How do you compose?

[sherok]

I guess the answer to this question comes anyway you like it. Some songwriters who get paid to write songs that is.... write songs to get paid.... answer this question I've been told this way....."You sit down and you write...write...write!" Sometimes a bass line, sometimes a drum beat to start. Sometimes it starts with a groove and inspires off of that. Sometimes the emotion spins off the idea and just lands with the lyrics first. It can't always be systematic if it's anything with real raw emotion especially when it comes to lyrics and melody. One thing you can do is be honest with yourself, if you're not a lyric person, toss it to someone who is and stick to the music. Often a song suffers because of that. You wouldn't put together a great band and then throw it a bad song to record. Don't put together a great song but give it bad lyrics or visa versa. I know someone for example who can come up with great grooves, which he's great at doing and successful as a writer in the industry. This one particular groove I'm thinking of one year he came up with was great and he wrote it but he doesn't do lyrics and never has and so he passed the lyrics part off to someone else who does do well with lyrics and together the finished product of course is perfect. Something like that pays off sometimes. For him and all involved it paid off, the song ended up in the Beverly Hills Cop movie...and was recorded by the recording artists group who decided to record his song, plus ended up on the top 10 or something like that plus it also ended up on the soundtrack... that of course means bread on the table for a songwriter and so forth and you get the picture... So if you write grooves stick to that, if you write lyrics go with that and connect with others rather than do it all. Just my measly 2 cents....

[acoustic]

I compose with my hart at my finger tips my sole in my arms and my life in my feet all the grates live the hirt the love the joy the lonleyness and make a master peace or just crap but someone will like it

acoustic

[LPS]

Tunes, and/or lyrics, come to visit me on a regular basis, always after something has inspired me. So go toward the things which inspire you...for me that's a quiet evening by a lake, or a full moon, maybe a hike in the woods or a really beautiful piece of poetry. Sometimes it's a story with a really poignant theme. It might be an event that happened to me, or it might be something silly, even a really clever comic strip. Whatever gives you strong feelings.

Also look at your life experiences. What do you have to say? What, or who, has shaped and made who you are? What do you struggle with, and what is the most valuable to you? What do you live for, what would you fight for or even die for? Communicate those things into your music, and people will respond.

Music is language, not with words, but sounds. Spend time listening, practicing, and learning what other people have written that has endured. I have a good command of several styles of music, as well as how to write it down, because I've spent most of thirty-five years doing this. If you need help with musical notation, or developing your favorite style, take lessons and spend lots of time listening to the kind of music you want to write. Musicians have to do a lot of listening and practicing to be good at what they do.

So, make 'em laugh, make 'em cry, make 'em dance, make 'em mad, but make 'em FEEL something! For me personally, nothing else in the world is as satisfying as bringing to life a good piece of music.

[Laura]

Originally Posted by LPS

Tunes, and/or lyrics, come to visit me on a regular basis, always after something has inspired me. So go toward the things which inspire you...for me that's a quiet evening by a lake, or a full moon, maybe a hike in the woods or a really beautiful piece of poetry. Sometimes it's a story with a really poignant theme. It might be an event that happened to me, or it might be something silly, even a really clever comic strip. Whatever gives you strong feelings.

Hahaha....
I love the woods & Nature, but I've never written a song about that. The things that inspire songs are usually bad experiences . As far as lyrics, mine always come out as punk-blues tempo rants. Which is annoying because I would NEVER listen to that kind of music.

[LPS]

You love the woods and nature but never written a song about them? Why not?

Give yourself permission to be who you are and like that person. What do you love? Maybe you ARE a punk/blues person inside. A punk/blues person who loves nature.

Take out your brains and play with them for awhile, if you know what I mean.
Get in the habit of letting ideas flow, no matter what combinations come out. Go ahead & write the punk/blues rants. You'll have to take whatever comes, in the order it comes, then you can sort through it all later and decide what to keep & what to discard. The main thing is get the ideas flowing.

[Laura]

Originally Posted by LPS

You love the woods and nature but never written a song about them? Why not?

because being in Nature is complete in itself. It doesn't need to 'come out' or be 'expressed'. The stuff that bugs me & makes me angry need to be expressed.

Maybe you ARE a punk/blues person inside. A punk/blues person who loves nature.

Yeah, maybe so, because I've never been inspired to write things that are mushy & sentimental.

[Brett Wall]

Music without lyrics...Why?


LOL

[brandondrury]

Music without lyrics...Why?

Why not?

Brandon

[xultrabluex]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

Why not?

Brandon

such a question should be raised more in songwriting nowadays.

[Gabriel_S]

GREAT topic !!! I thoroughly enjoyed reading everyones technique on coming up with song ideas. I could go off on this topic for days but I won't bore you to death....lol. So here's my thoughts on it in a nutshell.To me songwriting is the same as sex. You have to be in the mood or it just doesn't feel right (thought i was going to say something else huh......lol?) NEVER try to force either, too much work involved

Me I have no set boundaries or rules. Anything goes...period. I usually just start off with a groove I've been humming and ideas that have been lurking in my head and just let the song build itself. I record EVERYTHING I do and many a time I'll play it back and hear something cool and say to myself "Hmmmm, I could do something with that".

I do have 2 simple rules I live by though, "Simple Is Always Best and Imagination Is More Important Than knowledge.