White Soul Black Heart

When I am jamming I'll use a pick or fingers depending on the style/mood I want to capture, but I fancy myself a pick player and more often than not use one.

So I have quite a few rough sketches of songs, and one demo but I've noticed that most of my song ideas end up pretty long, in terms of pop/rock music. The average length is about 4:50, and my last was about 6:30....it's not exactly a problem but it's not like I'm trying for epics or anything like that, it's just that by the time I flesh out the music and the lyrics I end up with a lengthy song. Anyone have any idea what I'm doing (or doing wrong)? I'm a little worried that if I take anything away or change the structure the music won't sound as "complete" Thanks for any advice.

Thanks a lot for the info, John : )

Hi, my question is somewhat naive, as I know nothing about the music industry, but I'm curious as to how songwriting credits are decided. For instance, is a songwriter given a credit if they have only created the lyrics and the melody, or just the chords and song structure etc.? If a session musician contributes an essential rhythm or bassline are they to be given a credit on the song also, or does it have more to do with the label deciding with the primary writer(s) who "created" the song? Thanks for any answers.

Musically, I'm inspired by the artist's whose music I consideration exceptional/transformative, and I cross-reference the music to what is being delivered emotionally and conceptually to the lyrics. But rarely do I try to imitate subject matters or themes. They are and always will be different people than me, who have lived vastly different lives. Far often than not, If I write a tune the inspiration for the music itself comes from conceptuals riffs, (does the riff suggest despair, drama, intensity, felicity etc.) and I'll work from there and my lyrics will be non-existent or minimal. Sometimes I'll work from a title, that comes to mind, and see what kind of story the title alone can tell and obviously add to it. I've had the least fun writing lyrics that I need to find music for but it has happened. But I love nothing more than to tell a kind of short story, and if the gist of the story is in my head the lyrics seem to come most easily. One of my more favorite songs that I like lyrically is a sort of dystopian or rather historical retelling based on a famous speech by Otto von Bismarck. The story was there, it did take place, but its reality and potential implications I took liberty with. Unfortunately, I haven't had as many fruitful or bad relationships to base a story on just a lot of pining...but if you can learn anything from pop music, love and relationships are a hell of a bag to pull from.

Honestly, I've always thought there was a right or at least fitting key for a song. If there wasn't you wouldn't hear cover songs that sound different from the original, right? I've played around with transposing certain tunes I've written, and it always, to me, affects how the song feels. Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. In any case, I agree that the range of the vocalist should be the primary consideration.