Having some troubles

[Jaeyded_Pearl]

Hello, I'm new to this place and to song writing. I've been writing poetry for 8 years. I would like to start writing songs because I also sing. I'm going for the folky Ani Difranco sound. I've got three verses written and the melody of how I'm going to sing it acapella(sp?) I need a good chrous and bridge but I'm not sure the versus are still under construction I keep going to to try to avoid the horribly depressing melodramatic metaphors lol. I was also curious how long does a verse have to be I've got 8 lines 1.2.1.2. etc... I read some where that the chrous should be on a different melody I'm having troubles with this also any suggestions?

[adam_in_audio]

In all honesty,

Read all the "rules" on songwriting that you can right now....then BREAK them! :P

seriously, just let it all 'flow' in a stream of consciousness. If you have two 3/4 time choruses and one 11/8 verse then so be it. As long as you're being true to yourself.

Of course, you may want to follow the rules if you want to 'make it' as a pop writer. Those guys have specific formulas...just take a listen to any Evanescance or Nickelback single...sounding the same yet? lol

It's always more refreshing to see somebody that does their own thing, even if the recording may sound like crap.

This is all my own opinion of course...I'm sure others will probably disagree with me and give you some real suggestions on verse/chorus construction

maybe you could use the same melody for verse and chorus but change the harmony (ie: the chord changes)...that may work out for ya

good luck though. Keep us posted!

Adam

[Songwriter333]

I'm one who will not dissagree w/Adam- he's right, in the end, the rules you choose to except and those you break are the ultimate end-all, however, I'm convinced that one can find evidence of those who manage(d) to forge something unique (the road less traveled) musicially and get away with it. A suggestion I have is embrace the typical a little at first, when getting started, so that you can have enough structure to concentrate on other things you'll be working on right about now- so, for instance:
Intro
Verse
4-16 lines (depending on how long each line is and depending on tempo)
Chorus
4-8 lines
2nd verse
same amount of lines as the first...
and so on. Not the only way, but common to be sure, so you're fine with 8 lines on verse. Good luck on melodramatics, it's really hard to not sound cheesy (espeically when it's just in type, or spoken), and seemingly even harder to have the foresight to understand how songs enable us to say cheesy things and it being okay.