Where do your songs first take form?

[Cosmic]

Ideas come to me in many different places. I always think up lyrics first, no instrument or melody in general at that point. It's about the words and the meter for me. Sometimes I will have a small notepad with me; most of the time I just memorize the phrases until I get home and can try it on the piano with a scratch melody.

An entire chorus for a song in progress came to me in 10 minutes on the bus one day; that's my record for instant creativity
Most of the time, it's in dribs and drabs, which is fine. Just can't push it.

Best,
C

 

[Cyanide-Depende]

Most of the Cyanide songs come from my ex (whore), and some things i would like to say to her or have said to her. Then I add a beat/melody (whichever comes first)

I know, kinda generic topic, but hey, it works, it makes me feel better and I'm happy with the result, and other people like it too... i guess, lol

 

[shiatzu]

i sit down at either my wurlitzer or pick up the guitar and play whatever comes to mind. i make sure that i've got tape rolling at all times in case i do something that i like.

 

[bardo]

My songs come from a deep pool of water that I vist every now and then.
It all exist in my head.
I just sit quietly and the song will"pour" into me.
My biggest job is to leave it alone untill it develops into somthing I can play with one voice at a time.
Most of the time I can hear the 'Whole" thing so when I go to try and play it,
It sounds different.
Cosmic I know but it works for me.

 

[slidey]

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

why can't you put multiple votes in????

anyhoo, inspiration comes in different ways on different instruments. At the moment I'm writing a lot on a takamine 12 string tuned to drop A. I also write (& have recorded) stuff on drums. Keyboards is where I write some of my (in my opinion) best stuff, because I'm not a natural keys player I have to really work at it get anything out of it & some of the note & chord combinations I've come up with are totally different from how I might have approached it on guitar, or a left handed acoustic theremin

I generally turn to keys when I feel stuck in a rut

L8r
S

 

[JazzMang]

I used to take pen and paper into the shower with me, just in case but-----well, it really didn't work very good.

Then I brought my four track into the shower and ----- well that was just too painful.

Then I stopped showering, but then the songs stopped coming.

If only there was a better way!!!!!

Write on the tops of the walls in the shower with a permanent marker!

 

[honedawg]

Of late, my song ideas have come from playing instruments that I'm not proficient on (bass, mandolin, keyboard) and different tunings on my acoustic. I read an article about open D tuning and wrote three songs in an hour after playing in that tuning. It makes you think in a different plane.

 

[gtr_guy26]

Driving around on my forklift at work. That's when lyrics come to me...I don't know why. Then I figure out from the lyrics what the mood should be. Come up with drum beats build guitar riffs around that add bass and do melodies last.

 

[gcapel]

i've writen songs by guitar mainly, but some in piano. I think the piano is a great way because of the linear patterns of the keys is more visual.

 

[chazba]

All my songs come from my mind. Yours do too, whether you know it or not.
So take good care of your mind. Keep it exercised and polished up. Take out the junk now and then. Don't let anybody come in and trash the place. Chicks are very good at this. Also, it likes to get stretched and bent outa shape occasionally, but be cautious of destroying too many brain cells, you can't be sure which ones are getting toasted, and you may need them tomorrow. bkasfjhbL .


CHAZBA

 

[jeremyball]

Mine seem to take form when I just set down to play my acoustic or keyboard. Ususlly, I'll stumble on a good chord progression and try to add lyrics as I'm making up the chords. It helps me with the melodies too, to write it from start to finish: music, lyrics, melody and all...

And I try to finish it all in one setting. Sometimes it can be hard (for me) to come back to a half-finished song the next day... I can lose my writing momentum.

 

[DK Johnson]

Remembering mostly

It has been awhile since I wrote regularly, and virtually all the scenarios described are familiar. (Though I never had the privilege of consulting with an actual WHORE. Wow.)

But looking back as an older sort of fellow on over 100 efforts produced over a number of decades, I would recommend staying away from any instruments as long as you can. This way, the melody will go where it will, unencumbered by your limitations as a player. When you finally sit down to harmonize your work, you will have to reach into unchartered territory to finish the tune. And so your imagination forces you to increase your musical vocabulary, and your tune is less likely to sound just like the last one, and the one before that. This helps you build interesting sets when you put your shows together.

 

[rokinrandy]

this is a really good and interseting thread ..i love this place already...i love watching or hearing about how music or a song is created it inspires me..
i just play the guitar acoustic or electric overdriven..my best material is done that way..but can't make a recording that way (unless it's guitar only)..i can't program my drum machine yet because i don't know how and don't have a decent way to record drums..
so right now with my recordings i have to play with a pre recorded drum beat or factory beat and play as many different riffs as i can in a session..then take the loops with my favorite riffs and build from them...seems to lack variation with that method though..but it's a start..i sure do hope i get it one day ,later

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pageartist.cfm?bandID=407573

 

[J.C. Scott]

Song ideas (the good ones anyway) typically begin in my mind first.

 

[32-20-Blues]

usually the can.

 

[Mindset]

Mine comes from my head, but from my head to synth & paper, is the more difficult task. Sometimes...

 

[orson198305]

My songs come from my head first, i feel inadequet & guilty if i come up with something while sitting down at the piano or playing the guitar. If I write the music and lyrical atmosphere in my head first, then get that recorded then i feel i have accomplished something and i haven't cheated. But i am usually less than satisfied with what i usually come up with, so there is a definate paradox in the way in which I write.

 

[jtcole44]

Well... I'm a guitarist first and songwriter second... but in my new band I'm doing vocals and lyrics for the first time. Most of the time it works one of two ways for me: 1. I have a riff or chord change or whatever on guitar that I like and I try to make vocals, lyrics to go with it.... or 2. I have a vocal/lyrical idea and I try to come up with music that fits. I've had varying degrees of success with both....

 

[orson198305]

Does anyone think that when you write the music first then the lyrics & vocal line you come off with a more original vocal line? Eg you may add extra syllables to words etc to fit them in. It's just what i find myself doing sometimes if i have a piece of music with no home, it sort of forces you off in different ways. I've also written a song from music, retrieved the lyrics & vocal line & tried to fit it to another peice of music. That can be quite fun.

 

[Mindset]

Usually i'll have created an instrumental, and then start writing lyrics to it, it helps me out more, because to go with the flow of the music to me, is kind of harder then for me to write some lyrics' and then make an instrumental to go along with it. When I have to go with the flow of the music, just any word's/phrase etc, won't fit in it, I'll have to think really hard to put down what I want to say in a certain ammount of time, then to sit there and explain the whole thing on a song, before I get to the climax of the song.