I can't write out a whole, finished song

  • Thread starter Thread starter Grey Angel
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Grey Angel,i understand you,i'm the same way lol.

The first melody you record that you have in your mind ,then add drums ,then you're stuck. You have a melody but you dont know what to do with it.

Remember that some melodies have paralell notes,and others have perpendicular.Just try different cords and see what you come up with.I'm really bad about notes and their characteristics,so for me its writing music blind .

once i made a song that i liked,but it was boring.So i sat down once a week and added a track at a time,and that song became very different than it used to be.I still didnt like it,but it was way different than the rest of my songs.

But most of the time i like to start over again before i finnish one song,so i have bunch of unfinnished songs.

Maybe its because we think we can do better ,so we start over thinking the next one will be better....or maybe we are in a different moods each time we write songs....or maybe we just get sick of hearing the same melody and want something new,God knows how many times we hear it :D

Anyway...i dont know,but i'm sure most of us are in the same boat.

Oh BTW i have a little tape recorder too that i whistle in,but after wisteling about 30 songs i havent wrote even one song :p
 
Garik said:
Grey Angel,i understand you,i'm the same way lol.

The first melody you record that you have in your mind ,then add drums ,then you're stuck. You have a melody but you dont know what to do with it.

Remember that some melodies have paralell notes,and others have perpendicular.Just try different cords and see what you come up with.I'm really bad about notes and their characteristics,so for me its writing music blind .

once i made a song that i liked,but it was boring.So i sat down once a week and added a track at a time,and that song became very different than it used to be.I still didnt like it,but it was way different than the rest of my songs.

But most of the time i like to start over again before i finnish one song,so i have bunch of unfinnished songs.

Maybe its because we think we can do better ,so we start over thinking the next one will be better....or maybe we are in a different moods each time we write songs....or maybe we just get sick of hearing the same melody and want something new,God knows how many times we hear it :D

Anyway...i dont know,but i'm sure most of us are in the same boat.

Oh BTW i have a little tape recorder too that i whistle in,but after wisteling about 30 songs i havent wrote even one song :p
Click to expand...

It just means we're both evil geniuses who have no patience for repetition, but are too lazy to just do one long "guitar solo", or whatever. Hey, let's collaborate! :D
 
Turn off the radio in your car, and get a small tape recorder, or your cell phone, and as you drive, make up stuff to sing to entertain yourself. When you hear something you like, record it, whether it's just one line, a chorus, or just two words that you like that rhyme. Later when you sit down to actually try to write, play that tape back and see if you can expand on those ideas. Is your problem more lyrics or the music/melody? If it's lyrics, try to pick a song you like and know, and just rewrite the verses, and maybe the chorus. This will help you flow out lyrics without having to come up with a whole original melody. BUT don't just rip off the song, eventually try to come up with a melody or chord progression that fits the lyrics. Just some ideas...
 
I often play along to cd's of my favorite bands and that really helps me get the creative juices flowing. Some times I'll pick apart their riffs and play them backwards and change a few notes or the picking patterns and before I know it I have some pretty cool original riffs that sound nothing like the other band.

Just a thought.

B
 
finishing songs

A great way to finish tunes is to learn what qualities tunes have in them. Its kindof a long process because you ahve to study a little and take the time to learn, but it pays off decently in the end. Because you are composing with some light to guide you, instead of just shooting in the dark hoping to come up with something based on luck.

For example, METER (the stressed and unstressed beat pattern) is the initial building block of your song. Why? Because the meter type will affect everything that comes after, including melody. Especially melody. Because the rhythm of the melody must contrast interestingly with the meter. And everyone knows that listeners prefer good interesting melodies to shitty forgettable ones. So by learning meter types and how they interact with melodic rhythms in already likeable songs you are doing much to help yourself understand how songs are written. Some people may shit on studying compositional technique, but until a few moments ago you probably had no idea that meter was the soul of melody. And now you do. So imagine what else you dont know that you could learn from technique.

Dont allow yourself to believe that great songs are written in 5 minutes. Because passable songs are written in 5 minutes. Great ones take more time. Also, i would hardly call a song written in 5 minutes by a person who has been studying songwriting for 15 years a 5 minute composition. It actually took 15 years and 5 minutes if you think about it.

As far as lyrics go, find 100 each of verbs, adverbs, nouns, etc. that you personally want to use in your songs. You may like the way the word "sinister" sounds or "intergalactic" or whatever. Well make 100 word lists of each type of word (noun, verb, etc). Then go back and make smaller lists of words that you want to use in groups. Like you may want to use the word "cat" at some point, so list all the descriptive words pulled from your lists you would most likely want to use to describe a cat. That way, when you go back through, you wont need to search your entire seed list to find words that go well with the word cat (or whatever).

And remember this, when working in music or art in general, context can make or break your idea. I mean, if i told you that i had an idea about a movie with a giant marshmallow attacking things you shit on me. But in the context of the movie ghostbusters the idea works. So remember any idea can be a good one if you make it work. Now, notice i didnt say "force" it to work, or "hope" it will work. You need to figure out what makes things truly work in order to make convincing art. So good luck and remember that there are a million songwritiers trying to get attention who have a lot more experience than you do. So with that in mind use every advantage you can and learn as much as you can. Dont shun any style of music or any technique because you can learn something from everything even things you hate.
 
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Soul Coming said:
Turn off the radio in your car, and get a small tape recorder, or your cell phone, and as you drive, make up stuff to sing to entertain yourself. When you hear something you like, record it, whether it's just one line, a chorus, or just two words that you like that rhyme. Later when you sit down to actually try to write, play that tape back and see if you can expand on those ideas. Is your problem more lyrics or the music/melody? If it's lyrics, try to pick a song you like and know, and just rewrite the verses, and maybe the chorus. This will help you flow out lyrics without having to come up with a whole original melody. BUT don't just rip off the song, eventually try to come up with a melody or chord progression that fits the lyrics. Just some ideas...
Click to expand...

Well, I don't write lyrics at all; I'm focusing right now on putting together music, and maybe later after I get some whole (or at least, finished in my opinion) songs tracked out, THEN I would write lyrics. I'm not much of a vocalist; it's never been something I really liked, writing lyrics or singing that is. Thanks for the advice, though.
 
I have read all posts in this thread and found out that it was not only my problem.
I started almost 30 songs but I couldn’t consider more then 5-6 songs as finished.
I always stop on some stage and in that particular moment I get an idea for new song which I start and never finish as well.

Now I decided to do collab-projects and let other people finish my songs and I’ll try to finish their songs. The songs on my soundclick are not real collab-songs because I only borrowed vocals or drums for song that I already finished.
Here, we are talking about writing.

Many people are concerned about copy rights and stuff like that. I am not.
I share my unfinished tunes with everyone who is interested.
 
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