Music60s70s

You know, reading this category reminds me... One should write a song, about "discovering" a great career, read from a matchbook cover, (where they used to have cheap ads for silly stuff). Today, that "matchbook cover" would now be the net/marketing machine, and all the varied shills - be it Nigerian prince scams, or "recording" companies in back rooms of run-down buildings. --Pat

Amy, Roger, that. (I was worried that perhaps I ended up on your "Nixon List," for some reason). LOL! In the past, with band efforts, I'd contacted several hundred so-called "musicians" on Bandmix and Craglist to find that 99.5% will not in fact reply when asked to play. However, they all had ads up claiming, they'd be really keen to get something going. NOT! That's the crowd, that you'll be dealing with. However, good luck. --Pat

Amy, As you had not read the PM that I sent you some time ago, for some reason... I'll repost info here for you, or others. --Pat Get a free account on Bandmix.com, to seek a possible coworker for music, with your lyrics. *Even with a free ad there, you can use the "cheat" method to post an e-mail address: otherwise, they think you should pay for it to contact anyone and it isn't worth it, and I know that from experience from trying to form bands. I can say that 99.5% of "musicians" are not that... They do have ads > claiming < that they want to do such and such - they have no such intention, nor ambition. Many have "substance abuse issues" or EGO problems, even with little or no talent. So, do this: 1) For privacy, get a throw away account on g-mail or what have you and use that to post on Bandmix site, for music matters only, then toss the account when done with it. 2) Post THAT address on Bandmix site, as seen below OR ELSE Bandmix cuts off everything after the @ symbol IF you try to post an e-mail address when you have a free account. Yes, do use similar spacing scheme shown here. Amyxyz (or whatever) at gmail . com OR Amyabc (or whatever) at gmail 3) I have seen people put e-mail address in their main screen name as well, which was quite clever. That site has ads from people (locally for instance), whom I know for a fact no longer live in the state, etc. It is why you see the same ads, up for years...

Kel, I had read that Bernie Taupin is also a composer, which is why he can do lyrics so well. --Pat

Thanks to you both, for replies, and for the "sound" advice. :-) I do appreciate that. Cheers, --Pat

As a beginner wanting to know about form and function of song structure, I'm standing at base camp, gazing upward at the mountain called "melody." I play rhythm guitar, have been in bands and oddly, I think of lyrics but not music/melody. From what I've read, and what 1 person here has told me, it appears that I should first think in terms of melody and lyrics later. I also have a junker keyboard, 1-2 very good piano books, and between that and guitar I am "armed" with enough knowledge (along with reading I've done lately) and it's bound to lead to trouble I would guess. I have thought about composing a song of music only, for my own benefit and experience, then seeing if I can write lyrics to it and apparently many here do that. In the past, when helping a friend with lyrics, when he sent me music .mp3 files I wrote lots of lyrics and quickly - when hearing the music. I also now would ask this: can you name a very good book or two, about melody concepts/writing? (A mod. has suggested one title by J. Webb, in another area that I'd asked about). I would like a book or books that aren't way above me. With guitar, and drums, I just learned how to play over the years as did many, so my actual knowledge is limited but I'm "rich" with ignorance: playing music does not mean I know how to write music/words or do it well, but that won't stop me from trying to learn. I'm doing this, because I like words and music, and to learn about how music comes about - i.e., how it's written. Thanks, for book ideas and/or comments from your experience. --Pat

Tom, Thank you for the reply, and info. As a beginner, I'm "at sea" as you may guess, and know nothing about proper "how-to" in lyrics. But, I've already met a most helpful person at your site who, in fact, lives in my town. What are the odds of that, on the world wide web? :-) Again, thanks for your help. --Pat

In many fields, there is "the book" read by everyone, it seems. What one book is it, that I should buy, to learn about lyric writing? As I am new to this, I need a Point A to Point Z book, as a starting point. Mostly, I should read the "don't do this" category. :-) And, until I find that book, I'd like to ask this. Does one keep a close eye on word and/or syllable count, per line, as you go? I'd assume that is wise, to avoid line 1 being 3 blocks long, and line 2 being 3 words long. Thanks, --Pat