Fucked The Priest,

It's going to be a love song.

[Psicosis]

Obtain a copy of The Manual by Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty and you should be all set.

[YI]

Generally;

Sit at keyboard/piano, throw down some chords, get 3/4/5 nice chord progressions to utilise throughout a song (I hate stuff sounding too similar throughout...and maybe save some for later), work out a basic vocal line (Sometimes not even with words) and song structure. 'Complicate' the piano part a bit, play it through a few times to get it engraved in my mind. Generally jot down the important bits.

Then I go about transcribing it for whatever 'medium' I want it. Like when I was in a band, I'd sit with the guitarist and stuff, find out what he could play, he'd usually toss in a couple of twiddly bit/riff ideas, generally leave the drummer to himself (As I know fuck all about drums and he was the strongest link in the band anyway). Then as a unit we'd fine tune stuff, and I'd try and get some lyrics to it (But I FUCKING SUCK at lyrics).

I also tend to notice I write in 'G Minor' and 'A-flat Major', and tend to transpose stuff after I've finished, to find what sounds 'best'.

Edited January 8, 2007 by Steve Mandela

[Hutch2004]

Under no circumstances try and write lyrics as if they were coming from someone else. If you find that most of your lyrics sound like The White Stripes when you're going for more of an Artic Monkeys kind of vibe, go with what comes to you. You might find you don't like the sound or flow of your own lyrics, but you work on them until you do, or do what I used to do, and just sing them over and over until they lose all meaning, you don't care that your lyrics blatantly suck.

Although as you'll have probably gathered, you shouldn't really be taking much in the way of advice from me.

[METALMAN]

I usually find a good chord progression and build around it, or a good riff. These are normally the foundations to my songs to which I'll add other things.

[Nerf]

Not everyone can be a good song writer. You can't just pick it up. If you had to come here to ask us how to write a song; chances are you'll suck. If you're writing music with it, and it's gonna be a slowish kind of song, just pick up an acoustic and strum a few chords, hum a melody, fit words around that melody. Make the words mean something to you. Don't, under any circumstance, try and sound like somebody else. If it doesn't come from the heart, it's obviously forced.