Sakura

I'm with you there, Tom. I have little difficulty writing the lyrics, but if I try to write to music then the words come out disjointed and childish. So frustrating!

I'd recommend Writing Better Lyrics by Pat Pattison

I've actually seen a usb mic and been tempted to buy it, but I think I'll put that off for a while until I improve more. You know what, I think I will try Audacity, so thanks Joe!

To me, I guess I think of the themes as being one of the main ways to classify a genre. Like if it's a topic that's widely known/used in a specific genre than it could be easily classified in that one. That being said, I know that a lot of topics are used in multiple genres, but specific scenarios can apply to a certain category. (like Taylor Swift's songs) Just a thought; I don't really know much about classifying genres, but I thought I might just throw this out here.

I definitely see the appeal in doing the music on the computer, but I'm embarrassed to say that I'm am less than capable of figuring how to work those kinds of programs. (then again I've only tried one so far, so maybe just that one was complicated...) Now that you pointed it out, I can really see how important the bits of silences are in the music, especially when I'm strumming a guitar! That tidbit about Bach and Brahms is really interesting, I never realized that there was actually a name for those kinds of tricks; I guess you learn something new everyday! (I'm pretty sure music is the only place where typos are your friends!) In regards to the programs taking away the limitations of your skills, I think you still need a bit of an understanding of what exactly goes well though, because I remember when I was 10 and playing with my dad's music software and no matter what I did, I could never get it to sound like it did in my head. @John: Yeah it's just frustrating that I have another thing to work around now :/ Songstuff is definitely filled with people who always give great answers! I've yet to see anyone give an answer that is unhelpful in any way! That way of seeing things as developed or a rough draft is a fantastic way of thinking, I think I'll try to see things more that way, I think it would make me more open to opportunities. By the way John, I love your site www.writesongstoday.com! I found it super helpful!

Hi Joe welcome to the thread! Experience-wise, it sounds like you've got more than I do, since I haven't been able to practice regularly for a while now. I'm glad the thread can be helpful to you, I tend to ask a lot of questions so I never know if it's just my way of thinking or if it's actually a decent question! With the advice you provided, I think the hardest one for me would definitely be timing; I'm absolute rubbish at that, even with a metronome. Which brings me to what John mentioned: I definitely agree that playing along to drums would be loads better than playing with a repetitive metronome! In regards to instrumental experience, I gotta say: I'm loads better with keyboard than guitar! Since you mentioned carrying the process over to keyboard, I think I'll give it a go, then try to let you know what it's like. Sorry in advance if I reply late; school is a major obstacle to work around right now!

Nope you answered it perfectly, so thanks! I've repeated similar parts of the melody a couple of times, but I'm not really sure how exactly I can change them...I've tried playing around with the words to see if I can find a different rhythm, but no such luck so far. Oh ok! As for the bridge, does the melody have to be drastically different from the verses, or would I just change the accompanying chords? I don't know if I phrased that quite right... Yeah I have to watch out for that too! I like to over-analyze things a lot...

Hmmm...I never thought of it like that, but I guess you're sorta right! Ahh I see! What about changing the tense within the verses? Probably not right? (at least not yet) Sorry, but what exactly do you mean by 'main melodic idea'? Do you think you can explain that a bit more? (basing things around a short phrase) Relate to the underlying chord as in, if I'm holding the note long than the chord is being held long too? Yeah I think I'll try to study that a bit more...

Glad I could be somewhat helpful then. Yeah I've been working on the suggestions that John gave me and it's really helping! I've gotten a bit farther with the music but I'm a perfectionist so it gives me more problems to deal with! I have a sort of melody to work with but it feels too repetitive to me, like I'm holding to many notes too long. I'm not really sure what happened to him, he just kind of dropped out of this post...wherever you are, hi! I tend to ask a lot of questions especially with this since I've been thinking about it for so long that I have a lot I wanted to ask. And thank you! Now that you mention it, I see what you mean about that line being better for building tension. For now, I'll add it as an alternative and try to decide when I'm done like you said. I don't know if it counts, but I did choir for 2 years (but that was years ago). And flute experience can help with singing? I think I'll post it on a new thread then, just to see what everyone has to say about it. I asked because I was wanting to try writing more of a country style song, but I don't know what exactly classifies it as "country" music. So what you're saying is that it all comes down to how you read the song and what you're used to, right? Nevermind about posting it in a new thread, I just checked the forum and saw that you posted it, so I'll just read that! Alrighty then! I like to take chances, but since I don't know much about the technical side of this, then I don't really know where to draw the line.