Another question about songwriting

[Wayjurn]

There was a thread earlier about lyrics. Now I'm going to ask the opposite question. We have no problem with lyrics, but the actual are hard to come up with. What are your strategies for writing music? And do you usually come up with music first or lyrics first?

[joeinthebox1980]

it all depends... sometimes the lyrics will just flow out and music is hard to write, sometimes the tune will be golden but the lyrics are difficult to write.

as for writing music itself... i try to employ many different methods so i can explore different creative avenues.

figure out tunes on an electric or an acoustic. start out with a riff and build from there.

what sort of music do you play?

[Wayjurn]

It's tough to describe accurately. There is a mix of strong pop-rock, punk, emo, funk metal, and hardcore. I mean, we try to write energetic and passionate music, but at the same time there is a very positive and peaceful vibe that permeates the songs we've written.

[joeinthebox1980]

do you play a little piano at all?

try writing songs from there... it's quite a different experience.

[Wayjurn]

We've actually considered that, but only our singer plays piano and as far as I know she hasn't come up with anything, or if she has she hasn't brought any of her ideas into practice. I can kind of play piano in that I can put my fingers on a few notes and know that they'll sound OK together, however I can't read music and I can't really play by ear so I can't say that I play piano. Besides all this I have nothing to practice on so it's really an exercise in futility.

[joeinthebox1980]

Originally posted by Wayjurn
We've actually considered that, but only our singer plays piano and as far as I know she hasn't come up with anything, or if she has she hasn't brought any of her ideas into practice. I can kind of play piano in that I can put my fingers on a few notes and know that they'll sound OK together, however I can't read music and I can't really play by ear so I can't say that I play piano. Besides all this I have nothing to practice on so it's really an exercise in futility.

ahh... i see. well, you should try to convince the singer to pick up a keyboard or something and come up with some tunes on the piano.

i dunno... i think it's all about jamming and seeing what sort of music comes out of that. or hum a tune and then try to reproduce that on the guitar and build from there.

you could try going in layers... build from a simple bassline, to actual chords, to short riffs, etc.

[Greyskull]

We write the music first, then present it to the singer.
Jimmy (singer) checks it out and throws in his two cents.
Keep what we all like, lose what we don't.

Its a little bit more tedious process than "here's how the goes, do your thing" but overall well worth the extra time, as we all get what we want.

If we are not all excited about our ****, who will be ???

I have only been able to write music to lyrics once...and that was for a "sappy" song...

[sk8punck7976]

i write all guitar and bass, and almost all lyrics, then then our singer (what is it with chick singers that play piano?) will make the vocal part sound better then i do. shelll add in little note changes or whatnot and itll sound nice. and our drummer just sits in the back and actslike he really knows how to play.