How do you decide what kind of music to write?

Lucky99

New member
Do you guys try to write songs like your favorite artists or do you think maybe there is a certain style that you are better at creating? For me, I want to write more singer/songwriter kind of stuff, but riff rock just comes more natural to me. I prefer listening to singer/songwriter stuff, so I get frustrated and I am having a hard time writing right now.

Anyone else have this issue? Do you just end up creating music that maybe isn't your favorite genre?
 
Hey,
It's all in the presentation. A lot of genres are just the same shit in a different bucket or, at least, the core material is transferable.
Think how many unplugged sessions there have been where the original material was hard rock or grunge or whatever.
I love AIC, for example, but I love hearing them unplugged even more.

Anyway...All I'm saying is don't be put off that you've written 'riff rock'. It might only be riff rock because you've decided that it is. ;)
 
Only once have I set out to deliberately write something like a favorite artist's - Nick Lowe's Cruel to be Kind. It's got a downward scale progression that I wanted but I didn't copy the rest of the tune. I began with that progression in the key I could comfortably sing in and then wrote the rest of the song's instrument parts off that. Somewhere in the middle a short lyric phrase popped into my head and I built the rest out of that.

Turned out to be a country tune about love and line dancing, but I had no idea what it was going to be when I started.

I frequently think about All Along the Watchtower - Dylan & Hendrix versions. So if you have a good song, it can be presented many ways.
 
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Unless we are proffessional songwriters that write songs for other artists, we will lean towards what is in our comfort zone. (Talent wise ) One thing I've found to expand musically and get out of that self induced comfort zone, or you could call it rut, is to try to record an accurate cover of a song outside of your zone.

This does a couple of things. For one, you are de-constructing another artists song and thereby seeing how that song is constructed.
For another, you're playing stuff you normally don't do.
It will make you better.
:D
 
I want to write more singer/songwriter kind of stuff, but riff rock just comes more natural to me.

This describes me somewhat. I seem to go all over the place. I can't keep focused on any one style though I wish I could. Unlike you, I don't let it frustrate me; I'm happy with whatever I can get out of the speakers. :D
 
I want to write more singer/songwriter kind of stuff, but riff rock just comes more natural to me.

So then write some singer/songwriter kind of stuff (what exactly is that, anyway, I mean there are all kinds of music styles that can be singer/songwriter)...but do it in a riff rock style. :)

You can take a slow strum-along ballad, and turn it into an up-tempo Pop or Rock tune...or vice-versa. There's really a lot of ways to work a song, but if you simply enjoy a particular style, then go with that.

I don't really think about it all that much. Often I'll just hear some bit of music in my head, at the oddest moments, and then try to flush that out, and I just let it go which ever way it wants to...then other times I'll have a more broader idea, with maybe a specific style, and I'll go with that...and even that sometimes ends up a lot different in the end from what I expected.

I don't try to copy/sound like anyone in particular. I think there usually already too many other people trying to sound like ______ ...so why add to that mess.
I do get the reason people do that...it's about instant appreciation, kinda like being in a cover band doing crowd pleasers...but I prefer to try and keep things as original as possible, even if they are not crowd pleasers. Then again, it's hard NOT to sound like "someone"...considering that much of music today is like the 4th-5th rehash of stuff that's already been done.
 
I guess what I am trying to find out is, how much do you guys think your music sounds like you influences? Do you just start playing whatever comes to mind at first, or do you sit down with a plan first?
 
My music sounds nothing like my influences. My concious and subconcious mind is always working on music - it's on autopilot. Only twice have I actually sat myself down to specifically write a song. No plans.

At least once a week, I take my acoustic and run through all of my originals as well as about 8 covers, then I'll take a break from those to learn a new chord formation - which often leads to a new 3 or 4 chord phrase and a lot of experimentation. A handful of those have resulted in complete new songs.

I used to drive a lot - on the road most of the day. Listening to FM stations, I'd hear a classic song I'd heard thousands of times before, but this time, due to a different frame of mind, my autopilot latches onto a lyric phrase or chord progression and tweaks it just a bit and my concious mind takes off on it and the next thing I know I'm running a new song in my head. Several times I've written complete new tunes this way in as little as 10 minutes.. or less. Just sitting at a traffic light zoning out.
 
I guess what I am trying to find out is, how much do you guys think your music sounds like you influences? Do you just start playing whatever comes to mind at first, or do you sit down with a plan first?

Not sure if or why it might be important to measure your results against your influences. It’s not a determination of much unless you are specifically setting out to copy or somehow reflect them in your work.....and if you are that’s fine. On the other hand.....it is fun when people who hear your work mention that they hear a similarity to your favorite band.

Born in 1952.......the Beatles are still one of my favs and a strong influence. I once did a cover of Hey Bulldog and got pretty much zero comments on it sounding like the Beatles. I did an original tune and had a number of people tell me it had a Beatles like sound.......and for the life of me.......I don’t hear that myself.......so I have no idea what I did to bring out that influence.

Just rambling here.....I know........
 
I can identify with this question a lot. I don't know if it's for the same exact reason as the OP's, but I struggle with "genre identity" big time. My issue is that I'm highly influenced by a lot of different styles, and I feel as though I try to serve too many masters. I'll become enamored with Radiohead one month and will want to sound like that, but then I'll hear a good ol' Stones tune or a Black Crowes song and think "Yeah! That just kicks ass!" And I'll want to write like that. And the Beatles always come back around as the old standby. And then I'll get in a Tom Petty mood, or I'll go down the Wilco rabbit hole, etc., etc. And then I'll be drawn back to my love of instrumental music and listen to a Jean Luc Ponty album or Dave Brubeck or Miles or Bill Evans, etc., and think, "I really need to get my jazz chops more together and write/record some cool instrumentals." Lately, I've been really digging some Midlake, etc.

Needless to say, I have a hard time really determining what "my" sound/style is, and I feel that I'm spread too thin trying to do too much.

I'm trying to put together a project in which I give myself parameters in hopes of establishing a bit more of a unified direction. I'm trying to record an album with all electronic sounds using my analog synths/drum machines and maybe some electric guitar. And I'm trying to get all the lyrics written before even working on the music at all, because lyrics are always my sticking point. So I'm hoping to take that out of the equation by just writing them all first and trying to be less critical in the process. I'm trying to remember, "This is just an exercise or experiment, so it doesn't have to be your best songs ever."

Anyway, needless to say, I struggle with the notion of "deciding what kind of music to write" a lot!
 
The first question, I hear stuff in my head in all genres which I think comes from my willingness to spend a lot of time listening to different genres. If you spend a lot of time listening to the type of thing you want to write, I think you'll start "hearing" that sort of thing when writing. Also, one song writing book I read(which goes with what's already been pointed out) that sometimes the song may be written in one genre but turn out to work better in another. So l spend time sometimes just trying different tempos for the same song, as in tempos that suggest a different genre, as sometimes it will sound better faster/slower with or without swing, etc.
As far as sounding like ones influences, I sometimes find when listening to some music from my youth I will hear some obscure/forgotten tune that I realize I have internalized and has shown up in some style/tonality in stuff I have created, but I don't consciously try to emulate any one's style. As a player I have, of course , attempted to duplicate tones by players I admire. Not to copy, mind, just to learn.
 
There have been several of my songs where the process led me to write something "just like so-and-so" did in their song's chorus or
verse, and it fit really nicely and sounded great.. but it sounded too conventional - or canned. So I intentionally went around it and wrote
something different. When I rehearse these songs I still feel the urge to play it the other way, and sometimes I do fiddle with them that way
because I never know what else is going to pop out while I'm in there tinkering.
 
One trick: LEARN a bunch of songs in whatever genre interests you. Learn to do effective renditions of maybe some John Prine, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch, Reckless Kelly, and so on. Or whichever singer/songwriters turn you on.

By the time you're a year into covering the material you admire, the style WILL be coming naturally.
Do you guys try to write songs like your favorite artists
Artists are magpies. Nothing's original. We all make our nests out of whatever we pick up around us. Whatever's in our heads came from somewhere. It's foolish to try to fight that.

But it's just as foolish to try to be someone you're not.

So I don't intentionally imitate anyone. Few things are sadder than Elvis impersonators. W all get our ideas from somewhere, but our voices can only be our own.
. . . or do you think maybe there is a certain style that you are better at creating?
I don't worry about whether I'm good at a style or not.
. . . For me, I want to write more singer/songwriter kind of stuff, but riff rock just comes more natural to me. I prefer listening to singer/songwriter stuff, so I get frustrated and I am having a hard time writing right now.

Anyone else have this issue?
I do what comes naturally. And there's nothing wrong with riff rock! When you're ready to write "singer/songwriter kind of stuff," it WILL come naturally.

Do you just end up creating music that maybe isn't your favorite genre?
No. I love lots of genres and don't have a favorite. I don't set out to write a blues, country, rock, jazz, R&B, or folk song. I just let songs take whatever forms they take.

Some songs want a mandolin, some want humbuckers. Some want synchopation, some want a steady flow. Some want shouts, some want murmurs. I just let 'em go where they want. I'm not creating the song. I'm FINDING it.

But if it seems like it wants to be, say, a cowboy song, I put on a cowboy hat and throw myself into a cowboy frame of mind.
 
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This describes me somewhat. I seem to go all over the place. I can't keep focused on any one style though I wish I could. Unlike you, I don't let it frustrate me; I'm happy with whatever I can get out of the speakers. :D
'Zackly!
 
Through choice, for myself, I like slow music - slow music of almost any genre. Trouble is, I get up in the morning go into the studio (I work from home) and my business partner will have sent me some files for one of the projects we have on the go. They're all very narrow. We don't do popular music for the masses. It could be for video, that's a nice solid income stream, but most of our work is for dance. Not nightclub dance, but real dance - so ballet, musical theatre - that kind of thing. We're currently writing a whole series for a publisher. So the brief reads duration 1:45 tempo 95bpm tigers in a jungle, or duration 2:20 tempo 140bpm walk, run and clap. Worse still 30sec rabbit falling down a hole - no ideas on that one yet. What happens is that we work to our strengths - my colleague is very strong on classical and I'm better at jazz and rock and roll, so I might have an idea, and I send it to him - we run identical (just about) Cubase systems, and he does things with it, and sends it back. I might then replace some awful sounds with better ones, replace some instruments with real ones - typically bass, guitar, saxes, woodwind and maybe a bit of brass. After a few too and fros, they're done. Some of it I truly hate. After doing three or four sessions, like today. I had to stop and record something for myself - and what came out was slow, sad and evolving synth pads. Mainly because I went through a loads of Korg patches and found a couple I'd not used - and these were what drove me. A few days back I got a new vocal sample package, and that impressed me - so I wrote something using some of the chopped up stock stuff with some pads. It's for no client, has no purpose but experience for me on the new VST.

It's rubbish - but I'll share what I've done so far. I doubt it will get finished - but I wrote it just to experiment, and despite being slow and sad, it cheered me up.
 

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Do you guys try to write songs like your favorite artists
I leave that to them. My job is to write like me.
or do you think maybe there is a certain style that you are better at creating?
I don't think about whether I'm writing something good. I just write 'em and leave it to the rest of you to have opinions about whether they're any good.
For me, I want to write more singer/songwriter kind of stuff, but riff rock just comes more natural to me. I prefer listening to singer/songwriter stuff, so I get frustrated and I am having a hard time writing right now.
Just relax. Let your brain go slack. When all the doors and windows are open, tunes will come in. The truth is, they love crashing the party!
Anyone else have this issue?
I'm sure others do, but I don't. Sometimes having words running through my head is downright inconvenient.
Do you just end up creating music that maybe isn't your favorite genre?
I don't have a favorite genre. There are genres I DON'T like - opera, metal, rap, techno, punk, bebop, disco, doo-wop, emo - but I like most roots American styles and a lot of international styles.

I have words running through my head all the time. Sometimes I grab 'em and put 'em into verses. When I do, the genre they want to be usually is pretty obvious, whether it's blues, country, folk, or rock.
 
Appreciate the riff rock coming naturally. Some people have trouble riffing, and stick to chords. You're okay. If you listen to singer songwriters, eventually, it will come out in your playing. Just play your guitar without a song in mind. When something strikes you, build around that idea. I have never been able to write a song purposefully. I don't know how. Every song I've written happened while just playing. I know it may not be a popular approach, but that's my method. If someone told me to write a song, I couldn't do it. I do have a load of ideas, and just make songs out of the ideas. You will be okay. Everyone has their unique approach.
 
I end up writing good golden nuggets and then I get loopitis. I struggle to write within a genre, because I write what comes into my head. Then the possibilities of choosing which genre to structure it afterwards are too overwhelming and I just stop before I even get a chance to finish.

I’ve heard it’s good to try and steal like an artist and copy what you like, but there is this piece of me that feels weird about that. Anyway, I’m sure someone else would have good advice on this. I just relate to getting blocked and want you to know you’re not alone.
 
I end up writing good golden nuggets and then I get loopitis. I struggle to write within a genre, because I write what comes into my head. Then the possibilities of choosing which genre to structure it afterwards are too overwhelming and I just stop before I even get a chance to finish.

I’ve heard it’s good to try and steal like an artist and copy what you like, but there is this piece of me that feels weird about that. Anyway, I’m sure someone else would have good advice on this. I just relate to getting blocked and want you to know you’re not alone.
Two thoughts:

Genre:

A song doesn't have to fit a genre. I'll bet you can think of a lot of songs that can't be pigeon-holed. What genre would you call Moody Blues or Rickie Lee Jones? Rock, maybe? Are you sure? Just let your songs speak for themselves.

So let your songs write themselves, and let someone else tell you what genre they fit.

Originality:

You'll never be original. Neither will I. All artists are magpies. We steal liberally to create our nests. We're all standing on someone else's shoulders when we draw a picture, make up a song, or write a story. To think otherwise is hubris. Where would Dylan be without Guthrie? Where would Winton Marsalis be without Satchmo?

That's what makes art a form of communication. It's a conversation - with other artists. with other art, with friends, with enemies, with family, with strangers.
 
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