Methods

[msmd]

I'm interested to hear others methods in songwriting/music making. How do you go about it? Where do you start?

rhythm? harmony? Lyrics or poetry first? Or just a general concept of what the song should be?

[musicthom]

9 times out of 10 its a lyrical start for me usualy an idea with a line and i kind of work on the storyline then the music

[eboria]

I have to say it varies. Sometimes it starts with a clever turn of phrase or an intersting opening line, sometimes a snatch of a melody that I keep humming. One thing is, I almost never know what I'm talking about when I first start putting words to page. By the time I get to the chorus, I go "oh, so that's what I'm trying to say!"

I use ProTools to help me get the structure of the song down. Once I've got enough lyrics to have an idea of where I'm going, then I just lay down the parts - verses, bridges, choruses - by cutting and pasting them over a simple drum beat.

I'm now getting better at honing; working in drafts and such. The song's usually finished by the third draft or so.

Also, at this stage, I'm working on the entire song at the same time, perfecting the lyrics, chord structuring, choosing instruments, working out solos, the whole nine. I endup with a complete song.

[thelevellers]

Personally I find it varies a lot... Sometimes I just start writing lyrics with no idea what they're about and suddenly the meaning of the song appears before me, other times I have a theme I want to write about and go from there...

And then musically it varies too, I have lots of riffs I've come up with over the years and sometimes get around to writing some lyrics to go with some of them. Other wise it's a case of finishing the lyrics completely then fiddling about with my guitar until something sticks...

I think it's best to have a vague idea of what the music will be like when you write the lyrics, but it's not essential, just helps with structure and stuff...

Rohan

[FinnArild]

Before, I have usually had a line or something gotten out from singing "jibberish" - which I then built the rest of the song up on. Lately I have been writing a lot of lyrics where the idea was clear before I started writing. I think that's probably harder to do, but also results in lyrics with more substance, I think.

[Nightwolf]

Finn, do you find that conversely, the Music suffers now? Just a topic for discussion as I am downloading a 17 minute song atm, I'm guessing the answer is

[FinnArild]

Well, it doesn't suffer from it, but it certainly gets different. Since lyrics often comes before the melody line, instead of trying to fit words to notes you suddenly need to stick notes to words. The result, I think, is often more coherent verses - since you already thought of rhythm and rhyming in the lyric phase.

[KennyChaffin]

For lyrics:

Usually with a title, but sometimes with a hook or interesting line.

Still working on how to write the music....but probably with a melody...

KAC

[ramadhaniyanto]

Since lyrics often comes before the melody line, instead of trying to fit words to notes you suddenly need to stick notes to words. The result, I think, is often more coherent verses - since you already thought of rhythm and rhyming in the lyric phase.

i agree with finn

personally i find easier and more flexible to write down the lyrics first, because that is the idea of the song, and i can also explore my options on what words to use and other techniques so that when it's time to write the music, i can put high notes or sustain notes on words that are the emphasis of the song

when building words around a melody i find it difficult to use fresh and exciting words and end up using generic ones