Composing music...Do I have this right?

[tHiSiSbOb]

I have been playing the guitar for a few months now and decided a few days ago that composing my own music would be pretty neat. So, I sat down and started messing around with scales and stuff--just playing them in different orders and such. After a while of doing this, I realized that what I was doing sucked...I kept on trying but I got pretty bummed out when I saw that I couldn't. It just occured to me that perhaps I am not experianced enough with the instrument to come up with my own pieces. So, what I think I will do is just try to learn different pieces that are floating aroung out there and give composition a shot later on. Does this strike you guys as the right thing to do? In time, will I be able to make my own music, or is my faliure now proof that I just suck?

[GuitarMonky55]

just go easy on it for now. just like fretting your first chord or power lifting weights, its a progressive thing. it takes practice, and as you practice you get better.

a couple of pointers:
1)dont try to do a paint-by-numbers deal. if you are just playing a scale in order or going in some order by so many steps with your chords etc, its going to sound like your just playing up and down scales or something queer like that. writing usually is inspired, and you cant force it otherwise it doesnt work.

2)try to get to a technical level where you can pretty much play anything you can come up with in your head. its very hard to write when your fingers are fumbling across the fretboard, creating added difficulty.

3)just dont worry about it right now. keep playing and youll eventually, subconciously get a feel for how music works, and after a while you will be messing around on your guitar and hear somethign that sounds cool and it snowballs from there. the point is it will happen when the time is right, so dont get anxious if you cant do it just yet.

[wild_axeman]

It's normal dude! :D

Don't worry you've got a long way to go.
3 months ain't sh*t!

Guitar Monkey's advice is right on.

One thing I will say about scales right off the bat.
Practice them up and down from root to root but NEVER play them that way when you are trying to actually play or improvise.You need to try to do anything in your powers to avoid playing the scales straight up and down or you will sound like another d!ck practicing scales.This is easier said than done and I'll tell you something right now that should help.When actually playing (soloing or improvising) NEVER start on the root note! Start on ANY OTHER NOTE! Ending on the root is fine,but never start on the root.Try any and every other note and listen to how that sounds and see if you like starting on any of them and if you do then make a rule like (note to self: starting on the 5th sounds pretty cool) or whatever.Then maybe try and see what an arpeggio or pentatonic scale sounds like off of that 5th etc.

Also try emptying your head completely and then playing.Sitting in a dimly lit room can help you relax and empty your head.Then just play without thinking and .....use your ears and just drift off into space and relax......

you'll come up with some better stuff

Nothing get's things going better than two simple chords that sound good together....it's like rubbing two sticks together to make a fire!

[tHiSiSbOb]

Alright, guys...That really helps out. I'll try what you guys said. ;)

[homebrewer_99]

All great advice. I'd like to add my 2 cents.

Some people start off with a melody line and try to build on that.

Also, I find myself humming little ditties during the day and I'll try to convert that to the strings when I get my guitar in my hands. Most of the time it works better than not.

Remember to have fun.

[wing5wong]

i also got that problem, its really hard to make a good sounding song.
i get ideas while im mucking round playing but its hard to remember them...:(

[Gustav]

Or just for fun, make up a chord progression and just change the rythem of the progression to make it sound nice and add extentions...and do it with first position chords for starters...

[wild_axeman]

you forget the cool stuff you make up because it's hard for you to make them up...you expend all of your mental and physical energy getting your idea out and then you're too tired to remember it

eventually if you get good at improvising it'll be easy to make stuff up and then it'll be easier to remember what you made up

that's the whole point of improvisation

improvising is instantly and spontaneously composing something

when you get good enough to do that then you won't need to sit and compose and painstakingly write everything down because making things up will be easy to you once you've reached that level to be able to spontaneously generate your own ideas at will and to be able to play them instantly and confidently

[wing5wong]

...


it will happen


...


someday

...


:)

[wild_axeman]

But in the meantime that's why we have tape recorders! :D

I'll never forget the AC-DC story of how someone in the biz told Angus and Malcom to record everything they played because they could go back later and find stuff even if it's just some little thing.Then if you have enough tapes of these little ideas and start piece-ing them together the next thing ya know you've got a song! Well Angus said they took that advice very seriously and it paid off bigtime!
He said he'd get stuck while writing a song and needed the next part and so he'd go and listen to some old tapes of him playing and then to his astonishment he'd find that next part "oh there it is" he said.

Makes sense....

[sum1]

its all about just being creative.. playing scales in order wont amount to much.. just do something wild and crazy with the scale or mode.. dont be afraid to mess around.. thats what ive learned anyway.. thats how i wrote my first mini solo.. just started fooling around with different modes and scales.. and it sounds good too.. i dont know if it would fit iwth a chord progression or whatever but hey its a start.. and once you write your first piece of a song it opens up a whole world of new stuff

[wild_axeman]

yeah,it's easy to forget to use your ears and just listen

does it sound good or does it sound crap?

THAT is the question!


you have ears,use them,trust them,they don't lie....
that's one of the best musical lessons you could ever learn...

[wing5wong]

i have a few rythm parts of songs... all different but hey, its only chord progressions... with powere chords but its a start

[GuitarHitman]

When I compose, as I'm starting off I don't approach it thinking of any scales to play. I just sit down and play a few notes and work out in my head what would sound good from that point and then try and play it on the guitar. Of course I'm using a scale but I'm not thinking about what scale I'm using.

It's not until I've built something up that I even approach it with a certain scale.

[jotapeh]

Composing music for the first time is a lot like learning to draw.

Someone (who was famous enough for me to forget ;) ) said everyone has 1000 bad drawings in them.

In a very similar way, everyone has 1000 bad songs in them. It's just a matter of getting them out there and recognizing that.. "oh.. that's crap."

Eventually you will be compelled to create better sounds, just as an artist refines his skills with every stroke.