Song writing help, please.!
Question: Song writing help, please!.
How do you write a song!? My dad thinks I have a nice voice and all, but he thinks I should write my own songs!. Im 13, going on 14!. Is there any trick to it!? Do you write the lyrics as you write the melody, or just the lyrics, and then the melody!.!.!. or the melody, and then the lyrics!. Sorry, im quite confused!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
Answers:
Ahh, the 64,000 dollar question!.!.!.
Firstly, songwriting usually involves a long-haul commitment to learning the artform, which has three segments: music, lyrics, and vocal melody!. Learn as much as you're able or care to about music theory, etc!. (and it's advisable to learn an instrument, the guitar being a natural choice), and become as obsessed as you can stand with the English language!.
Tackle each thing individually for a while; experiment with chords and progressions (and learn how to hum along, which will prime your coordination for the belly-patting-head-rubbing paradox of simultaneously singing and playing), and another person had the great suggestion of doing some poems, which will hone your writing chops!. You most likely already do this, but singing along with your favorite songs is also good!. The more you know about each segment, the more interesting and innovative your songs may turn out to be!.
I think the best way to start is to learn to sing (and play, if possible) your favorite songs, and figure out what works about them on at least a gut/emotional level!. Learn a bunch of "covers," and then you can try to write something with a similar feel using those cover songs as a template!.
As far as the actual songwriting process, there are a million different ways to create a song!.
I think starting with a great piece of music, a provocative chord progression, is probably the best way!. The chords can then suggest vocal melodies to you, which will eventually morph into phonetic syllables, and finally shape themselves into words!. If you're familiar with chord theory and the basics of songwriting structure, it becomes virtually academic!.
I've begun to find that this kind of flow can work the other way around as well!. You can also start with a great idea, like a song title [like one I wrote called '(If I Had My) Druthers'], which in itself can at least suggest a rhythm (if not the entire flow of they lyric, since having the title in place dictates the bent of the verses, etc!.), and then you're off and running!.
It looks like you're awfully young, so be patient; you haven't amassed too much life experience yet, and it takes time to get to a place as an artist where you're able to transform your own personal experience(s) into something universal and timeless, something everyone can relate to!. I believe this is the ultimate goal of good professional songwriting!.
* * *
Songwriting's not for everybody!.!.!.not to be discouraging, but it's an ongoing process of refinement and commitment to the craft!. You'll write 100 bad songs before you get to the good ones (even the Beatles had to go through this), and meanwhile you'll be getting over insecurities about your voice and musicianship and constantly striving to improve!. Then you'll stand up in front of an audience for the first time to play your songs and will recognize stage fright as yet one more obstacle to overcome on the songwriting path, let alone dealing with the criticism that may follow(!)!. Then you'll notice how many singer/songwriters there actually are out there, and that it's next to impossible to stand out and get noticed, let alone make a living at it!.
Some people decide they'd rather just sing songs and have other people do the writing and playing (maybe you have friends who write with whom you can collaborate--outsourcing can be a great option for certain artists [like Elvis and Frank Sinatra] who prefer to concentrate on performing)!. Either way, there are plenty of options, and you're still young, so there's plenty of time to figure out exactly what you'd like to do!.
I wish you the best of luck, apologize if this is excessively pedantic or discouraging, and encourage you to follow your heart and your own inner voice above all others!.
Cheers!Www@Enter-QA@Com
Firstly, songwriting usually involves a long-haul commitment to learning the artform, which has three segments: music, lyrics, and vocal melody!. Learn as much as you're able or care to about music theory, etc!. (and it's advisable to learn an instrument, the guitar being a natural choice), and become as obsessed as you can stand with the English language!.
Tackle each thing individually for a while; experiment with chords and progressions (and learn how to hum along, which will prime your coordination for the belly-patting-head-rubbing paradox of simultaneously singing and playing), and another person had the great suggestion of doing some poems, which will hone your writing chops!. You most likely already do this, but singing along with your favorite songs is also good!. The more you know about each segment, the more interesting and innovative your songs may turn out to be!.
I think the best way to start is to learn to sing (and play, if possible) your favorite songs, and figure out what works about them on at least a gut/emotional level!. Learn a bunch of "covers," and then you can try to write something with a similar feel using those cover songs as a template!.
As far as the actual songwriting process, there are a million different ways to create a song!.
I think starting with a great piece of music, a provocative chord progression, is probably the best way!. The chords can then suggest vocal melodies to you, which will eventually morph into phonetic syllables, and finally shape themselves into words!. If you're familiar with chord theory and the basics of songwriting structure, it becomes virtually academic!.
I've begun to find that this kind of flow can work the other way around as well!. You can also start with a great idea, like a song title [like one I wrote called '(If I Had My) Druthers'], which in itself can at least suggest a rhythm (if not the entire flow of they lyric, since having the title in place dictates the bent of the verses, etc!.), and then you're off and running!.
It looks like you're awfully young, so be patient; you haven't amassed too much life experience yet, and it takes time to get to a place as an artist where you're able to transform your own personal experience(s) into something universal and timeless, something everyone can relate to!. I believe this is the ultimate goal of good professional songwriting!.
* * *
Songwriting's not for everybody!.!.!.not to be discouraging, but it's an ongoing process of refinement and commitment to the craft!. You'll write 100 bad songs before you get to the good ones (even the Beatles had to go through this), and meanwhile you'll be getting over insecurities about your voice and musicianship and constantly striving to improve!. Then you'll stand up in front of an audience for the first time to play your songs and will recognize stage fright as yet one more obstacle to overcome on the songwriting path, let alone dealing with the criticism that may follow(!)!. Then you'll notice how many singer/songwriters there actually are out there, and that it's next to impossible to stand out and get noticed, let alone make a living at it!.
Some people decide they'd rather just sing songs and have other people do the writing and playing (maybe you have friends who write with whom you can collaborate--outsourcing can be a great option for certain artists [like Elvis and Frank Sinatra] who prefer to concentrate on performing)!. Either way, there are plenty of options, and you're still young, so there's plenty of time to figure out exactly what you'd like to do!.
I wish you the best of luck, apologize if this is excessively pedantic or discouraging, and encourage you to follow your heart and your own inner voice above all others!.
Cheers!Www@Enter-QA@Com
well ago has nothing to do with writing songs!.!.im 17 going 18!.!.only time age would count is when your voice has not cracked yet!.!.lol!.!.you could see why!.!.
well first of all!.!.everybody wrights songs in a diff way!.!.
here is how i write a song!.!.maybe it would help you!.!.
first i would just be playing my guitar!.!.and i rarely play something that somebody else wrote!.!.i always just randomly play stuff that sound good!.!.if i start thinking something sounds really good!.!.i turn it into a song and try and put other chords to go with it!.!.like a C and Em go really good together!.!.!.
well after i get the song down!.!.i start to hum to myself to it to get a good tempo of the song!.!.then when the humming sounds good!.!.ill try and turn the humming into words!.!.
hope this helps ya!.!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
well first of all!.!.everybody wrights songs in a diff way!.!.
here is how i write a song!.!.maybe it would help you!.!.
first i would just be playing my guitar!.!.and i rarely play something that somebody else wrote!.!.i always just randomly play stuff that sound good!.!.if i start thinking something sounds really good!.!.i turn it into a song and try and put other chords to go with it!.!.like a C and Em go really good together!.!.!.
well after i get the song down!.!.i start to hum to myself to it to get a good tempo of the song!.!.then when the humming sounds good!.!.ill try and turn the humming into words!.!.
hope this helps ya!.!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
The lyrics, in my opinion, come first!.
If you're stuck, then try writing a poem first, and adapting it into a set of lyrics!.
When you're writing, think of the rythm, but remember that you can always put that in later!.
Lastly, write from the heart, when you're feeling especially emotional, get out a pen and start writing, it'll be heaps easier when you feel like that, trust me, I do it all the time!.
Hope I helped ! Good Luck =)Www@Enter-QA@Com
If you're stuck, then try writing a poem first, and adapting it into a set of lyrics!.
When you're writing, think of the rythm, but remember that you can always put that in later!.
Lastly, write from the heart, when you're feeling especially emotional, get out a pen and start writing, it'll be heaps easier when you feel like that, trust me, I do it all the time!.
Hope I helped ! Good Luck =)Www@Enter-QA@Com
I write my own songs too!.Do whatever you want first!.If you are writing the lyrics and you think of a melody then you can do the melody after or at the same time you are doing the lyrics!.If you don't know what the lyrics are but you know what the melody is going to be then write the melody first!.If you know the lyrics and melody than write them at the same time!.Hope I helped!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
Most of the time if something happened to you like a breakup or something writing songs kinda lets you express yourr self!. oh and most of the time the lyrics and the melody kinda just come as you write them down!. hope this helps!Www@Enter-QA@Com