Do you find the chords, or do they find you?

[Julian]

I'm really new to writing songs, and guitar pieces used in a song proces, to become a real track.

So, when you play only for fun, and you find a good riff, do you then realize what chords it is?
Or do you just play chords, and build riffs upon the chords, you have found?

I just wondered when I for examble looked at the chords of stairway to heaven...

Any tips you can give me, when I'm writing guitarpieces?

I also wondered, when I heard Smells like teen spirit, when i hear the guitarsolo, which has the same melody as the text sung by Kurt. How do you do that? Do you listen, to the song and find the chords og the text, og do you first find all the chords, and simply build a text over it?

Just thinking..

[joeinthebox1980]

well there are a lot of ways to write different tracks.

i think one of the easiest ways to start is to start with the chords. think of a good set of chords for the verse, then the chorus, and then build words over it.

or you can even start with a riff, figure out which chords match the notes of the riff and build the song from there.

of course, you can just build a riff after you figure out which chords you want to use... which might be a bit easier.

yes, and as for solos that have the same melody as the vocals... you just figure out how you sing your vocals, and then just finds the notes that correspond with each note the vocalist sings. and then you go from there.

there really isn't one set way to write songs... i think it's best to develop your own style and constantly play around with chord structures and lyrics and what not.

[clifford]

the one thing i've found that works is: anything can work!

you can write a guitar part from lyrics, and lyrics to a guitar part.

when you're writing lyrics freely (not trying to fit them to a part), there's usually a certain rhythym you put into your words.. that makes it easier to write a guitar part, for me anyway. its ok if you stray from your original intention, as long as it works.

and as far as making vocal-mirroring solos, it's probably better to know scale shapes... then just play/mess around till it matches. thats the only way i've ever done it. if you can hum the pitches and remember the intervals, this will work wonders for your "figgerin out." another example of this technique can be found in hendrix's "If 6 Was 9,"

i read somewhere that the thing people will remember most about solos is the very beginning and the end; the way you start it, the way you end it. so if you're having trouble getting it to match, just maybe get the beginning and end, and kinda go crazy in the middle. just a suggestion, anything can work. just relax, and let the music come to you

[Julian]

Thanks for your help.

The reason, why I wanted to know, was that often when I started composing a set of chords, I thought the text to be sung wasn't that exicting.
But I'll try..

[clifford]

what kind of music do you play? typically the more information you give, the more help you can get

tempo/time signature changes and dynamics can really add to whatever you're doing, keeping the listener guessing.

maybe going from a chord progression to more of a riff based part of a song could help liven things up a bit. good luck!

[TheGrinnan]

If you're in a band, show someone else in the group what you've come up with and see if they have an easier time putting words to music/music to words. That happened quite a few times in my old band and it worked out great! (And hopefully you'll never get into an argument about who wrote what.)