DashingHound

All of the suggestions that have been given have been really helpful. Today I started trying to write a bit of an original song using the suggestions here. I sat down at my piano and just started messing around a little...got a nice intro that's rather slow, kind of a ballad feel, then after I played that I thought, "I think this is where the words will come in," and I started coming up with chords and notes for the piano, imaging what it might sound like if a voice was singing along with it. I worked for a few minutes, then I started feeling a little strained so I stopped...I really want to take my time and I will add more later to the song; I've only written a small portion of the "skeleton" of the song. I haven't written lyrics or come up with any melodies for the voice yet, I'll do that after I've put the piano part together. This has been really helpful! Something that I love is when a musician uses instruments to accompany each other, including the voice...rather than having the voice be in the front and having the instruments play second fiddle(pun...). I like when everything involved in the song works like the insides of a clock...and as someone mentioned earlier in this thread, you don't even realize everything that's happening. It's like if you were to take a clock off the wall, open it up and see all the things that go into making the clock function...I like when you can do that with music and find that everything has a lot of thought. I think writing the instrumental parts first will really be helpful. I'll keep you all updated and let you know how it goes.

Well hey, thanks very much for your suggestions, both of you. I appreciate the ideas. I'll try to write "backwards" and let you guys know how it goes.

Hi everyone. I'm a songwriter who can sing, play piano and a bit o' guitar...and I just want some advise from fellow musicians. Here's my dilemma: I can write lyrics pretty damn well, in my opinion. I can sit down and write an entire song's lyrics in a few short minutes. However I have such a hard time writing the instrumental bits of the song, or even finding a tune to put the words to. I sit with my guitar in hand, trying to come up with something that doesn't sound like EVERY OTHER SONG I've written...I usually get frustrated with that, so I move to piano and I can't seem to do it...I usually get pissed off, then give up and put a song on. I'll sit and listen to a song by a musician and wonder why on earth I can't come up with things that sound and feel so simple... I just don't know what the problem is. I realize many musicians collaborate, and that's a good idea but I can't find anyone with my same "vision". Maybe I'm not looking hard enough, I don't know. And it doesn't help that I live in Salt Lake City, where just about everyone is incredibly religious and are too scared of offending their god and other people, so they refuse to show honesty and real, raw emotion...it's just difficult finding someone who isn't like that in my area, who has the same musical goal that I have. It's frustrating because I physically feel like there's some sort of blockage in my body, in my chest. I try and write a song and I feel like there is a physical object inside of me, blocking that creativity. I'm curious to see how other people get through this; I know I can't be the only one. I love Paul McCartney to death, and something he once said really sticks with me...he was basically talking about how writing songs isn't all that hard for him; how he feels that if you can truly write music, it really comes to you rather than you having to dig and pull it out of yourself. And the fact that that's what I'm trying to do...worries me.