Writing Music with a Story

[jglasgow123]

My approach to writing music has always been to write as if I am writing a story. I think of a concept, idea or story that I want to tell and I tell that story through everything in the music. Most people probably think that you can only tell a story in a song through the lyrics, but my approach has always been to tell the story through the chord progression, rhythm and meter, instrumentation, etc. as well as the lyrics. What has your approach been to writing music? Have you tried telling a story through all pieces of the song?

[Jay Jackson]

Many of the songs I have written are made with the whole effect in mind. Be it a 3 chord Folk type or A 5 chord Counter point.  Im not as good as John Denver or Paul Simon, but I do ok.

[jglasgow123]

On 11/25/2018 at 3:36 PM, Jay Jackson said:

Many of the songs I have written are made with the whole effect in mind. Be it a 3 chord Folk type or A 5 chord Counter point.  Im not as good as John Denver or Paul Simon, but I do ok.

Yep, that's what songwriting is all about! Keep it up, man!

[DaveKell]

Looking back, nearly everything I've written has told a story. I'm so fervently stuck in the Country vein that I can't help it. I guess it's what was imprinted in my brain when as a child I used to ride my bike a mile in the rural area where I grew up to a truck stop owned by two sisters from Tennessee. I hung around in there letting the waitresses buy me Cokes and listening to the jukebox play what is now considered to be ancient country gold. This was in northern Indiana in the early 60's. When I began attending a weekly jam in Texas a little over a year ago I was once asked "being obviously a yankee, how is it you know all these songs we play?". I said "I grew up listening to them one nickel at a time". I write songs now I describe as "ones they forgot to write 50 years ago." It's all that flows effortlessly out of me. Now, I just have to hope they come back in vogue in my remaining lifetime!

[Mahesh]

I guess I'm more of the kind of songwriter who likes contemplating over a situation, thought or idea more so than to have a story being told within the song. Weirdly enough, when I'm writing the music part of it, I do tend to start making decisions as if it was a story of some kind but lyrically, not so much. It has movement but of a different kind than a story. 

 

But then again, all of this insight is hindsight. I go with what feels right at the moment when I am writing a song.

 

Interesting to see many different perspectives to a creative process like this!

[Just1L]

To me, and as proven by a lot of songs, having a story in the traditional sense is great but not always necessary. Having a point though is.

[Driftwood]

I've never sat down and thought about any of that. I pick up a guitar, I play, hum abit and if something comes to mind, I write it down. Boom, there's your song. Why think about the process? Just do it.