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How do you write your songs?

JohnnyQuid

Okay as the title sugests let's find out what way you go about writing your songs?

I'll start,I only recently started songwriting so I'm not very good at it yet but what I like to do is write at night,like maybe 2 or 3am in the morning.I feel,for me,it's a lot easier to write songs at these times because I have trouble sleeping with all the thoughts running through my head,so I just put pen to paper.It's more easier than writing during the day aswell because there are less distractions.

So,when/where/how do you write your songs?

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brendansmith

I set my alarm for 5 or 6 in the morning, get out of bed and pour a glass of wine.
I then meditate for about 20 to 30 minute until I can feel myself entering the zone, once im in the zone I retrieve my didgeridoo and cross strung harp from their resting place and let the songs ooze out of me.

Its so rewarding but also draining, sometimes after creating 2 or 3 masterpieces I will find myself waking up after 30 hours sleep.

Jessieannas

JohnnyQuid wrote: »

Okay as the title sugests let's find out what way you go about writing your songs?

I'll start,I only recently started songwriting so I'm not very good at it yet but what I like to do is write at night,like maybe 2 or 3am in the morning.I feel,for me,it's a lot easier to write songs at these times because I have trouble sleeping with all the thoughts running through my head,so I just put pen to paper.It's more easier than writing during the day aswell because there are less distractions.

So,when/where/how do you write your songs?

Im the exact same as you! I usually just have ideas late at night before I fall asleep. Its 11 pm during school but now its summer Im up at 2 or 3am writing too. I just let everything flow from my mind onto my blog [would link but I've made it so only I can view it!]. I like to do the chords on my guitar during the day though, so I dont wake anyone up! Im at home all day on my own, so the guitar during the day is easy, but writing is still difficult.

JohnnyQuid

brendansmith wrote: »

I set my alarm for 5 or 6 in the morning, get out of bed and pour a glass of wine.
I then meditate for about 20 to 30 minute until I can feel myself entering the zone, once im in the zone I retrieve my didgeridoo and cross strung harp from their resting place and let the songs ooze out of me.

Its so rewarding but also draining, sometimes after creating 2 or 3 masterpieces I will find myself waking up after 30 hours sleep.

Wow thats very early for me,or late since thats the time I make it to bed some nights.Thanks for sharing.:D

Jessieannas wrote: »

Im the exact same as you! I usually just have ideas late at night before I fall asleep. Its 11 pm during school but now its summer Im up at 2 or 3am writing too. I just let everything flow from my mind onto my blog [would link but I've made it so only I can view it!]. I like to do the chords on my guitar during the day though, so I dont wake anyone up! Im at home all day on my own, so the guitar during the day is easy, but writing is still difficult.

Epic sweetness!I still haven't put any chords to my songs,but playing the guitar at night does get me in the mood to write.I find if I use my electric guitar and don't plug it in that I don't wake anybody up.Writing is very difficult as it's very hard to be original.Thanks for sharing.:D

Just while it's on my mind,does anyone find if they're listening to a certtain band when they're writing a song that it comes out sounding like something that band would write?

aido179

writting for me isn't much different.
my method (which isn't anything rock solid) goes something like this:
Play every song i know (or about 10 - 15 until i get into the groove)
Then mess about for a while, nothing very structured, anything goes.
eventually I find some nice chord progressions or picking patterns that are catchy.
next for me is simply humming along or singing complete rubbish* to get a melody.
then i flesh out lyrics as i go along with a pen and paper

*this can have hilarious results...especially when you sing random names of object about the room

Drodan

I've started writing again now after about 4 years of not doing anything. I put a load of words, sentences and phrases down on paper that express what I'm looking to convey being totally honest with every word. Then start to play around with words to see how things could fit, get as much written as possible then re-write the crap out of it for days if not weeks. Just finished a first draft of a new one about an hour ago, can't be arsed to post it though yet, needs more work.

brendansmith

Drodan wrote: »

I've started writing again now after about 4 years of not doing anything. I put a load of words, sentences and phrases down on paper that express what I'm looking to convey being totally honest with every word. Then start to play around with words to see how things could fit, get as much written as possible then re-write the crap out of it for days if not weeks. Just finished a first draft of a new one about an hour ago, can't be arsed to post it though yet, needs more work.

Lookin forward to it man.

Drodan

About two drafts in, it's on my myspace (i know I'me that cool) atm, just look for "orontias" and' you'll find it, it's the first one called "With This".

superdoor

I once got talking to the great Josh Ritter and we started discussing song writing. His basic thing was not to think about it, but always make time to write....like whenever it comes to you stop what your doing and write it down, he had a great story about writing a song in an airport hiding under a stairs.
Ive always found its the best way to go about it? And sometimes it gets to the stage where you just cant help writing something.

brendansmith

superdoor wrote: »

I once got talking to the great Josh Ritter and we started discussing song writing. His basic thing was not to think about it, but always make time to write....like whenever it comes to you stop what your doing and write it down, he had a great story about writing a song in an airport hiding under a stairs.
Ive always found its the best way to go about it? And sometimes it gets to the stage where you just cant help writing something.

So jealous man, he sounds awesome.

Anberlinfan

Whenever I get a song idea/ interesting lyric idea I generally just write it down or draft it in my phone and come back to it when I have time and my guitar.
I have at least 7 or eight ideas currently in my drafts folder.

Either that, or I just mess around on the guitar till I have an interesting chord progression and pick a theme and work from there.

ninwilky

I dunno if this helps. ive tried writing stuff myself straight for songs and it always turns out as muck. recently i tried writing stuff [things im thinking about or whatever] into a paragraph or small story.

to be honest i hevent written anything yet cause i want to get help from an experienced song writer but looking over the paragraph i think i can get a fairly decent song out of it. cause now instead of trying to think about what to write ive now written everything so all i have to do is pluck out the sentences and jig them a little to fit in

Sútalún

Anberlinfan wrote: »

Whenever I get a song idea/ interesting lyric idea I generally just write it down or draft it in my phone and come back to it when I have time and my guitar.
I have at least 7 or eight ideas currently in my drafts folder.

Exactly like me! Just lost my phone though..

Had over 100 drafts in it! Most of the good ones were written down thanfully.

Thefirestarter

I do the exact same myself, if sometime comes into my head its straight into the phone:D although, at the moment, i don't think any of my stuff would be up to scratch:p

stone roses

i could be on the jacks when a song hits me has happen befour but they were **** songs lol :-)

but all jokes aside i could be anywere when my mind goes into overdrive and a beat or a tune just floats into my nut and i thinks that sounds deadly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i have a good few songs and am doing a demo soon
i lets yous all here it songs for the soul!! :-0

Black Thorn

JohnnyQuid wrote: »

Okay as the title sugests let's find out what way you go about writing your songs?

I'll start,I only recently started songwriting so I'm not very good at it yet but what I like to do is write at night,like maybe 2 or 3am in the morning.I feel,for me,it's a lot easier to write songs at these times because I have trouble sleeping with all the thoughts running through my head,so I just put pen to paper.It's more easier than writing during the day aswell because there are less distractions.

So,when/where/how do you write your songs?

I used to be the same but these days life gets in the way of such things. I now write down every little idea I have during the day or record them if the area suits and then try and put them together later. I have difficulty writing interesting music however as I'm a limited instrumentalist but do try. I have also found most of my lyrics now are about adult situations...I think I know what is on my mind as the day goes along....

Mickarooney

I find that there isnt a set method of writing a song.
I have found though that faster songs tend to come from jamming with a full band.
Slow songs tend to come easier when your with your acoustic or piano.
I find that using software like EZ drummer or any sw that you can just get a drum beat going on and then jam along to really helps.
I think its not really about sitting down and starting to write but more about generating the spark.
Those are some of the ways I generate the spark.... hope that doesnt sound too naff.

sponsoredwalk

Writing songs, hmm...
Well, for me it's a very *uc*ed-up process in that I'll make up a riff on guitar, something I love and can't forget and then I'll leave it to germinate in my head for 6 months and will never find a chorus or a vocal melody. I never seem to find a way to complement something that I've already loved, like nothing that's good enough to stand against some magical riff.

I have 17 songs after 8 years, and some still aren't finished. Still trying to find those little notes of completion. It's very true when people say that a song just happens, it comes to you in a moment of inspiration. I find that you can't control when it happens and that your really at the mercy of the cosmic-orchestra/synapse-regulation lol.

Always good to write a lot of junk songs however, the millisecond that's good in each of them eventually ends up in the one good song you've written, consciously or unconsciously.

JohnnyIrvine666

When I'm least thinking about it... I've come up with lines and riffs in the shower or listening to the beat of a car engine or just puking my guts out in a toilet (not so proud o that last 1 though tehe)

"Songs come from anywhere. You experience everything as you live.... If you have imagination, the songs just come."

-Jimi Hendrix

xprepairs

I have played music professionally for many years. i have written some songs also. My ideas come at any time of the day or night. I just stop what I'm doing and write out the lyrics as well as the chords to the song as they both seem to appear at the same time. If I'm lucky enough to be near a recorder of any kind I immediately play and sing the idea on tape.

I have had times when I worked a day job, idea came up and I ran for the washroom and started writing on tissue paper or whatever I had handy with me at the time.
There's really no rhyme or reason, the ideas just come up real fast.
Music is my first love and I still perform weekly as a solo after all these years.

lil_lisa

Does anyone else ever feel like they're lyrics are pathetic when they write songs? I can get good tunes and good subjects for my songs but when it comes to the actual lyrics, I'm desperate!

Black Thorn

lil_lisa wrote: »

Does anyone else ever feel like they're lyrics are pathetic when they write songs? I can get good tunes and good subjects for my songs but when it comes to the actual lyrics, I'm desperate!

Yeah, I get that a lot which then leads to serious writers block. Have it at the mo actually. The problem is just overly judging yourself. You need to keep in mind the start is just that and the more the lyrics annoy you it will drive you to improve them. Well that is the theory anyway

Drodan

Think I've actually got only two decent lyrics written in the past four months, which I'm open to people tearing apart btw.

What I did recently was to forget the whole working off personal experience stuff and pick a specific thing or story to right on and the possible alternative perspectives, which can result in total p*ss most of the time.

My main problem is finishing lyrics, I get distracted with new ones half way through so i've like 6/7 half songs about the place.

lil_lisa

You took the words from my mouth. Its like, sometimes you think of a perfect matter or experience to sing about, you get the tune right, but as you try to explain your thoughts in lyrics, they only go so far, you get mumbled up in your own stuff and your ideas trip over themselves until you have to give up and move onto something else!

Morzadec

lil_lisa wrote: »

You took the words from my mouth. Its like, sometimes you think of a perfect matter or experience to sing about, you get the tune right, but as you try to explain your thoughts in lyrics, they only go so far, you get mumbled up in your own stuff and your ideas trip over themselves until you have to give up and move onto something else!

Really struggling with this at the moment. Maybe too self-critical as I feel I can come up with some good stuff.

Often though my lyrics will either be ridiculously vague to the point where they're not about much, or about stuff that seems too personal that it seems a bit cringy when reading back. It's hard to find the balance!

Also most of my songs/lyrics end up being quite depressing. I think I would find it very difficult to write a good song that wasn't in some melancholy. Anyone else have this problem?

lil_lisa

Yeah like you wanna sing about a bad breakup or relationship and you end up either giving the title as that person's name and PPS number or you can't even get the point across that you had a relationship!

I find that if I write songs in the morning they usually turn out quite cheerful but then later in the evening they become depressing or quite serious!

Morzadec

lil_lisa wrote: »

Yeah like you wanna sing about a bad breakup or relationship and you end up either giving the title as that person's name and PPS number or you can't even get the point across that you had a relationship!

I find that if I write songs in the morning they usually turn out quite cheerful but then later in the evening they become depressing or quite serious!

Lol.

Hmm well I only ever try to write songs late at night as its the only time I'll be undisturbed, maybe this is the problem!

loc5

a good idea is to read poetry i know it sounds boring and odd but most poems are really song lyics unless their off the wall altthogether.
also never and i mean never forget the importance of assenance and recuring complemtery vowels
if your stuck try the news papers soft focus interviews of tragidys for ballads
crime storys for crime story songs and interviews with writers for deep meaning stuff just cut and paste good sounding quotes and play around with the words

eg "i find i write better at night"
you found worse on flight
they sound best in fight

now mess around interchanging various words and add/take away words that work paying attention to how they sound for clues to an aire eg
try a base drum beat for the first 2 like "night/boom", "flight/boom" and then a cymbal for the fight- "fight/tiiisshhh"
hope some of this helps

class1comp

loc5 wrote: »

now mess around interchanging various words and add/take away words that work paying attention to how they sound for clues to an aire eg
try a base drum beat for the first 2 like "night/boom", "flight/boom" and then a cymbal for the fight- "fight/tiiisshhh"
hope some of this helps

I am starting to have doubts about even starting!

BLITZ_Molloy

I write phrases into my phone. They might be funny things I heard people say or stuff that just comes to me. When i'm bored waiting for buses I tend to think of good stuff. Then I sit down after I've got about 20 of them and stitch them all together.

lil_lisa

That's a good idea! I'm gonna try that!

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