How to do you write your songs

Jack · Senior Member

RE: How to do you write your songs

al2021 · Newbie

I usually approach writing from a "music first" viewpoint. I start with experimenting with chord progressions and rythms until I find one that interests me. The music sets a feel for the mood of the song and the mood leads to the lyrics. I usually write the song and record it fairly quickly (within a few hours) then I leave it alone for a while (anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of years) then I go back and start refining the rythm and lyrics. Some songs come together fairly quick and some never come together at all.

Native Import · Newbie

I am the bassist of the band I work in and I am also the primary song writer. Our method is a little eccentric. I come up with a rythm, not a bass line, and then I work that rythm into a bass line with either my drummer or lead guitarist. From there we all work on the song, adding little bits of ideas and changing things up until we get complete yet maluable product. After that I write the lryics, that process is just listening to the song as far and then thinking in images and seeing what it sparks in my head. Could be a train driving through a bizarre world or creatures or a guy in a hospital trying to get out but doesnt understand that he is realling stuck in his own mind, pretty much a story based narative. Then from there the singers rearranges the lyrics and works with them until he find a good groove and then we practice it and see what needs changed.
Im not sure why this works but each to their own. smile

fatherjobrien · Member

I write the most when I've been walking or just had some wild night on the town. The beat of my footfalls usually start something out and my mouth ends up chanting some line or another. Then people pass by and I'll hear snippets of their conversations. I like using common language, adages, and slang in my songs so it's good to get some ideas from plain talking passersby. Sometimes I already have a couple parts ready on guitar, other times I have them in my head once I've returned home to her (Bertha, my axe). I play around with each song quite a bit, try new chord changes, new melodies, new rhythms, new styles. I like to see what fits with the mood of the song. Over the next days or weeks, more lyrics come and the meanings are fleshed out, at least in my own head. I only completely understand my own song once the final lines are written, in most cases. It's an arduous process, but well worth it. It makes each song you write as independent from the last song you wrote as it is different from another artist. It seems that there are a lot of us out there who want that kind of progression or expansion. It's the re-assessment and development of our own artistic voice.

J.