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.

I'm still working on it, and I only have a couple verses left, so maybe I'll try to finish it first. I like the way that verse sets the scene, but I see what you're saying about giving away the story. When I was writing this part, I actually had another idea for the last line; instead of "but now those days are gone" I was thinking of using "but we never finished that song" which refers to one of the later verses, one that I was thinking of making into the bridge. Although I don't know if I will make it the bridge because I still don't have any music for this lyric...Anyways, I kind of prefer the way I wrote in now, but the other way gives away less of the story. What do you think I should do? I'm trying to work on both piano and keyboard, however I'm seriously lacking knowledge and experience on both instruments, and have resorted to looking up basic chords to practice and try to play as the musical part of the song. I'm a bit more proficient with the flute, which I've played for 4 years (well 5 technically, I haven't really practiced this year though...), but I'm not sure how I could use that with my lyrics. I know I've already said this, but I've been writing for about 4 years now, but I've never really familiarized myself with specific songwriting terms and classifying methods, and I've been meaning to ask, how exactly do you classify what genre a lyric belongs to? That is, if it has no musical accompaniment and the lyricist hasn't chosen any genre to write for. Does it go off of the way it's written (like rhyme scheme or song structure) or is there some other way to classify the lyrics? I'll search around for that thread then! And I was wondering because I had heard that changing tense can confuse people and interrupt the flow of the lyric, and just generally mess things up. And how could I make the transition obvious but not irritatingly/stupidly so? By the way, thank you for putting up with all these questions, I really appreciate it!

As of right now, I only have about half the song done, but should I post it anyways or wait and see if I can finish it before posting? I'll try to do that some more then, and see if I can get the hang of it! While I'm working on the musical part of the song, should I stick to simple chords right now, since I'm barely starting? I definitely like the shorter version in this context! A lot of the time when I'm writing, when I get to words with more than three syllables it starts to sound forced and awkward, should I try to substitute smaller words in or change how I stress the syllables? With what I have right now, the first two verses of the lyric are in present tense, and only the chorus was going to be in past tense, kind of like a flashback, but should I try changing it to present tense so it will fit with the rest of the lyric?

As of right now, I have this as the first verse in the lyric; should I move it around or leave it as is? I've heard of stress patterns before, but how exactly do you tell what the stress pattern of the line is? I try saying it out loud but it seems forced that way... By "not working hard enough" do you mean unnecessary words? And I like the way you're version reads much more, but when I read the second line, it still seems somewhat awkward when I get to "faded away" I don't want to change the last word, but I don't like the way it sounds...

One of the verses that I think reads well is: Driving down the highway the radio is on we used to sing together but now those days are gone And from the same lyric, I wrote the chorus, but I'm not quite satisfied with it...The name is "Shades of Gray" It used to be us against the world before it all faded away the world once filled with color now resigned to shades of gray

I definitely like the way that last suggestion sounds! I think that would be a great way to rewrite it, thank you so much!

Hmm, as of right now I don't have any commercial goals for it, but who knows? and as for you last suggestion, I think I will do that, or something like it! Thanks a bunch!

I've heard it a thousand times, and I know it's the standard, but there's always exceptions to a rule right? Is it frowned upon if I don't include the title in the chorus of my lyric? It's kind of inferred but not stated directly, so should I change it? The lyric's title is kind of summing the whole piece up. In case you were wondering, the title is Alone, and this is the chorus right now: A sea of faces a thousand eyes and exchange of words and indistinct cries I'm not completely satisfied with it, but I'm not sure what to change...help?

On occasion I'll find one or two lines that read well, but I can't seem to figure out why. Is it because of the stress pattern or the number of syllables? I know I'm missing something, I just can't seem to figure out what. :/

You're right, I have some lyrics that actually have a consistent structure, but I haven't tried to sing any of them through with or without an accompanied instrument. I've been trying to find a rhythm in some of my lyrics, and trying to make lyrics for a simple melody, but it seems that I've just hit a wall when I'm sitting down listening to the melody. I've tried playing simple chords on the guitar and piano with a simple rhythm but nothing seems to be working for me...any ideas?