RodChandler

Here's the latest song I have done. It's an acoustic traditional country number called Remember The Alamo.

Here's one I did a few weeks ago and forgot to post here. It's called Shine Your Light.

Happy Birthday John!

Awesome. I use the sims a lot too, but I agree with Rudi. I bet that's nothing compared to having the real thing.

A couple weeks ago. Wade Bowen, .38 Special, and Hank Williams Jr. It was probably slightly over 5,000. The next one was ZZ Top in 2012 at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo with probably 30,000-40,000 people in attendance.

I think for me, judging by what I use when using software sims, I would probably look for chorus,delay,distortion,reverb, and a wah-wah pedal. That would probably be all I would need. I rarely use anything else on the sims.

The local pawn shop has/had a bunch of Boss pedals last time I was there. As soon as I get another decent tube amp I'm going to maybe go back and see if he still has some of them. I have never used them personally, but have heard plenty of good things about them.

Thanks Tom. Now you have mapped out my next few Saturdays! Congrats on the nice find, and I'm betting a 59 bassman or a Fender Champ would get you the sound they used back when it was new.

Actually Scotsman is pretty close to right, as is Kel in his observation. It did originate mainly in Appalachia, however there were very few settlers there that weren't from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and to a lesser extent England. Where I'm from also was settled by Germans and Poles, and Czechs, so you find that country music from Texas in the earlier days contained more brass instruments and waltzes as well as the influence from those from the British Isles. But country music as we know it, the music from Nashville derived mainly from the bluegrass styles of the Virginias, Kentucky, and Tennessee which were primarily Scot and Irish and Welsh. As time as gone by, and other regions of the country where settlers from other parts of the world hailed from moved into the country music business, you got more of an amalgamation of influence. That was a long way to simply say that I agree with both Scotsman and Kel!

Very nice Mahesh! Congratulations

I use all of the above. It just depends on where I am and what I am doing and what is at hand. Most times when I'm driving, which is most of the time, I use the voice recorder on iPhone to hum fragments of melody to flesh out later or lyric ideas. If I'm in my guitar room, I have a notebook that I jot down lyrics and I will use the voice recorder to grab riffs or melodies or progressions I like or want to write around, and lastly at times on my laptop. I will take music I have and listen to it and write lyrics in Wordpad or sometimes even just lyrics that intrigue me with no music at all lined out for them. I also will cull from my notebooks and phone recorder and write them all up in Word to keep all the different songs collated into one area.

I promise I'm not being a smarta** here, but whenever I have tried out a different These are a couple just from typing in Cool Edit Pro tutorial. Good luck.

Very nice David. You finally found the one you were looking for.

Short answer to your question, is no. I'm not afraid of messing anything up. I might not get it as right as I want and have to shelve it for a time until through the writing and re-writing process I get it to a place where I am happy with it. Sometimes it happens right away, sometimes a while. I have some sitting here just waiting for the right line to come along and make them breathe, but alas there is nothing here right now, and that's ok. I'll focus on the ones that are here. If none are forthcoming then I'll just play my guitar and bass and try to get better at my instruments. But I always remain confident that when I say it is done and put it out there to the world, it will have my indelible stamp on it and it will be the best I can do at that particular time.

Here are a couple of videos that I found to be pretty helpful in writing. The vids are from a GC session with Paul Gilbert, and if you're a guitar player all the clips are pretty cool, but I thought I'd share a link to the two most beneficial to songwriting here. Even if you don't play an instrument and are strictly a lyricist I think that the video on rhythm will help greatly in your writing and make it easier to eventually put music to if there is a definite rhythm already in place. You can even make some notes to go with your lyrics that could help the composer come up with the music to fit your words. You can even make some notes to go with your lyrics that could help the composer come up with the music to fit your words.For instance you could jot down a quick note like this. Verse 1- 8 bars dum ba da da da dum dum dum ba da da da dum dum dum ba da da da dum dum dum ba da da da dum dum dum ba da da da dum dum dum ba da da da dum dum dum ba da da da dum dum do do do do do do dum dum Chorus- 4 bars dum da da dum dum dum da da dum dum dum da da dum dum dum da da dum dum This way you could make a notation of the rhythm you wrote your words to that would be able to help out the person trying to put some music to it. Plus just coming up with different rhythms will open you up to newer writing and help you tailor your lyrics into an overall feel. I think this could be another tool in your old writing toolbag that just may come in handy some time when your stumped or just looking for a fresh new approach. Cheers.

For myself, I have no one set way. I used to get a lyric idea first, but now as I am getting better on my guitar, I'm finding that I write off of progressions or riffs more often now. I recently picked up my first bass and have even managed to start a song on it. But sometimes I get a melody come to me while humming and go from there. It can start from anything, but the one constant is that no matter how the idea begins, it usually gets worked on from all different angles before it becomes a finished song.

Here lately I have been having some success in writing from my subconscious.I pretty much just take my guitar and even if you don't play an instrument this can still work as long as you can hum or whistle.I go looking for sounds and a flow of sound,and when I get that I just start throwing out gibberish in my head of different vowel and consonant sounds and blend it to what I'm playing and as I do that,words take shape and sometimes meanings are a bit ambiguous,but at times it is surprising on reflection how certain events can be seen in those unrelated ramblings with a clarity you wouldn't think of.I have also found that in doing that it has helped me from the cardinal sin of lyric or poetry writing of going too inside in your description to where the only people that can relate to it are you and whoever else went through it with you.When I let my subconscious take over and throw lines out it naturally makes the story a bit more vague and thus relatable to alot of different people.

I'm not familiar with the method that you mention above,but anything that may help you is good.If doing the hokey pokey helps you write a song then by all means get going on the hokey pokey. The only rules are dictated by your ears,nothing else really.

There is no right or wrong way to write a song.You can write out all the lyrics first or all the music first or a little of both.The one thing that is important I think though when you write lyrics first,you have to be ready willing and able to tweak and change a word or two here and there so as to fit into the melody.The last thing you want to do is "shoe-horn" words in real fast to make it all fit.As far as the how,if I could tell you step by step I would put that in a book and become a millionaire many times over.It is equal parts knowledge,theory,witchcraft,inspiration,dumb luck and anything else you could possibly think of. What I tend to do when the words come first is sing them the way I want to hear them.Then I'll hum it over and over incessantly and then try and sit down and fit chords and rythm patterns to match up what I'm humming.I don't worry too much about counting beats and bars until I get a basic rythm laid out.Then you can move beats and bars around later in the arranging process to find a way to sync all the other parts in time.But this is just one way,not necessarily the right way nor the wrong way,just my way,and as the old saying goes there is more than one way to skin a cat.Although I have yet to figure out why anyone needs a way to skin a cat but I digress.Hope this helps.

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I'll second what Tom says here.When you get somewhere that gets to be a drag on creativity,stop and smell the...nevermind wrong advice for wrong subject :-D.Seriously though do like he says and go do something else.It's not life or death usually.I'm assuming nazis don't have a gun to your loved ones head saying write me a number one hit tune right now or they are dead. Another thing is that there is nothing wrong with half finished songs or partials.You might find alot of time goes by before the spark leads you back to an unfinished song,or you will find that sometimes a new concept comes along and you get stuck on it and then you remember a line or two from that old half finished one and it fits just perfectly within the structure of the new song.The truth is,there is no rule,no right,no wrong,just you and your liquor in the wee small hours trying to convey a truth.Any truth.Your truth.Whatever way to get there that takes you there is great.Sometimes we're stylin' and profilin' in a Corvette,and sometimes we're ducking and dodging in a Chevette,but they will both eventually get you where you are going. Finding motivation in and of itself is not hard,you should have a fire inside that makes you feel as if you have to write something,anything just to get it out there.That doesn't mean that you have to do it daily or constantly.Good luck.

You have been given some good tips thus far,and I am far from accomplished at guitar,but some things that help me are. Try to say more with less notes.Pick a box of any 4 notes in a scale for example and try to ring out as much expression from just those 4 notes only(think Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top,a master of wringing 4 notes dry).Another is to remember that silence at the right spot is just as powerful as a played note,so don't just keep a running flurry of notes.You wouldn't talk that way,unless you were manic or all coked up,and has anyone ever had a good conversation with someone who was either? Think of it as speaking with your guitar and you don't usually speak in a run on sentence,so don't fill every space with notes,let it breathe a little and let the listener digest what you just "said" with your guitar. Finally I would say that you take some of the scales that you have learned,forget about them and don't think that you have to stay right in that one scale pattern only.Don't be afraid to go out in any direction that may or may not be in that scale mode or not.Let your ears dictate what step you need to take,and even if it is wrong,play it with rythmic conviction and think about your overall solo in terms of rythm and what the song's rythm is and staying within it and noone but the most seasoned of ears will tell if your playing a "wrong"note or not.Plus there are really no "wrong" notes,just ones not played with conviction. One more thing,alot of times when you have a rythm down cold,just close your eyes and let go and don't think about what you want to play or where you are going with it,just feel the music and the vibration and it will lead you.The better in tune with it you get,the better your solo's will be.But I know that is a sucky esoteric what the hell kind of metaphysical B.S. are you talking about answer,but believe me it will make sense.The more we do anything the better we get at it. These are a few things that have helped me get to the point that I am,but like I wrote earlier,I still have a long ways to go too,and this is a neverending lifetime journey,so really try to enjoy the process.

The problem you are describing is one common to all beginners,myself included.While it is frustrating,the only thing to do is go slow and get your fingers into the proper position and do it over and over again until you build up the necessary muscle memory to be able to hit it without thinking about it.I know it seems like you won't be able to get it down,but then one day you'll be playing and never even realized you were hitting it perfectly. Now if it is a problem with the guitar itself,then I think you have to try another guitar and see if the problem is still there.If it isn't an issue,then you know it is the guitar you have.If the same issue persists,then you know you need to go back to the woodshed and practice some more.A cheap way to do so would be to go to a local music store and try out a couple of other guitars and see how they feel and then you can go back to yours and judge between them.Good luck.

1. Do you sing, play an instrument or instruments? Sing and play guitar What instruments? guitar When did you start playing? 2008 Did you teach yourself? Mostly,with some lessons off and on 2. Are you in a band or bands? not currently What is the name of the band? N/A What do you play? N/A What other instruments are in the band? N/A Do you have a band website? No 3. Do you write songs? Yes Do you write lyrics, music or both? Both Do you have a writing partner? No 4. Do you record your music? Not currently Do you use a home studio? If so what gear do you use? No Do you use a recording studio? I have in the past Do you have music available on the web? if so where? Yes,on Soundclick.com 5. What other roles do you perform in the music business? None Management? Label owner? Publishing? Promotion? Other? No 6. Are you a tech head? No 7. What country do you live in? United States 8. What are your ambitions? To grow and become a better songwriter and guitar player.In my private fantasies I want to play my songs live for others (hopeful)enjoyment and travel around the world. 9. Do you draw/paint/write stories/computer art/dance or other creative pursuit? I think often about writing a novel,but usually end up grabbing my guitar and working on songs in the little free time I have. What are your pastimes? Playing my guitar and drinking whiskey.I also like travelling,but after having seen every bit of this country I'm ready to go abroad. 10. What would you like to get out of Songstuff? Since I don't have any peers in my immediate area that are into music,it is web communities like this where I can interact with other like-minded souls.I hope to get personal growth out of it as well as the sense of being a part of a community of artists that I can maybe give back as much help for growth to others as they give me.

Nice song.I enjoyed listening to it.You have a good voice and it works well on this high energy tune.