Songwriting advice

Get that song on tape! Errr... disk?
User avatar
Telliot
Mods
Mods
Posts: 12201
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2011 6:38 pm
Location: CA

Re: Songwriting advice

Post by Telliot » Tue Oct 03, 2017 11:14 am

Fucking great — fantastic job!! I love the bass changes in the chorus (or maybe it would be the pre-chorus?), and the whole 60s psych-bohemian thing is really well executed. Nice guitar playing, as well. The lyrics came out nicely, and (at least for me) have real meaning, leaving plenty for the listener to chew on.

Well done! :-*
The cool thing about fretless is you can hit a note...and then renegotiate.

User avatar
julius2790
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 221
Joined: Tue Apr 01, 2014 11:07 am
Location: Just outside Raleigh, North Carolina

Re: Songwriting advice

Post by julius2790 » Tue Oct 03, 2017 6:10 pm

Thanks Telliot! I've listened to some of the tracks you posted on the forum and I think your'e a damn good songwriter so that means a lot. I have a friend who is a good percussionist and he was kind enough to record the darbuka, which is my favorite thing about the song. I tried to build the bass around what he did. The trusty Squier Bass VI!

User avatar
sears
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 832
Joined: Sun Jan 09, 2011 7:26 am
Location: ECMD

Re: Songwriting advice

Post by sears » Sun Oct 08, 2017 6:27 am

love it. I like how it feels. now write some more!
maskedsuperstar.bandcamp.com

User avatar
julius2790
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 221
Joined: Tue Apr 01, 2014 11:07 am
Location: Just outside Raleigh, North Carolina

Re: Songwriting advice

Post by julius2790 » Tue Oct 10, 2017 9:48 am

Thanks sears! I'm trying to finish another one...kind of Neil Young meets Motown kind of thing. I got the idea for it when dealing with a bad case of Norovirus last year. Will post it when it's sounding finished. Appreciate you having a listen! ;D

User avatar
Telliot
Mods
Mods
Posts: 12201
Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2011 6:38 pm
Location: CA

Re: Songwriting advice

Post by Telliot » Tue Oct 10, 2017 10:15 am

julius2790 wrote:Thanks Telliot! I've listened to some of the tracks you posted on the forum and I think your'e a damn good songwriter so that means a lot. I have a friend who is a good percussionist and he was kind enough to record the darbuka, which is my favorite thing about the song. I tried to build the bass around what he did. The trusty Squier Bass VI!
Thanks, man!! Looking forward to hearing more! :-*
The cool thing about fretless is you can hit a note...and then renegotiate.

User avatar
thecolorwaves
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 93
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2015 7:20 am

Re: Songwriting advice

Post by thecolorwaves » Fri Oct 13, 2017 4:32 am

I've started writing lyrics myself recently, after years of having a co-writer. Thought I'd throw in my two cents, since it's working well for me.

I use Google Keep (cloud-based notepad) to write lyrics. This way I can write on my phone, at work, or wherever I might be. Saves me having scraps of paper everywhere, and keeps everything grouped together. I can also cut and paste things.

I keep my ears open for nice little turns of phrase, from books or movies or whatever. Those go into Keep.

In Keep, I write out the structure of the song, ie v, c1, m8, and pin those notes to the top of the pile. As I'm writing the music, I might come up with one or two lyrics that sounds nice and scan well. That's what I start off with, and that often dictates where the song goes lyrically. I'll just brainstorm other stuff that scans and scribble it all down in keep. Most of it is terrible. But I do it anyway! Then I'll scan through my scribbles and see if there's anything useful in there.
I know how many lines I need for each. I come up with what I can, what scans nicely etc. If a line is definite, I put "//" before it and put it into its section of the song. I can quickly see what I still need lyrics for.

So it'll look something like this

v1//blah blah blah

//blah blah blah
//blah blah blah

That way I know I have to come up with a 2nd line for the verse.

Hopefully that's clear, but that is what works for me. The other thing I'll say is just keep your hand in. The more you do it the easier it gets.

User avatar
julius2790
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 221
Joined: Tue Apr 01, 2014 11:07 am
Location: Just outside Raleigh, North Carolina

Re: Songwriting advice

Post by julius2790 » Sun Oct 22, 2017 8:28 pm

thecolorwaves wrote:
Fri Oct 13, 2017 4:32 am
I've started writing lyrics myself recently, after years of having a co-writer. Thought I'd throw in my two cents, since it's working well for me.

I use Google Keep (cloud-based notepad) to write lyrics. This way I can write on my phone, at work, or wherever I might be. Saves me having scraps of paper everywhere, and keeps everything grouped together. I can also cut and paste things.

I keep my ears open for nice little turns of phrase, from books or movies or whatever. Those go into Keep.

In Keep, I write out the structure of the song, ie v, c1, m8, and pin those notes to the top of the pile. As I'm writing the music, I might come up with one or two lyrics that sounds nice and scan well. That's what I start off with, and that often dictates where the song goes lyrically. I'll just brainstorm other stuff that scans and scribble it all down in keep. Most of it is terrible. But I do it anyway! Then I'll scan through my scribbles and see if there's anything useful in there.
I know how many lines I need for each. I come up with what I can, what scans nicely etc. If a line is definite, I put "//" before it and put it into its section of the song. I can quickly see what I still need lyrics for.

So it'll look something like this

v1//blah blah blah

//blah blah blah
//blah blah blah

That way I know I have to come up with a 2nd line for the verse.

Hopefully that's clear, but that is what works for me. The other thing I'll say is just keep your hand in. The more you do it the easier it gets.
Thanks very much for the post. I will definitely look into putting things on the cloud. Makes total sense.

User avatar
Pmg
PAT PEND
PAT PEND
Posts: 17
Joined: Sat Apr 16, 2016 6:15 am

Re: Songwriting advice

Post by Pmg » Sun Nov 26, 2017 1:41 am

My advice would be to not overthink things when starting out, instead just try and finish a song and then move on to the next and build up experience. Chances are you first tune isn’t going to be an all time classic so just get it finished and move on. Also use the notes section on your phone to capture ideas or lyrical fragments -inspiration can strike at any time

User avatar
Pmg
PAT PEND
PAT PEND
Posts: 17
Joined: Sat Apr 16, 2016 6:15 am

Re: Songwriting advice

Post by Pmg » Sun Nov 26, 2017 1:42 am

And the voice memos on a phone is good for capturing melodies and/or riffs, chords etc

User avatar
Pmg
PAT PEND
PAT PEND
Posts: 17
Joined: Sat Apr 16, 2016 6:15 am

Re: Songwriting advice

Post by Pmg » Sun Nov 26, 2017 1:49 am

julius2790 wrote:
Sun Oct 01, 2017 12:16 pm
I've had some success with the lyrics thanks to help from everyone who posted and a writer friend. Thanks very much to everyone who posted.

I finished a song and posted the lyrics if any of you would like to check it out...

https://brewbaccasaurusrex.bandcamp.com/releases" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I like it, good stuff!

User avatar
julius2790
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 221
Joined: Tue Apr 01, 2014 11:07 am
Location: Just outside Raleigh, North Carolina

Re: Songwriting advice

Post by julius2790 » Sun Nov 26, 2017 6:48 am

Thanks for checking it out!

Post Reply