How the fuck do I get better at writing songs?
I have such a fucking hard time sitting down and writing anything and just end up putting ideas off until I get unmotivated and give up. :]
What are your guys' techniques for songwriting?
How the fuck do I get better at writing songs?
Tyler Perry
Logan Cox
they're called riffs for a reason
Jackson Wright
I talk to myself, or sing a little tune. Eventually I come up with something I like and I record myself. Over time I amass enough of those that I can throw a few of my best tunes together and create a complete song.
Julian Bailey
if you are not inspired by this than i dont know what to tell u
youtube.com
Chase Powell
Exactly what music theory is for mate.
Andrew Sanchez
Most of the time I stumble upon a motif or small phrase that sparks the rest of the composition, and once that small idea is there I know where I want to take the piece.
When that doesn't I think about a structure for a song or piece of music and draw it out. Then I try to figure out an atmosphere and mood (or the lack of) to accompany this arrangement. After that is set I'll either sit at the piano or just write some basic and random notation so I can go back and flesh it out later to fit the mood
Jacob Williams
practice
Jordan Green
Chords and melodies come to me from God, then I sorta make sounds and sing it out. Then I take those sounds and turn them into words that kinda sound right, and kinda make sense
It doesn't matter as long as it sounds good. Words first songs are usually pretty bad and not divinely inspired
Wyatt Foster
Owen Johnson
Two options: hear it in your head and then play it, or get good enough at an instrument to where you can fuck around and come up with things without planning it
Or best case, combine the two.
James Campbell
I never write anything in a sitting and I've just accepted that to be my method. The best stuff I've made has taken months to complete. The crowds respond a lot more positive to it than the stuff I spit out at the beginning.
David King
just write whatever pops into your head, or whatever you feel sounds right to you
don't think too hard about it, just write until something sticks
also don't overthink shit, that's when you doubt yourself and toss otherwise good ideas
or you could always just take the MC Ride approach and write nonsense but sell it off as cryptic and deep.
Aiden Davis
>he's never uncovered the meaning to a cryptic dg line
how embarrassing
Adrian Gonzalez
>Lyrics first
>improvise singing lyrics while playing along with an instrument you play (for me its guitar or keyboard)
>record yourself improvising this wordsetting
>listen back and pick out the best interpretations of the lyrics you like
>play through the song, iron out any bits that could be better, add more interesting chords
>once the song is pretty much complete, either record it into the DAW and begin the production process, or begin rehearsing it for a performance, or both, depending on what your final goal is for the song.
Some people start with the music first, and this can work, but I find lyrics first is better - it means you can match the chords and vocal melody to the meaning of the lyrics, and makes for better songwriting.
The best songs have the meaning of the lyrics underpinned by the music at all times. Either that, or play on the expectations by doing the opposite of what the lyrics imply, like "sunny day" on a minor chord in the song "we'll meet again".
Connor Rodriguez
>Writing songs
>tfw edm star
>only need to do random dubstep shit to get paid
have fun talking to your heart i guess.
Carson Peterson
>don't overthink shit, that's when you doubt yourself and toss otherwise good ideas
Depends on how you work. I'm a perfectionist so all I do is mull over everything till it's perfect.
Nicholas Ortiz
>Words first songs are usually pretty bad and not divinely inspired
what about literally every religious piece where the text comes first? Palestrina, Bach, all those vocal pieces where the text is word-painted and carefully set to the appropriate music.
Jayden Richardson
>edm "star"
Enjoy being forgotten in 5 years
Owen Anderson
Isaiah Wilson
>perfectionist = perfect
No. It means trying to make something perfect. With that drive I make the best I can.
Ian Gutierrez
I'm not the hippest on classical stuff but I guarantee you Bach's music is good because the tunes/harmonies
Jose Long
It's always different for me. Sometimes I'm in Logic with a bunch of synths and drum machines at my disposal and I come up with a bunch of cool stuff right at the moment and I end up with a whole song written after a day or two. Sometimes i'm in Logic and it will take me a few months of plucking around until I find something cool. Sometimes I'm with a piece of paper or I'm in musescore working out the theory to come up with a tune and I'll come up with something cool in a week. Sometimes i'll wake up with an idea or come up with one right as I'm about to fall asleep.
My problem is that I always end up finding a song that sounds like the one I've written after I've already written it.
Parker Lee
Fact: very song ever written has been improvised. Even when you sit down and try to come up with stuff in a very reasoned and methodical way, you're still actually performing in your own head. Here's the thing: whatever you do you can still only come up with one single idea at a time. You just have to keep those ideas coming, and then arranging them and building on them in the right way. In order to come up with new shit you gotta be able to improvise though, you gotta be able to just let go of everything and go out on a limb. Most of the stuff you'll come up with will sound like shit at the beginning, but you mustn't let that stop you. Eventually you'll accumulate enough good ideas to write a whole song out of.
tl;dr, learn how to improvize
Cooper Hall
every*
Carter Jones
Listen to something you like and harmonize or improvise a tune over it, then take it out of the context of that song and use that as a new starting point.