song composing questions

  • Thread starter Thread starter Elyst
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Elyst

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I've been trying to record songs for quite some time now. Unfortunately none of my songs ever got any bit decent so that I approve to upload it to youtube or publish it.

recently my recordings have gotten a little more decent and I may post one of them in the mp3 clinic to request suggestions and etc.

But here's the point of the topic.

Last Friday i sat in front of the keyboard and said to myself "I'm gonna compose a song". And so I hit the keys and looked for some chords to start out has a reference (notice I had no specific particular idea for the song I just wanted to get a feel from the chords and from then on I could write lyrics and add other instruments easily... or so I think)

The problem was really the chords... I started working on one idea "It looks good, maybe if I add a chord here and changed the rythim like this..." but then I ended up hating those chords ideas and changing to other stuff that I also didn't like. After a frustrating while I leave the keys and take the guitar hoping to get something... but the result is the same... I make a chord progression but I don't like the way it sounds... the chords seem to fit together but then...

I think that the problem would be "resolving" (not sure if thats how you say it in english but basically I'm talking about matching the last chord of the progression with the first one so you can loop it).

So after all this I'm a bit scared (and mostly busy) to grab the guitar or keys again to try do anything again...

So any help to what it comes to making chord progressions is welcome...


... it's kinda weird that I get to write lyrics so easily and have so much trouble starting a song with the chords. Maybe I should ask for help and get someone to writte the chords with me.

Thanks for reading and hope to ear from you soon : )
 
Well i think anyone who has written music has experienced what you are on some level. I would go to this link. YouTube - ‪Pachelbel Rant‬‏
There you will see how many songs can be attributed to a simple chord progression. This formula is truly simple...and often times simplicity is just what a song needs. There are other formulas out there that you can look up...many of today;s hits are merely slight variations on these simple chord progressions.
 
to my way of thinking you're putting the cart before the horse.
you think of the song first, then you go to the instrument and figure it out.

trying to force something sitting right there at the keyboard, you're just gonna end up with a crappy brained-out sounding song.
 
It seems different people write songs in totally different ways. Lots of people do, in fact, write music with an instrument. Common ways might be: sitting at a piano and picking out a melody and chords together (this actually was sort of standard practice in "the old days"), or strumming guitar chords and humming a tune to them. Others get the whole thing in their head first. Others actually write notation on paper (hard to believe, I know, but it worked for Beethoven).

One minor (so to speak) thing that may be slightly insulting to ask: you do understand the concept of "key," right? Just to apply it to chord progressions: it's usually a good idea at least to start out with chords that are all in the same key (generally the I ii iii IV V and vi), then you can throw in variations as you go.
 
sjjohnston said:
It seems different people write songs in totally different ways. Lots of people do, in fact, write music with an instrument.
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Couldn't agree more. There are many many ways of writing songs.

fat_fleet said:
trying to force something sitting right there at the keyboard, you're just gonna end up with a crappy brained-out sounding song.
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Couldn't agree less. Many of the greatest pieces of music have been written like this. People that have to write to deadlines do and their stuff hardly sounds crappy and brained out.
 
grimtraveller said:
Many of the greatest pieces of music have been written like this. People that have to write to deadlines do and their stuff hardly sounds crappy and brained out.
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I think it was Lieber and Stoller who were commissioned to write an album's worth of songs for Elvis. They were flown to New York, put up in a hotel and given a couple of weeks. They thought this was pretty good . . . so they partied hard for the entire time, and ended up writing the whole set of songs the night before they were due.
 
Your words are interesting but you need to post a sample - so we can hear where you are musically.
 
who me?

I made a post in the mp3 clinic and another in the voice and singing where I posted some songs of mine.

about the many ways of writing a song. Personally its easier for me to shape a song and adjust it to some chords rather than adjusting chords to a song. So I start by the hardest, because I can come up easily with lyrics for specific chords (or with no chords, lol I can easily come up with lyrics).

and yes the "keep it simple" principle seems to be the easiest... I came up with a possible idea last night... I'm far to busy with exams to actually sit down and record it... so I'll try to bear it in my head or record it on a phone or whatever just to keep it till I'm on vacation

Edit: these are the posts I mentioned

review my vocal skills
and
rocket powered British snail
I have 1 song and 2 medleys of mine in this forum.
 
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