Method

[S0UNDPHILE]

Hey everyone,

So I'm wondering.... Do you have a formula by which you write your songs? Examples:

1. Write the lyrics
2. Name the song according to the lyrics
3. Add the music

1. Think of a catchy title
2. Write lyrics and music for it

1. Make the music (provoking lyrics)
2. Write out the lyrics
3. Give it a title

I've tried all three, I've found the 3rd one to be the most efficient. Anyone else?

[jclampitt]

i use the third method for the most part, but every once in a while i'll use one of the first two methods.

[EnSkorSang]

I have no formula for a song at all....I find that if I write to a formula everything turns out too similar and dull. I just wait until an idea arrives, and then I set myself boundaries or limits to work within as I find a bit of pressure helps.
In terms of what comes first...lyrics or music, it is easier to write music then lyrics to it, but often writing lyrics first gives a better song as the other method forces you to fit the words to the music which can give some clunky lines and you dont have to be so inventive with your melodies.
You missed out a 4th method aswell....when you do both together...e.g. many of the songs i have written have started from a lines of lyrics which arrived complete with melody, then i would write another line and do the melody or vice versa. A few times a whole song, lyrics and everything has just been there.

[BillyShears]

I agree with EnSkorSang, if the same formula is used the results tend to get predictable and you end up being like AC/DC, people might like what you do but there are no surprises or anything special in the songs to get excited about. My AC/DC addicted friend saw what I just wrote - I think I'm in trouble :-)

I think its good to have a method to work with as long as there are lots of different ones to choose from.

[esskay]

There's a 5th as well if we're counting them(though I imagine the methods to writing a song our infinite) But jamming with other musicians. I mean not with writing the lyrics but I've came home and wrote many a song from an idea that would have never happened if it wasn't for spontaneous jamming. Especially if you have a verse or chorus that you don't know what to do with. Jamming on it with friends explores the possibilities that only another human player with his or her own style could bring to it. But I'd say try not to think of it as a math formula. It's giving me writers block as I type it. But thinking in formulas really closes off any creativity at least for me. To each their own I suppose.

[G.E.M]

This is my method.I make the music. Then write the chorus first, but if i'm in a rut i write the first verse first then the chorus, but most of the time i write the chorus first then i write the verses/sub chorus. Thats mty method in a nutshell.

[MetalGod]

Different strokes for different folks really, what ever works for you is a good method. I agree with Esskay on the jamming part. In my band almost all the songs have started as a jam session. Someone has an idea, could be anything - guitar riff, keyboard part, even drums - and the rest of us just join in. We usually end up with a bunch of new ideas that we then develop into full songs.

One important thing with this method: always record the jam! You can bet your ass that if you don't you will have forgotten that super idea next day (or even half an hour later, I'm getting old ).

When it comes to lyrics, I normally wait until the song is at least part finished. It helps to have some structure when writing lyrics, and the general tone of the music usually also helps to give me ideas about the text.

[Checkers55]

I use the first method. I've tried other ones, and I just seem to get nowhere. I suppose that only work is you have something to say first, though...

[dlh]

I've found that if I just relax and not really try to write the song, things happen easier.
I fiddle around with some progressions and a melody begins to form.
Over the years I've gotten in the habit of saving each one, no matter how stupid they are, cuz I use the stupid ones in stupid songs, sometimes.
I play the progression and melody over and over, sometimes the lyrics just fall out of my head, other times it takes weeks or years for a song to get finished.
I never push it any more, cuz when I do the end result sounds like I pushed it.

If I look at a page of lyrics, I have no idea where to go. I've tried several times and came up empty tuned.
It's easier for me to add a melody to a prog then the lyrics.

[DT Chris]

I just write songs any way they come. Quit trying to analyze and start making noise.