What is your songwriting process?

frobisher · 02-03-2007 7:27pm #1

I usually start with words. Sometimes it's a complete song's worth sometimes it can be no more than a sentence or even a word or two. From there I usually grab my acoustic guitar and with the words in front of me I play a little without thinking too much. It usually takes me a few minutes to get past repeating my normal chord progressions and habits. When that happens I usually find myself drawn to either a certain chord or two over which a melody naturally comes. I give it a few goes singing the melodic line with the words I have and see if I like what I'm hearing. If I'm not I don't bother and often at this stage I feel that the idea isn't going to go anywhere and leave it. But if the melody and feel excites me I plough on and write a rough basic verse that I can interchange lyrics on. Once I've done that I know that it's time for the cherry on the cake..... the chorus! When that comes I pretty much regard the song as near done. Intros, bridges, codas and middle 8's usually come after I've written the main part of the song. Usually within a few days but sometimes alot longer.

That's my modus operandi. What about yours?

Doctor J · 02-03-2007 7:50pm

It's all about the riffs, baby

After meandering through various lo-fi, indie and bands of other styles I'm back in a band playing Metal, which is where I started off almost 20 years ago. All my stuff is largely guitar based, I was never much of a lyricist (see http://www.myspace.com/ediblethemetalband for proof

) so I'm happy to write the music and let the singer take care of the lyrics and vocal melody. I like the music to be interesting rhythmically, but not up it's own arse, so to speak. I like to write music heavy on groove with the occasional freakout just to keep us all on our toes, once it fits in and sounds like a natural progression. Sometimes I magic up a riff by just doodling away on the guitar until I hear something which gets my attention, sometimes I hear a riff or rhythm in my head which I work out and record and take it from there. Usually I would make a rough demo of a minute or two with bass, drums and guitar of a rough arrangement, just really to get the general idea of the tune across, and then we'd go in as a band and hammer out an arrangement, adding and subtracting parts as required, sometimes changing things drastically as the vocals take shape. I'm happy doing it this way, as it is a band, I'm pleased the other guys are involved shaping the songs we'll be playing as a group. There are times when I hit a rut and potential songs get discarded, occasionally revisited in the future should inspiration strike> One such occasion I ran into a brick wall with a tune and, 4 or 5 years later, came up with another part for the song as I was strolling into the house for lunch one day, which capped it off nicely.

DarkJager · 02-03-2007 8:04pm

I like to set my songs depending on what mood I want them to take. If I want something vicious (vocalist in a metal band), I'll think of someone that really angers me and focus on it while I write. Same goes for sad or happy verses... It works quite well and I can post an example if y'all want!!

Cheers

Smiley012 · 02-03-2007 8:21pm

I nearly always play the music first, then come out with the lyrics.

If I'm playing and I start playing a melody that really gets to me, then depending on mood, I'll start humming to it, and then I come up with words, and it all begins to flow!

Saying that, I have, at times, come up with the words first, sometimes a line, or even a word will inspire me to write something...

I love it when I feel so inspired to just write and sing, I love it!

frobisher · 02-03-2007 8:24pm

Great to have your replies guys. It goes to show how different we all are!

Please feel free to post up material (in it's own thread) for feedback.

vengeance52 · 02-03-2007 10:17pm

they way i work is a bit odd i think. I could be sitting at my pc or somewhere, and i little rhythm pops into my cobweb filled noggin. Then the music fits around the beat i got going, some riffs and then the lyrics.

I find the lyrics the hardest cos im not into ballads, i like rock, bit of blues, some indie things like that, and i want my lyrics to be about the song, or my mood. Not just a random string of words that rhyme.

Now im just a beginner in all this lark so big up for the new forum. great idea for all us aspiring to write.

frobisher · 02-03-2007 10:29pm

Thanks for the support vengance! Hopefully we'll be seeing more of you.

Great replies. I love reading about how people work in different ways.

Savman · 04-03-2007 2:42am

Lyrics go last for me and usually take months. It's all about the chords for me, not G C D repeated but instead venturing outside the Oasis shapes. I just try write a good choon but without sticking to my "process" - sometimes you have to break out of that mode to improve. I really haven't a clue how to put it all into words.:o

Songs based around guitar riffs alone bore me to tears tbh.

judas101 · 04-03-2007 2:49pm

Doctor J wrote:

I like to write music heavy on groove with the occasional freakout

very well said indeed.

it's defo a case of music before lyrics for me.

Shiminay · 07-03-2007 5:17am

Music first - usually a riff starts out on the acoustic and I'll tinker with it and try it at different speeds and on different guitars (I'm blessed to have a couple of decent electrics). Lyrics will be added after.

Occasionally I'll have a flash and will write down a load of lyrics and not have any particular song in mind, but I prefer to have riffs/melody in mind first.

Gaspode · 08-03-2007 2:40pm

For me its a mixture - sometimes a riff or nice chord sequence comes first and I figure out lyrics to go with them, or sometimes I write a bunch of lyrics and then either try straight away to put them to music, or more often, put them in storage until I get a riff or melody that suits. It's probably been slightly different for every song.

Also, some of the songs in their current format bear little resemblance to what they were when first written.

It wasn't me! · 08-03-2007 11:17pm

Oh, riffs, every time. Riffs and chords and progressions or a bassline, I don't do or get lyrics, personally, but I can do some damn weird and cool music.

Helix · 08-03-2007 11:21pm

i have nothing to write about

which is unfortunate

i suppose i could write about apathy, but thatd be a bit hypocritical wouldnt it

Gaspode · 10-03-2007 11:04am

Helix wrote:

i suppose i could write about apathy, but thatd be a bit hypocritical wouldnt it

Been done to death anyway!

Neurojazz · 11-03-2007 12:56am

I get an emotion from a melody or soundscape / pad that i'm playing with and then compliment that section by building parts in a loop and then use those parts to arrange from... sometimes i have to tear everything away if i muck it up and start again till i'm not listening for things to change and just enjoying the music

frobisher · 11-03-2007 1:38pm

Neurojazz wrote:

I get an emotion from a melody or soundscape / pad that i'm playing with and then compliment that section by building parts in a loop and then use those parts to arrange from... sometimes i have to tear everything away if i muck it up and start again till i'm not listening for things to change and just enjoying the music

Sounds interesting. What kind of music do you make?

Frankiestylee · 12-03-2007 3:35pm

Ideally I'd love to start with a vocal melody and rough lyrics, then record them roughly and start to refine the lyrics and melody.

In reality I'm not a good enough musician to do this, my vox tend to be more complex then my musical know-how, so now I normally start with music and fit lyrics and melody to it.

It depends what I'm writing for. If I'm feeling a particular emotion I can write something pretty easily and the whole song will just come together, but if like at the moment, I'm writing a song for somebodies birthday, the lyrics are a bit more mechanically made and a bit more planning goes on.

dr.bollocko · 12-03-2007 3:50pm

My method kinda varies depending on day / month / year.
First is selecting the guitar to write on. I have one for my different moods, so its always a no-brainer which one to choose. I'll tend to use humbuking for heavy riffs, a hollowbody for melody and trebley jingley goodness, and a strat for that sweet clean strat twang.

If I am actually TRYING to write something, it is generally a case of waiting until I am a bit fuzzy wrecked on some smoke and making noises, playing random notes, chords, riffs etc. on my guitar until two or three nice chord shapes go together. Its a slow process. I tend to need to be in the right headspace. That rare time when the whole world fuzzes out of immediate recognition, the lights are low, there is almost a tear in your eye and you are playing notes that sound like how you are feeling.
From developing a basic riff, it could take me years to finish the song, but I always remember the riffs and try to modify them. For a fairly average guitarist, i tend to throw the kitchen sink into my own stuff moreso maybe than focusing on how to learn from someone else... probably not a good idea either.
Sometimes I start with lyrics, but rarely. Most of what I write turns to poetry, which still has rhythm, rhyme etc. but doesnt translate well to a riff or a song.

*Tripper* · 18-03-2007 5:39pm

Well for me I could be sitting on the bus or anywhere and a cool little line pops into my head that i just can't forget. Then head home and fiddle around with the guitar and just see what i can say! I'm gonna start putting more pen to paper though and get a few basic recordings up!

Oh and i also find it helps if when i'm having trouble with my guitar chords just pop on a caop or sit at the piano with the same lyrics and see what happens!

tj-music.com · 19-03-2007 1:59am

frobisher wrote:

I usually start with words. Sometimes it's a complete song's worth sometimes it can be no more than a sentence or even a word or two. ...

I nearly always start with music. A chord that comes to mind or a little melody and I take it from there. Usually as the song progresses the mood changes and the playing around with harmonies and sounds creates images in my head and I suppose that´s where the lyrics come from.

JC 2K3 · 19-03-2007 2:09am

Usually I'm just messing around with my guitar and I'll play something cool, tab it out, maybe try to expand on it a little until I've got something solid. From then on the the song will generally just formulate in my head over the next few weeks or so.

I can't just sit down and write lyrics for music as such, well sometimes I do(and they've been some of my favourites), but a lot of the time I'll just think of a killer line that would go with some music I've written and write some lyrics around it. Although often I'll go months between writing verses of the same song.

Neurojazz · 20-03-2007 10:13pm

frobisher wrote:

Sounds interesting. What kind of music do you make?

I make alsorts - i've been in way too many bands so my style has turned into a melodic soup

- at the moment i do dancy stuff because i need cheering up

- you can get onto my myspace, just add me as a myspace friend and i'll add you

http://www.myspace.com/neurojazz

There are some snippets up there of older stuff, but i can put my hand to anything and bring taste to it.

DMBandit · 21-03-2007 6:41pm

*Tripper* wrote:

Well for me I could be sitting on the bus or anywhere and a cool little line pops into my head that i just can't forget. Then head home and fiddle around with the guitar and just see what i can say! I'm gonna start putting more pen to paper though and get a few basic recordings up!

Oh and i also find it helps if when i'm having trouble with my guitar chords just pop on a caop or sit at the piano with the same lyrics and see what happens!

Exact same for me. Exact same

yevveh · 07-05-2007 11:45pm

I only ever write music (not lyrics), and perhaps I'm a little unusual in that I write on bass. I have an acoustic guitar but I'm not that good at it so I tend to do all my writing on the bass. Mostly, I get inspiration when listening to a song, as I'm pretty much always listening to music in one form or another while I'm at the computer and I pretty much always have my bass on me while I'm here too. Often the stuff I write has absolutely nothing in common with the song I'm listening to, I'd just use it for the drums / general feeling. But usually I'll be playing something and notice that it sounds nice. When I have the idea I usually change it a fair bit before I even show it to the rest of the band (I'm all for collective songwriting) by jamming it out and seeing if I can figure out what sort of chorus comes out.

Once I've done that I usually show it to the band, mostly the guitarist. Songwriting isn't his forté but he has a good ear and helps me iron out the idea. Then the drums pretty much fall in, sometimes myself or the guitarist will have an idea for them, other times and probably more often than not he'll play what he thinks sounds right. The lyrics are always the last thing to come as our vocalist is in another band so he "saves" his pre-written lyrics for them, which is probably best as they're far more old school rock than we are. Once the song is basically put together the guitarist and I usually go through the song bit by bit and see if we can put a few variations in there, and fills usually develop naturally.

So, it's the band effort for me. Personally I prefer that, I wouldn't want a band to be all me - I generally get a better feeling from a tune when everybody has had input on it and we've all more or less agreed on it and what we like.

It wasn't me! · 08-05-2007 11:11pm

yevveh wrote:

I generally get a better feeling from a tune when everybody has had input on it and we've all more or less agreed on it and what we like.

Yeah, I always get that from working with other people too, need to get me something up and running after the Leaving.

Dord · 28-05-2007 4:15pm

I haven't written any full songs yet, but I had one or two half completed ones but I've lost the book they were written in.

I tend to come up with lyrics while going about my normal life, I find it hard to just sit down and write. I've come up with some good lyrics while out and about but forgotten them before I get home. That annoys me lots :mad: Oh well...

JarOfFlies · 19-09-2008 11:35pm

Music first, then add lyrics.

For some reason I find it impossible to do the other way around :pac:

G-izzles · 03-10-2008 5:28pm

For some reason I write best at night (For best results, see three in the morning!) So can't exactly whip out the amp and set it to 11 then. The acoustic doesn't even get a quiet look in so it's pen to paper for me. Have to say, I've a mountain of lyrics in my room (most of a notepad) so mostly it's lyrics then music but every now and then I whip out the guitar and just go for it with music then lyrics.

Of course the best practice for music then lyrics is instrumentals! Finished two now, pretty good ones too - If i say so myself

humberklog · 04-10-2008 10:12pm

I'm trying something new. And some of it influenced by here.
I've been fiddling around with funny tuning. Mostly I'd start with an air plucked outta nowhere, feel where the tune puts me and then start scribbling. It really is 1% inspiration and 99%hard work(good work, lovely work...but hard work). This time around I've started with an air but as there's a new sound going through the grey matter a big feeling and sense of place came over me that was too much to comprehend in dealing with the emotions drawn to get some leverage in to start the story. I was on new ground. Unfamiliar territory.
So I'm trying at moment to write the story on the person. A full, but brief enough story, then put it to verse then to lyrics. Stripping away as much hyperbole as possible and taking it to its bones. So to summerise...I'm joining up the music and creating a sound that is drawing the picture in prose. Then I'm framing it in verse and finally reducing it to lyrics and landing it smoothly across the sound that inspired it.

Duff_Man · 07-10-2008 8:20pm

i tend to write guitar riffs and harmonies and then put progressions around it and build a song from there.. i dont handle the lyrical end of it(the singers gotta do somethin) i find it easier to write something when i have a good harmony or riff to work with though!

What is your songwriting process?

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