Songwriter / Lyric Writer Poll

[john]

Hey

I was thinking about some of the recent topics about lyric writing and songwriting. It got me started on wondering how much effort is wasted, or at least not truely made the most of.

So, of the potential lyrics, or potential songs you start writing, what percentage would you say actually make it through to being finished songs?

How long does it take you, on average, to complete a song? Obviously if you are a lyricist only, or composer/music writer, that means when your contribution has finished.

I've also added some more background info poll questions.

Cheers

John

[Nightwolf]

john,

I found these questions a little confusing for me since I consider the Lyric writing complete as soon as I put my pen down (usually a 1/2 hour or so), but since sometimes I write Music right away, but don't complete it, when is it done? Some Lyrics sit for years before Music finds its way to them. Others I struggle with for a week or so, but still don't consider them complete.

So my Songs open and close:

Lyrics done - closed

Idea for Music - opened

stumbling block - is it now opened or still a finished Lyric waiting for more attention?

rough tracks laid and put aside -

hope that makes some kind of sense

good topic

[Donna]

Hey John,

About 80% potentials become finished songs for me. Which is comforting to realize.

How long? Tis truly all over the map. One good song, the lyric came out almost exactly as finished in one fell swoop, a matter of minutes. The music was done in less than an hour. Recently, I used a section of music written over 15 years ago, to a newly started song (finished pretty much soon as I inserted the long unused missing section).

But other stuff...it takes longer now than it used to. Four months, I think.

Nightwolf's little open/closed I can relate to.

[Alistair]

When I put my mind to it, a song typically takes me between 10 days and 3 weeks to write, music and lyrics.

But I have a lot of tunes, finished in my view without lyrics, some of which have been awaiting words for years.

Another poll on how many finished pieces of music become full songs would be interesting...

[john]

Come on you younger songwriters! Almost everyone on this poll has been writing songs for 20 years or more, and I know there are several who are less than 25 years old (Kate, Tom, Tim etc.)

[DeadSkinny]

i used to always write music first. then the lyrics would be started (first verse and chorus typicly) and usualy finished later, in a week or two in most cases. lately i've been writing lyrics first, then constructing the music to fit it. this can be difficult, since i'm not a great musician, to build the music i've had in my head when writing the lyrics. to make it worse, i've been writing a lot on the piano as of late, not my usual acoustic guitar. I can only barely play the piano, but what i've been coming up with im quite happy about. My unfinished song's ratio has droped very sharply.

[thelevellers]

having read your first post I realised (cause I followed the link from the lyric reviews board) I had answered for lyric writing only, suddenly all my %'s dropped! i have around 20 have finished riffs and songs that need lyrics and more work, and that's down since I had a go with a 'mini gun' and got rid of the genuinely crap stuff... hmm, thinking about it, I should have gone lower, as I only have 2 songs that I consider finished... And one of them might want some work when I get Linux operational finally...

Rohan

[john]

Anyone else?

[musicthom]

It depends on the strenght of the melody / lyrics some are easyer than others if i get a good strong melody i get on better with the words

[Carnival]

Writing lyrics only, I find that a few get written in a week or less. But often I get the inspiration for a new song comes while I am working on another one, but it doesn't fit. So it gets written down and reviewed later. I might add a verse or two, then let it sit for months.

When I started writing, I wrote complete pieces in bursts of inspiration. The problem is I could never recover that original inspiration later, to work on the song more. So whatever I was not able to complete would languish indefinitely. I got frustrated with this, because I remember every lyric I ever wrote (literally), and when I wrote some of them down I thought they were quite good and were worth finishing.

My greatest advancement in the past year, as far as lyric writing goes, has been in learning to recover that inspiration, or to find new inspiration, to finish whatever I start. It takes intense concentration, and it's truly a lot of work.

Sometimes I stare at, and recite what meager lines I have previusly written, for hours on end, trying to understand what they are all about and how to pick them up and add to them. It makes me realize that I never had the idea fully formed to begin with, which is why I never finished. This is frustrating, but it is also liberating, as it frees me from remaining 'true' to the original inspiration which was never complete.

[sub7th]

Interesting Poll.

I said 50% of my drafts make it to completion, but it's probably a lot less than that.

My problem is that most of my music comes to me in the shower when I'm on my way to work or something.

I can generally have a song and a good idea of how my lyrics should go before I finish my shower but then I get out, get dressed and have to go.

I end up forgetting the song most of the time.

My kingdom for a waterproof recorder.

On the rare occasion that I dont have somewhere to be I can jump out and run up to the keyboard and try to get something mapped out, even if it's just a riff.

50% of those wind up finished.

I write the lyrics as I go or rather, the way the lyrics will flow with the music and tighten them up once I've got a good grasp on what I'd like to say.

Thats sometimes the hard part, since what I thought I wanted to say may change as I listen to the song more, I sometimes realize that,

"Well this song just doesnt want to be about a broken heart.. so whats it about?"

After that is probably the killer for most of my songs, I try to produce them myself and my skills in the musical production arena are abysmal.

I end up hating most of the productions and leaving the song to gather dust in the back of my head.

When other people have produced my songs they usually sound pretty good but they lose some of what made the song mine to begin with, they're either to "pop" or somebody didnt want to work in 3/4 so they tried to re-map it in 4/4, etc.

Either way, a majority of my stuff isn't heard unless Im playing it live.

So my percentage of finished and produced songs is like... 4 or 5%

[Threndor]

I'd say about 60% of my songs make it to completion. I try to finish my songs quickly, but it usually takes a couple weeks for lyrics, and then probably half an hour for music.

Of course, being pretty new to songwriting, it should change within a few months, but how, I don't know.

[john]

Hey

One thing of note if the number of writers on the board who have been writing songes for 20 years or more! Although I recognize that we have a lot of experience on the boards but it's still a higher percentage than I thought.

cheers

John

[ramadhaniyanto]

Come on you younger songwriters! Almost everyone on this poll has been writing songs for 20 years or more

yes, that is exactly what caught my attention while reading the results! around 40% have been writing for 20 years or more!

i maybe what you would call a young songwriter, since i've only been writing for about 7 years now, and even that's an on and off relationship after i counted, through 7 years i have a total of about 20 songs, 10 of which i'm considering to release (as an album)

mostly 10% of my draft make it to finished songs. i'm prolific with words (have about 180 scripts just waiting for music), but not so good with melody (most of the time it's the usual chords again and again ), and as a foreigner (asian), i have the advantage (and the opportunity) to write songs in two languages: english and indonesian, so that's a real adventure there, deciding whether this song should be english or indonesian

but seeing so many people have written for 20 years or more, that really is a *wow* for me, and such a great opportunity to learn from seniors

[RodChandler]

Hmm.Where to start.The truth of the matter is that every time is different.Sometimes it all comes out in a rush and you can blast a finished song out in a day.Sometimes it comes out in a trickle that you put down and keep at for however long it might take.For me I'm pretty happy if I can get the "mood" set right on a song first.By that I mean a progression or riff that evokes the emotion of the lyrics.On the lyric side of it,if I can get one verse down for structure,I know I can always go back to it and pull at that thread until it all comes out.To paraphrase someone else's quote about songwriting,(I think it was Bill Anderson's quote but can't remember for sure)songwriting is an art and a craft both.The burst of inspiration is the artistic part and the perspiration that comes about after the inspiration is the crafting of the song,and you have to be able to do both.I'm not all that young at 36,but have only been doing this for about 3 years now.

[Melissaaa]

Ok I'm only 14, but most of my time is spent on writing.

I'd say that 20% of my lyrical writing is turned into an actual song. But it takes me a while. Sometimes I leave the lyrics alone for months and then come back to them to self edit them. And then finally find the courage to record them. But what usually happens is that I sit down with either my guitar or piano, and what ever melody comes to mind, is what im using. I believe that the best music comes

Instantly. Because the instant melody is what your body wants to play.. So let it play it. [but that's just me]

Um, to complete a song, the amount of time really differs.

Depending on how strong my thoughts are in order for me to express them. Which is why I kinda like when drama happens. It gives me something to write about.

I have been writing ever since I could write. Ahaha.

Well when I was really little, Id sit and watch my dad write songs, which made me want to do it. So I'd say I've been writing since I was 8. I'm not saying I was writing GOOD at that age.. But I was writing.

I'd say that I have stronger skills in writing lyrics.

Because it comes so naturally.

But once I have the lyrics, the music comes naturally aswell.

[Kenny]

i only write lyrics and i need my mate to do the music for us..so its like i need a partner before i finish a song, took me a week to write it..

[mikeeasley]

I'm into writing lyrics and I tend to finish it since I'm a busy person It's the inspiration that works within me.