Songwriting

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dwarf

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I'm a block of clay, mould me

I would love to know how to write songs. What are some steps you guys go through?

Cheers.
 
"What are some steps you guys go through?" I started to write this thread with drinkin' in mind (step one, pour the Jack), etc. BUT then I noticed you're only 16, so lemme not be the one to lead you down the wrong path... ;)

But seriously, a good thing many songwriters do is to write down everything. I mean everything. Don't worry about penmanship, or grammar, or whether or not you think others will like it, just write. This is just to gather your thoughts in one place for future reference.

Some of us travel around with a little portable recorder to get our ideas down (like melody lines, hooks, etc.)

There was a great scene (from a not so great movie) where Michael J. Fox explained how "anything" you say could be used as lyrics for a song.

That's a great exercise to get you started ... try to take the simplest, most basic observations ("It's cold outside") ... or how you're feeling ("I'm SO tired") and build around that.

Rez
 
I've been working with this question for a while now.. and I've found that the most important thing to do when trying to write songs... is to write songs.
I have shoeboxes full of words stuck together.. Absolute crap.
But I've found that when I don't write.. even crap.. Nothing gets written..

I heard one of my favorite artists (Peter Mulvey, check him out) say that we must always write.. even when we arent in the mood.. So when the muse does hit us, our songwriting chops will be ready for it.

Best advice I can give is .. write.
Next best advice I can give is study the lyrics of your favorite songs.. Any songs actually. Watch the different song forms. Bob dylan writes alot of AAA songs... songs with no chorus.. they just tell a story. Popular music relies heavily on the Verse Chorus Bridge thing.

Fit your writing into those formats, and you have songs.

Then edit them to taste.

Peace
 
dwarf said:
I would love to know how to write songs. What are some steps you guys go through?
Click to expand...

This could take a book to explain. So I'd suggest reading one as one of the steps to go through. You see, there's about as many ways to go about songwriting as there are songwriters but we all have to learn the basic structures of songs and the common chord progressions. Knowing how to shape a melody from the simple rhythm of words is the way some folks use. Others rely on years of experience to be able to take a riff and create a song around it.

There's more to explain but it's such a wide open question.
 
dementia is so right. Writing is the only way to learn how to write. I've learned through a lot of hard work and trial and error that you have to write a lot of crap to learn to write something decent.

If you write enough and are truely serious about getting better you will little by little learn the theory and technique - and your writing will continue to improve

A song is a combination of melody (ie: the lead vocal), harmony (ie: the chord structure) and rhythem (the beat and the phrasing). The more you write the more you will learn how to creatively put those elements together.

I can't speak for anyone else (although I suspect most would agree) - I started writing very basic songs - mainly based around the standard I-IV-V progression - and and I still write a significant amount of songs that are primarily a I-Iv-V (although I've learn how to use things like 7ths and other passing chords to make the haromony more interesting). The melodies, lyrics and vocal phrasing on my early material was extremely simple - but I did it with passion and conviction - after a while I got better and better.

As delirious indicates - the more you write, the more you can be prepared when the muse hits.
 
Recipe for writing a song:1st verse=outrageous, unprovable statements.
2nd verse=a vain attempt to prove those statements, ultimately failing
3rd verse=throw away comments, dissowning the first verse.

Works every time, i swear.
 
and now for the chorus, must be something catchy and memorable, roughly to do with the 1st verse.

bridges are for losers but if you must have one reuse the same chords from the rest of the song, just shorted or leangthen the bars as you see fit.

good luck
 
I usually come up with a song title first. Just something that comes to me in the middle of the day that I think sounds cool. I've got a page in a notebook full of 'em. Then I'll figure out what kind of song that title sounds like it should be. Over the next few weeks I'll work out the lyrics (the hard part).
 
Dawdeeb said:
Recipe for writing a song:1st verse=outrageous, unprovable statements.
2nd verse=a vain attempt to prove those statements, ultimately failing
3rd verse=throw away comments, dissowning the first verse.

Works every time, i swear.
Click to expand...

great formula... gotta try it next time.

;)
 
Writing Songs

To write songs I :

1) Usually date women who are really bad for me.

2) Have no social hangups (hang out with anyone.)

3) Hitchike across the USA, sleeping on the side of the road or anywhere sunny.

4) Have some level of manic depression.

5) Constantly force lifestyle changes upon myself.
 
The first thing for me is that I either want to tell story or just have something I need to say. Not that I like to hear myself talk but that's the thing for me..
 
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