Writing songs...need help

[Shaft9ii]

hi, im a newbie here, i am learning guitar, and i have all kinds of sappy lyrics buzzing around in my head and i have written a couple of songs (lyrics only..basically poems, lol) that i'd like to make music for..how the heck do i go about doing that? like choosing chords to go along with the verses and stuff...as well as rhythym, and such...i'm a white boy, so much for the naturl rhythym, hehe (i'm no Steve martin..anyone know what i'm talking about here?)

thanks guys

Ryan

[Dann]

I have written at least a dozen lyrics for my upcoming songs. I am new to guitar (3 months now) and thought that it would be pretty easy to come up with the melodies to put my lyrics to. Unfortunatly, I cannot come up with any rythems I like. I always seem to default to something that I have heard in the past. I am about to take some lessons, maybe then I will have some more experience to draw from.

Good luck!

[Coffee]

The problem you're running into is that your abilities likely lag far behind what you hear in your head. When you write a lyric, simply write down the lyric and if you can a melody line using tab or standard notation. (Standard notation is best since you can put the timing in.) If you can't handle standard, write it in tab and then play it or sing it into a tape recorder. Recording it is always a good idea so you can get the exact tempo. Then when your ability to place chord lines gets better and your skills improve you can go back to the melody and lyrics and work with it. As a writer, I often find that I am far better off to lay down a melody and a lyric (even a poor one) and walk away for a couple of weeks if it's not coming. Call it time to ferment.

[Shaft9ii]

awesome man, thanks, ill try that

much appreciated

RYan

[Dann]

I have another question for you as well. I am going to start lessons next week, I want to be able to read music and apply it to the guitar as well as 'listen to the cd and figure it out'. I know that it takes a tremendous amount of talent and hard work to do that, but I don't know anyone who can read the music. Anyway, the instructor that I spoke with can't read music either. I know that he can teach me a world of information and I am sure that I would improve as a player, but will learning to 'play by ear' hinder me in the future when I attempt reading music? Or should I wait and find an instructor who can teach me to read and apply as well as techniques for playing the guitar.

Even if you are not sure, I would like to hear your thoughts if you don't mind.

Thanks again,

[Coffee]

Go ahead and start the lessons. If you find you're learning a lot from him, keep going. Here's my thoughts on reading and writing standard notation. There is nothing currently as accurate or as highly developed for writing music. That being said, let's get back to reality. Music is not black little dot's on a piece of paper, it is the sound that you create. There are a lot of people who feel they are superior musicians because they can read music and hold up that fact as though being able to read and play a piece of music by Brahms or Bach makes them something special.

I used to know a fellow that played classical violin (it drove him nuts when we called it his fiddle) and he had this real superiority thing going. Yes, he could play just about anything you put in front of him, but take away that piece of paper and he was lost. Improvise, forget it, he couldn't even wrap his mind around the concept. Let's face it, if someone didn't like the music he played he'd just reply "don't blame me, stravinski wrote it". There is a difference between being a technician and being a musician.

Written notation can be learned whenever you choose to learn it. Putting it off forever will eventually stop you from advancing. If you want to get into theory at some point, and you should, especially advanced chord voicings, you will need to learn to read standard notation.

Tommy Tedesco years ago co-wrote a book on sight reading and playing and reading shortcuts called "For guitar players only". It was excellent and it was extemely funny. Tedesco was one of the best studio guitarists ever. If you want to work professionally, you must learn it before you will be able to get the work. If you want to write and sell songs, you must also submit it in standard notation. One other thing. When you decide to learn theory, my recommendation is that you buy a set of 3 books (if you can find them) by Howard Roberts called the Guitar Compendium. These books relate directly to theory as it relates to the guitars peculiarities and is an extremely hands on approach. They're not cheap.

Back to the original question, any kind of notation whether standard or tab have one purpose, to teach you what notes (that is sounds) to produce on the instrument. Once you have learned the song, or learned the riff etc., the written music is only there for reference. It should not continue to be displayed in front of you while you're playing the music should be committed to memory, then it's yours.

[Dann]

I am starting with the instructor on Tuesday, and I am really excited about it. I don't have anyone to play with so it will be cool to see someone else play as well.

Thanks again!

[GuitarGuillermo]

I started learning the guitar with the mel bay method, which means reading music was the very first thing, but now i think that the best way to go about it is to start off with tablature (but not just memorizing songs form tab by rote. use a guitar methos book that has a solid theoretical explanation of everything) and then start learning notation after about two weeks to a month.

[13noon]

(I'm not a beginner, been playing three years, but I am relatively new to the field of songwriting)

Can I just say you guys are lucky? I have written enough riffs and/or chord progressions for like 20 songs, but no lyrics!! Can someone help me with that? I mean, it's not like I don't have ideas, it's just finding the right words... Any advice you can give will help.

~13noon

[Shaft9ii]

hehe, its like u have the opposite problem we have...ok u write the riffs and stuff and we'll do the lyrics, lol

:D :D

ttyl

Ryan

[Chickwithapick]

Oh I totally know what you mean! The other day I wrote lyrics to a song...my first song, and everyone flipped out over the lyrics, and now I can't write music to it! I can put chords together that I like (the ones I know...I'm a real beginner) and I can just start singing some made up tune w/o my guitar, but I don't know how to put the 2 together!! I'm going to take music theory next year at school. I think that will help alot. But I really don't wanna wait a whole year before I get some music to this song!

[Shaft9ii]

I think the fact hat i cant sing for crap only adds to my writing music to lyrics problems :D


Ryan

[Jasper_e]

I recommend to use your guitar as an instrument for the rythim (background tones) and when you're a little more familiar you can also strum along with the melody.

[GeetarGal]

Thanks for all the helpful hints and suggestions! I have a few poems I've wrote in the past year or two that I think can easily be turned into songs. I am also stuck on writing a song right now, but that just comes from sudden inspiration, when I am in the right mood, I'll do it, and *poof* it will blow me away. I've been playing for a year now, and just am starting to teach myself the whole strumming pattern/back ground music kinda thing. But my guitar is not the best for me, so I am going to try to trade it in for a smaller sized one with a better neck and nicer spaced strings and frets (if you know what I mean, cause I have short fingers and arms). And hopefully, I can take some serious guitar lessons next semester at my college. I think the whole idea revolves around the vocals, so if you got a good voice *which I don't* that would be a plus. Lyrics are defintely important as well; and the background chords rock, too. But really, I just play and write for my own personal enjoyment, nothing too serious. It's fun, and I have a great time with it. :)