Write music first or lyrics first?

  • Thread starter Thread starter ItDiesToday321
  • Start date Start date

Do you write the music first or the lyrics first?

  • Music first

    Votes: 154 80.2%

  • Lyrics first

    Votes: 38 19.8%
  • Total voters
    192
music first sometimes, but also lyrics first sometimes... mostly music first, but there shuld be a 3rd option, because it really depends on the mood and what comes out first.

-C$
 
i'm not a prolific writer, but...

it all works best for me when.... i get the musical hook and the melody, then i get the lyric subject and defining first verse. then i kind of find the chorus with both music and lyrics, and melody. then over time the song will grow from those bare bones to something i can find something good in, even years later when i've grown beyond that.
 
Usually music.....I have hndreds of pages of lyrics, but when I go to work on a new tune, I usually end up writing new lyrics, and file the old ones away.... :o
 
It depends..
sometimes I'm playing guitar and trying something new.. and then I stuck on some chords that sound good and then I put lyrics the way it makes me feel
sometimes I'm on the bus an idea of a rythm or a melody comes to my mind then I try to remember it :| and sometimes I feel the need to sing about something so I put words in lines and then I put guitar to get along.

Ced
 
Both, pretty much at the same time. Sometimes I'll be fooling around on guitar and hit upon an interesting riff that inspires a lyrical idea. Other times, a line or two will pop into my head (almost invariably when I don't have my guitar handy!) and I'll noodle around until I find a guitar part that fits it. But either way, once I start working on a song, the music and lyrics usually evolve together. I'll usually finish the lyrics before I finish the music, because it's easier to tweak lyrics in my head wherever I happen to be than it is to drag my guitar along to work or to the grocery store.

Then again, sometimes I just start with the title.
 
i think i've only ever started off a song with lyrics once - i found it free and easy actually, so perhaps i should do it more often

usually i come up the chords/riffs on my acoustic, then record rough takes of me singing 'rubbish', made up nonsense - just singing the first things that come into my head. then afterwards i fit in real words into that template.
most of the time i find the first melodies and words that come out my mouth stick.
 
For me it depends on what I'm writing for. with the band I'm in, we're more of a musically directed band so one of us come up with something cool, we build off that, write the entire song musically then put words to it at the very end. But my solo stuff is more based off of the words so I'll write a poem if you will and put it to music then find a catchy chorus to put in it.
 
I say that it's easier (at least for me) to write lyrics to a tune (as one would make a parody of an existing song). With the beats and mood conveyed, tempo, and everything else, the words seem to fall into place. If you have existing lyrics, it can be a bit harder. I always find a tune to go along with the lyrics (in my head), then find it on guitar and modify it.
 
I said music first because I've found it to be easier that way, but if I write a good poem, I'll go through the pain of trying to put music to it.
 
i see it like this. people who depend on lyrics to make the song write them first. but if you dig the music more, the guitar tracks are laid down first.
 
Always music. As stated above it sets the mood for the song. Every time I try to write music to fit around some words it sounds like just that. the songs that flow for me are music first.
 
I write a bunch of riffs/chord progressions, coz i can come up with new ones whenever i like.
Then, when I'm waiting for the bus at 3am, or eating lunch at work, a load of lyrics with pop into my head, and I write them down then search through all my riffs and find one that fits.

Saying that... my songs are generally shit :D
 
It really depends for me, just whatever comes out but its usually a bit of both.
 
I sometimes find that I'm tweaking the melody as I'm tracking the vocal. Sometimes the lyrics and melody show up intact and at the same time. There's no hard rule here.Sometimes I get a ZERO and trash the whole idea.


chazba
 
$.02

i've always found this a bit of a curiosity since historically songs didn't contain music... ie ever see "sparticus" tony curtis at one point wants to become a fighter and kirk douglas wont let him after hearing his "songs"... or for instance "psalms"... yet for publishing etc we often separate music by... lyric by... and while i may not be the best example as i dont do lyric at all almost without exception the people i talk to say music first.... FWIW...
 
Usually lyrics for me. I like to form music around the words to make them seem more powerful...not always. Sometimes I'm definitely feelin the music first.
 
either way.

but if you write lyrics first...you're gonna spend a lot of time on music. unless the music is just bs'd. if you write music first, you're gonna spend time on lyrics, unless the lyrics are bs'd.

and sometimes they fit just right.
 
Lyrics or Music first ...

Its not that one is more important than the other , its the process itself. Song writing for me is channeling , I do it more and more the more I listen to other artists . The process is something I cant really analyze , its like how do two alligators know to bite on either side of prey and spin in opposite directions to disembowel thier food ? I get my inspiration from listening between the notes . Madaudio knows what a wierd song writer I am , weve been writing music together for almost 15 years . The music is the bed the lyrics laydown on , sometimes the bed is fine with out lyrics , there are things you can say with out words. Because there are no words to describe the feeling the song evokes . Then you have to hope that listeners get that , and there are very , very few of us . Try listening between the notes & chords , I know I sound like a kook , but with time , you'll understand . Dizzie Gillespie listened between the notes , same with Frank Zappa , Allan Holdsworth , Steve Vai and hundreds of musicians do this . For some its easy , some it takes work , and some people just never get it ...:)
 
Yes....usually one or the other.
Sometimes they arrive intact, sometimes lyric first. , sometimes a guitar groove that gets out-a-control, sometimes a set of changes. sometimes just a vague like there oughta be a song about...........whatever


writeonnnnnn
chazba
 
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