Starting to write my own material.........

Jam10

I was curious how everyone on this board writes their own music or how bands do it. Do you come up with a riff first, the music or the lyrics or does it always change and depend on your mood?
I'm starting to write my own material using my RC 20XL and it's going really well but I'm having a tough time with the lyrics. I want my lyrics to mean something not just some poppy catchy rhyming song. (Not that there is anything wrong with that). I listen to Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains lyrics and there is some really deep stuff there. I want to write good stuff so I'm looking for advice. Do you come up with the lyrics first or the music first and try to fit some lyrics with the music you came up with?

Thanks

the wolf

i write in all different kind of ways. im always writing words down, lyrics, poems. sometimes just one line, and sometimes just words that i like.

sometimes i will be just playing the guitar, and come across something i like, and will either write new lyrics, or if im coming up blank i search my notebooks for something that will work.

sometimes i write the lyrics to the mealody im already hearing in my head, then i will pick up the guitar to fit to the lyrics.

its different all the time.

just dont force the lyrics to try to be "deep" cause they come off sounding stupid.

just write what comes natural. if its something you feel, whos to say if its deep or not?

Jam10

the wolf wrote:

i write in all different kind of ways. im always writing words down, lyrics, poems. sometimes just one line, and sometimes just words that i like.

sometimes i will be just playing the guitar, and come across something i like, and will either write new lyrics, or if im coming up blank i search my notebooks for something that will work.

sometimes i write the lyrics to the mealody im already hearing in my head, then i will pick up the guitar to fit to the lyrics.

its different all the time.

just dont force the lyrics to try to be "deep" cause they come off sounding stupid.

just write what comes natural. if its something you feel, whos to say if its deep or not?

Good point! Thanks.

Anon

There's not any right or wrong way, and there's no real rules to follow. If you don't want to, you don't even need to write lyrics, there are plenty of tunes that have a melody with no words. It's just that most of us will probably try to identify with lyrics when they listen to a song. Try to remember when you are writing lyrics that they should be real, they should come from the heart, and they should sound believable. If you are genuine when you're writing your lyrics, it will come through in the end. I dunno about anyone else, but some of my best stuff has come from when i've been through a couple of real tough times. It's honest and it's raw and there's so much more passion surrounding it, because you are relating it to something real and i can get that out through my playing so much easier than with talking to a friend if that makes sense.

I've kept a journal since i was little and i'm always writing things down in there. If you don't want a journal then grab a little note pad thingie and keep it in your pockets. Doesn't matter what it is. Happy stuff, sad stuff, what inspires you, what's making you feel awesome, who's pissing you off, anything. Write it down at the time and then you can use this to build a foundation for any words that you want to express through your music.

Practice with a song you are really digging at the moment. Try coming up with something in a similar style to that song, or try taking that song and coming up with a variation of it. Use the same chords but write a different melody. Switch the chords up a little as you go to start making it sound different. Substitute another chord here and there, or try playing the original progression backwards to see if you come up with a cool new melody.

Pick a chord and start playing it, try singing a melody over the top of it, and see if it naturally leads you to the next chord. If it leads you to a chord you don't like, start over until you find the right one. What's cool about that is you might even play a chord that sounds different from what you intended and leads your melody off into another cool direction.
Start experimenting by playing a chord progression, riff, or other harmonic idea by itself, first. When you stumble upon something you like, write a melody that complements it. Try playing some of the chords for half a bar instead of a full bar, or two bars instead of one and mess around with the tempo.

After saying all that though, remember from the heart buddy, and the notebook. That's the best advice i can give.

xtremehardy388

I usually have to be inspired. My best songs have taken me three minutes to write but a lot of emotion to write them. Don't force yourself to write-let it come freely. I wrote "To Me" when trying to learn Unemployable. I was going through a lot and then, I started messing with the chords. Three minutes later, I had "To Me". Another song I wrote, Runway, took a little longer. The music was written in a few minutes, in my science teachers room (we were jamming). After a few months of improvising lyrics at shows, I got a call from an ex and starting writing instantly. In a couple minutes-the song was done.

Jam10

Pj_Gurl wrote:

There's not any right or wrong way, and there's no real rules to follow. If you don't want to, you don't even need to write lyrics, there are plenty of tunes that have a melody with no words. It's just that most of us will probably try to identify with lyrics when they listen to a song. Try to remember when you are writing lyrics that they should be real, they should come from the heart, and they should sound believable. If you are genuine when you're writing your lyrics, it will come through in the end. I dunno about anyone else, but some of my best stuff has come from when i've been through a couple of real tough times. It's honest and it's raw and there's so much more passion surrounding it, because you are relating it to something real and i can get that out through my playing so much easier than with talking to a friend if that makes sense.

I've kept a journal since i was little and i'm always writing things down in there. If you don't want a journal then grab a little note pad thingie and keep it in your pockets. Doesn't matter what it is. Happy stuff, sad stuff, what inspires you, what's making you feel awesome, who's pissing you off, anything. Write it down at the time and then you can use this to build a foundation for any words that you want to express through your music.

Practice with a song you are really digging at the moment. Try coming up with something in a similar style to that song, or try taking that song and coming up with a variation of it. Use the same chords but write a different melody. Switch the chords up a little as you go to start making it sound different. Substitute another chord here and there, or try playing the original progression backwards to see if you come up with a cool new melody.

Pick a chord and start playing it, try singing a melody over the top of it, and see if it naturally leads you to the next chord. If it leads you to a chord you don't like, start over until you find the right one. What's cool about that is you might even play a chord that sounds different from what you intended and leads your melody off into another cool direction.
Start experimenting by playing a chord progression, riff, or other harmonic idea by itself, first. When you stumble upon something you like, write a melody that complements it. Try playing some of the chords for half a bar instead of a full bar, or two bars instead of one and mess around with the tempo.

After saying all that though, remember from the heart buddy, and the notebook. That's the best advice i can give.

Thanks Pj Gurl! You always have great advice. My mother passed away 5 years ago when I was 23 and that is the song I really want to write something about but I don't know where to start. I want it to really mean something and have a beautiful melody to it.

xtremehardy388

Jam10 wrote:

Thanks Pj Gurl! You always have great advice. My mother passed away 5 years ago when I was 23 and that is the song I really want to write something about but I don't know where to start. I want it to really mean something and have a beautiful melody to it.

She's always got great advice and has a killer voice. Her own stuff is beautiful

Jam10

Pj_Gurl wrote:

There's not any right or wrong way, and there's no real rules to follow. If you don't want to, you don't even need to write lyrics, there are plenty of tunes that have a melody with no words. It's just that most of us will probably try to identify with lyrics when they listen to a song. Try to remember when you are writing lyrics that they should be real, they should come from the heart, and they should sound believable. If you are genuine when you're writing your lyrics, it will come through in the end. I dunno about anyone else, but some of my best stuff has come from when i've been through a couple of real tough times. It's honest and it's raw and there's so much more passion surrounding it, because you are relating it to something real and i can get that out through my playing so much easier than with talking to a friend if that makes sense.

I've kept a journal since i was little and i'm always writing things down in there. If you don't want a journal then grab a little note pad thingie and keep it in your pockets. Doesn't matter what it is. Happy stuff, sad stuff, what inspires you, what's making you feel awesome, who's pissing you off, anything. Write it down at the time and then you can use this to build a foundation for any words that you want to express through your music.

Practice with a song you are really digging at the moment. Try coming up with something in a similar style to that song, or try taking that song and coming up with a variation of it. Use the same chords but write a different melody. Switch the chords up a little as you go to start making it sound different. Substitute another chord here and there, or try playing the original progression backwards to see if you come up with a cool new melody.

Pick a chord and start playing it, try singing a melody over the top of it, and see if it naturally leads you to the next chord. If it leads you to a chord you don't like, start over until you find the right one. What's cool about that is you might even play a chord that sounds different from what you intended and leads your melody off into another cool direction.
Start experimenting by playing a chord progression, riff, or other harmonic idea by itself, first. When you stumble upon something you like, write a melody that complements it. Try playing some of the chords for half a bar instead of a full bar, or two bars instead of one and mess around with the tempo.

After saying all that though, remember from the heart buddy, and the notebook. That's the best advice i can give.

I would like to listen to some of your material if that's cool with you!

keeponrockin

Jam10 wrote:

I would like to listen to some of your material if that's cool with you!

Add me to that list!

ianvomsaal

Jam10 wrote:

I would like to listen to some of your material if that's cool with you!

+1
I'd luv 2 hear some of your tunes.

Thoughts_Arrive

I've had to get out of bed a few times to grab a pen and paper to write words that ''just come to me out of the blue'' and I have a melody in my head.
They end up being songs.

I hate how sometimes my lyrics are to obvious, I'd like to make them incite thought.

All Those Yesterdays

I've done it all ways. The first song ever for me I had the entire music portion written. Then I happened to go to a movie and there was a line in the movie that just blew my mind, wrote the song around that entire line.

I've had lyrics that I later wroted music too also. Lately I seem to have the entire idea in my head all day. When I get home, pull out the acoustic and a pad of paper and just keep going at it and see if I get something out of it or not.

Don't get me wrong it's not easy, I have lots and lots of single lines written in a few different note books. Nothing will probably never come out of any of it, but then again you never know.

Good luck though! Have fun!

mfc2006

this is pretty much the same as everyone else's, but oh well!!

i write a lot of lyrics. i've always loved writing---so most of the time while i'm writing, i'll start to for a melody for a portion of the lyrics and go from there...

sometimes, it will just be built around a riff or chord progression...i'll start humming, and i go from there.

when i have these ideas and i think that they're worth exploring, i always record them. even if the words are incomplete---i'll either pull lyrics off the top of my head to fit the melody or i'll just hum the vocal melody in my head while recording. i've been pleasantly surprised by some of those "made-up lyrics" in the past. i try to tune myself out of everything else and get lost in the song & the words.

the rare times for me is when the song just writes itself. the words, music, emotion, tone...it all just fits. like i said, this is rare...but when it happens, it's a lot of fun.

the key for me is not to put too much pressure on the song and to just let it happen. be patient & have fun with it. when i started out (when i was younger so i didn't know wnay better), i would say to myself--"I'm going to write a song now." it didn't work that way for me because i hadn't developed my method or my musical voice yet.

different things work for different people. an old bandmate of mine could only write @ night with very little light. he had to set the mood for himself. that was his thing.

for me---if i have an idea, i write it down. no matter where i am.

have fun. find your voice and listen to it. cheers!:)

(hope this kind of made some sense)

Jam10

Thanks for all the advice. There is really great ideas and tips from everyone here!

digster

One thing I've often tried with my songwriting,

If you're listening to a song you really love, try singing along but make up your own lyrics. Or if you're playing a song on your guitar, just make up your own lyrics. This can help if you have a song with a melody but are stuck on what you want to say. Since 99% of the time, I tend to come up with the music and melody before the lyrics, I can often feel debilitated about the pressure and demand of having lyrics that are poetic (because like many I don't want to continue on with the same ol cliches, as you've mentioned). This way, singing along to some song and making up the lyrics, the music and the melody is already taken care of, the pieces are already in place for you to build upon. That way, once you get the initial inspiration your brain will take over and you will be able to sculpt it.

xtremehardy388

The most pain you've ever felt can be the most beautiful song. It's been said to me about a song I wrote and I felt the same about one of PJ_Gurl's songs...

Jam10

I got it, now I just have to record it! I got the lyrics, the melody and the music and everything seems to flow really nicely. I am very pleased.

Thanks for all your help once again!

Austicman

No rules just let it flow. Try and keep a note pad or a pocket tape recorder handy at all times. You never know when they flow. As a general rule when you sit down and say "I'm going to write a song" it'll never come.

ianvomsaal

Jam10 wrote:

I got it, now I just have to record it! I got the lyrics, the melody and the music and everything seems to flow really nicely. I am very pleased.

Thanks for all your help once again!

now after all this build-up you'll need to post it for us to listen to.

fleahorse

thats true, you gotta put it up

mfc2006

yup. i'm anxious to hear it!

Jam10

ianvomsaal wrote:

now after all this build-up you'll need to post it for us to listen to.

Once I get recorded I will. It might take me a few months to get recorded because I want to get professionally done probably by my instructor and I don't have any recording equipment myself, so please be patient once I have it recorded I will post it.
Thanks

exhausted

often times i'll end up writing a first little part with a riff or progression and one lyric idea. then i'll work out the rest of the arrangement with mumbled syllables.

then i'll get distracted recording parts for it and putting off writing the rest of the lyrics.

then i'll add it to the bin of completed recording i'll never write proper words for. haha.