Starting something and not knowing how to finish it

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valacirca

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How often do you guys get that frustration when composing a song where you have such a hard time finishing it? Something like: You have a nice riff or melody and you build it up a bit to form a musical passage, but then you have no idea how to stretch it out and complete it as a fully-realized track.

Do you also experience this from time to time? What do you do? Stick with it until you've finished it, or move on to another track/something else then come back to it later?
 
valacirca said:
How often do you guys get that frustration when composing a song where you have such a hard time finishing it? Something like: You have a nice riff or melody and you build it up a bit to form a musical passage, but then you have no idea how to stretch it out and complete it as a fully-realized track.

Do you also experience this from time to time? What do you do? Stick with it until you've finished it, or move on to another track/something else then come back to it later?
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I move on . . . . and sometimes return. I have hndreds of snippets lying around awaiting inspiratin that will see them finished.

There is no quota attached to the number of ideas you have, so there is no need to finish every half-created masterpiece.

However, it would be frustrating to be so nearly there. My techniques are either to sleep on it or to go for a walk.
 
It can depend for me - if I get all of the melody and chords together I'm happy to sit on them because I don't like to force lyrics. Other times a piece of music can be in the vault for years before it gets married up to another suitable passage.

I don't really get frustrated by it because if I'm sitting on a killer chorus I know that it will only be a matter of time before the rest comes along.
 
That is a common issue that happens to almost all songwriters. Most of us have dozens if not hundreds of lyrics, melodies and chord progressions waiting for completion.

If I think I have something that is really good - then I will try to stay at it until I can develop a completed song. Sometimes, the really good songs need more than simple inspiration - and that is where the craft becomes important (vs. simply hoping for the muse).

However, if it's OK - but no better than x amount of other snippets.....then I will likely leave it until another day.

The more a writer writes, then more he/she is able to determine what is worth the extra effort and what is simply an idea that can't or shouldn't be developed.
 
valacirca said:
How often do you guys get that frustration when composing a song where you have such a hard time finishing it?
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I don't get frustrated at not finishing a song because at this stage in my life, I know it will get finished.....one day. My life is a catalogue of finished and unfinished songs ! I have dictaphone tapes {both analog and digital} full of ideas. Once, I was on holiday with my wife in Malta and I took my then current dictaphone tape with me in case I thought of anything. And I left it there ! The apartment owners never located it ! I doubt those ideas became songs that ended up on Maltese radio !! Another time, my son {then a year old} climbed up a ledge I never thought he'd even think of climbing and he destroyed a years worth of ideas. But on both those occasions, I just figured I'd have to come up with new ideas.
But then, I write weird songs and this is my hobby and my livlihood doesn't depend on it.
 
grimtraveller said:
Once, I was on holiday with my wife in Malta and I took my then current dictaphone tape with me in case I thought of anything. And I left it there !
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Yikes - what a waste!

Not in the same league, but I used to have a habit of scribbling down chord progressions with no rhythmic information, just assuming that I would remember how the song went once I strummed the chords a few times. Stumbling upon some of these scraps of paper a few years later I had no idea what was going through my mind at the time as I couldn't make head or tail of them. More hits lost to the ether...
 
YES. ALL THE TIME.

I hate it because 1 part sounds good, and I can't write anything else to sound just as good. Another thing is when you record it while writing. It makes the song annoying and frustrating to deal with. Write the song first, then record it. You'll also get done A LOT faster if you write it all before recording.
 
I find "recording while writing" to be a large waste of time and effort. I normally do a lot ot "re-writing" to improve the melody and or chord progression and certainly to improve the lyrics. Often while I'm working on the re-writes various parts of the song arrangement are developing in my mind.

If I try to record before I have a reasonably final idea of the song - I almost always have to re-record everything.

If I'm writing in the studio - I may record a down and dirty vocal/guitar or vocal/piano track simply to document the general melody (although I often don't actually write in the studio - in which case I simply use a small digital recorder). I rarely commit to much more than that until I'm sure I know where I want the song to go (I hate re-recording multiple tracks if I can avoid it).
 
never Never NEVER never.. i don't push my songs to be that long or have this many verses. once it's done, it's done.
 
yea...this can be frustrating...I think recording what you have and just playing around can help...just another element can spark a new direction...
 
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