More often than not I write 30-60 seconds of something I love but struggle to write around it because I don't want to bring down the whole song with filler content around the actual part I think is good.
I think that if you try to figure out the song's meaning and/or message and then think about the structure of the song (by that I mean what is every part going to talk about. For example, if you have a song about, say, a past lover, you could make a first verse talking about stuff you did together, then a second verse describing them or getting a little more specific, then the chorus to be about what you're feeling along with the core neaning of the song, and so on and so forth) would be some way to work around it. But what works for me might be different from what works for you. The only objective advice I have for everyone equally is really just "keep writing", but that isn't very satisfying.
i think it’s very specific to your writing style, but two things that have helped me are:
1. I try to play a variation of the original part but transposed around a higher or lower tonal center.
2. I choose a song in a completely different style that you really like and play a game of ‘what-if this riff from another song was played in the style of my original part?’
after attempting one of those approaches, i focus on just getting the transition to work between the two parts without being too judgemental. once that’s fluid, then I get a little more critical and try to focus on how to improve the second part. try to get a vibe. i find it helps to carry over (or exaggerate) one element from the original part: it could be a rhythm, a mode/mood, a short motif, a repeating interval, some other feature. i might try a few different variations, give up, have an idea while doing something else, try to notate it some how, forget the part, try it all over again. you’ll get there, it’s a process. but you have to put in the time. oh and record. record everything. go back and listen, you may decide an old version is genius and you didn’t recognize it while you were writing it.
Thank you! Awesome advice. I'm definitely putting in the work, sometimes it's productive work and sometimes not so much.
I often ask myself "why am I doing this" and I've realized the meaning of the whole "enjoy the process" mantra - and that's exactly why I play.
It's absolutely insane how important music is to humanity, and how much work it takes (hours and hours and hours), but how little it's financially valued (in general, for the vast majority).
glad this was useful to someone. yes. nailed it. sometimes work is not immediately productive… but eventually. it can be hard to hang in.
huh. good to hear an outside perspective about the importance of music. i’m old and along with the usual “why am I doing this?” I wonder if music is even a thing anymore as it seems to be experienced by people so differently than it used to be. I often wonder if investing so much effort in music is as useful as working on my skills to be a silent film projectionist.
agree completely about the pay situation. been seeing this happen in slow motion for decades. at some point something will have to give —and I think musicians unions must be the way. google ‘US laws and regulations: fair pay for musicians compared to other countries’. it is truly eye-opening. all my former bandmates that have gone on to make a living at music have had to do so out of country.
What I typically do, if I really like a piece, is I'll record it without having the lyrics I need (second verse or whatever) and then I'll just workshop over that instrumental section until I find something I like. Often I'll just pull old lyrics that I liked that fit the theme and put new melodies to them and see if they work.
That's usually how I power through it!
Ahhh the perfectionist in us all haha! What’s crazy is a bunch of famous singers/rappers/song writers write songs filled with filler content and people eat it up no matter what.
Same here. My problem is that I think about songwriting as capturing a moment. Not telling a full story. So I might end up with one or two really nice parts, maximum going up to a minute. Recently my vocal teacher simply forced me to try to make full songs out of them, to get songwriting practice. No matter if I’m happy with the quality or not.
Well, I must admit he is right in terms of getting songwriting practice and a baseline to build on. However, I really just write for myself mostly, so doing these kind of exercises are less fun for me than just enjoying the moment.
Makes sense. I can relate. The writing is basically just a form of therapy for me. But I have found that completed songs do energize me more to write and record even more.
But it’s not for everyone. Gotta scratch the itch however is best for you
Haha, I love the last sentence. I can relate very much. I’m just thinking why should I go through all this additional pain , if I’m doing this for myself and I’m enjoying it. However, I do also play and sing in a band, so I guess there are some practical benefits to it.
Having filler until inspiration strikes again is the only way I can finish songs. A nearly finished song with filler is better than a snippet of a song I’m afraid to touch. If you’re resisting using filler, try inserting silly lyrics as filler, like ‘sausages, baked beans and egg’ and then it’s clearly filler and not something you’ll stick to, and you’ll be motivated to change it sooner.
What I typically do, if I really like a piece, is I'll record it without having the lyrics I need (second verse or whatever) and then I'll just workshop over that instrumental section until I find something I like. Often I'll just pull old lyrics that I liked that fit the theme and put new melodies to them and see if they work.
That's usually how I power through it!
This is literally what I was coming to say. I write one helluva good piece that isn’t finished, then I sit on that until I figure it out. Sometimes that’s days, but it’s been years before too
This for sure. The reason 99% of my songs are like 2 minutes long is because I cannot cheapen the song with worse lyrics or something in a subsequent verse or bridge.
I find multiple aspects of songwriting very challenging. Here are some:
1. **Adequate use of repetition:** I think it's difficult to use repetition enough for the listener to familiarize with the music without it becoming boring.
2. **Building around a seed:** I feel like it's reasonably easy to come up with a reasonable idea (melodic motif, chord progression, lyric, *etc.*), but it's very difficult to expand on that in a way that is coherent and not disjoint from the initial idea.
3. **Remembering how to play things:** I find it difficult to remember how to play certain things on my instrument (guitar). I have voice memos, but it is not always obvious how I was playing the part.
4. **Interesting chord changes:** I find it difficult to build interesting chord changes. I don't think they need to be SUPER complicated, but I get bored pretty quick from | Am | F | C | G | or stuff like that.
Thanks fellow Canadian! I just played the full song for my band for the first time last night. I screwed up a bunch, but they got the idea of it. Everybody seemed excited, and are now going to write their various lead/drum parts based on it.
I felt like I needed to get other people involved so that I'll stop changing things. But I also felt that if I shared it before I was happy with the overall identity of the song, it could be changed too much by other people's input.
Anyway, sorry for the stream of consciousness rant, I'm just excited/terrified of where I'm at with the song.
That's awesome. Collaboration is a great way to write songs! I don't have a band, but I wish I did.
It's also important to move on after a little while, because songs can really feel like they're never "done" and keep you from progressing. There are tons of songs to be written, so good enough is often all it takes! Better write lots of songs than very few "good" ones, in my opinion.
In terms of your third point, add a note to the voice memo! When I record voice memos I at least write down which fret the capo is on and what chord shapes I’m using (if I’m using chord shapes). You could even try videoing it or writing out tabs.
Those are good tricks; thanks.
I do that, but I tend to use unusual chord voicings, so it's slow and I don't do it consistently enough. I'm also a little bit lazy. 😅
>4. Interesting chord changes: I find it difficult to build interesting chord changes. I don't think they need to be SUPER complicated, but I get bored pretty quick from | Am | F | C | G | or stuff like that.
Something that helps with this are passing chords/leading tones, and different chord voicing, especially on guitar. Try doing C, raising the root c to c#, now you have an inverted a major chord, then to d if you want the a to function as a secondary dominant or to dminor for dramatic effect. You can do that all the time, all over the fretboard, and make things Spicier/give your song more movement. You can do it going down as well. G to D sounds more interesting when the root g moves down to F#, the 3rd of d which makes it an inverted d, rather than just the standard cowboy chord shapes of g and d. It really opened up my songwriting and chord choices. Sometimes a different chord voicing makes it sound like a totally different chord, even within the same song!
If I think about the reality of music theory for too long I feel the same way... like there's nothing new under the sun. Things that get me out of that rut are
A) writing something purely for the sake of whacky chords or
B) doing the exact opposite and writing primarily for the melody, regardless of how simple the underlying chord structure is. Occasionally while doing this I'll substitute the "obvious" chord for something stranger that still works with the melody and stumble upon something interesting/effective enough to stash for future use.
When in doubt I almost always just follow the melody and don't worry too much about how interesting the chords are. But I do marvel at artists who are capable of creating sublime melodies while also incorporating unique, interesting and most importantly extremely effective chord choices.
But yeah I relate to your points strongly.
Yep! I need to focus more on the melody. I don't know why I've always been more drawn to cool chords when, in the end, I think that the melody is much more important and can generate chord progressions that I never would have thought of otherwise.
Something I used to do a lot more of is make up melodies while walking around or showering, sing them over and over until they're memorized, and then write the chords way later, writing chords *to* a melody, rather than the other way around. Nine times out of ten this would result in super basic chord progressions, but the opportunities for stuff you'd never come up with otherwise were worth it and some of my favorite ever songs I've written I did this way. Definitely worth a try!
Regarding the first point, I find that it helps to first build the song around a known structure like `verse verse pre-chorus chorus verse pre-chorus chorus bridge chorus chorus`, then evaluate and change whatever needs changing. Sometimes it's moving things around, sometimes it's adding or removing stuff, sometimes it's little changes within the parts. For instance, "I feel like these words need more time to hit, I'll stretch that little moment".
Structuring the song might be my favorite part :)
For me, I usually only write a chorus, which actually says everything I wanted to say. So I have 30 seconds to 1 minute. Now I need to fill another two minutes. It just feels like unnecessary to me.
Sorry, I’m not sure if I understand the question correctly. Are you asking me how everything can be packed into the chorus?
For me, it’s basically a combination of the words and the melody delivered by the chords. I don’t mix m messages per song, usually it’s just one thing I want ti get off my chest. So this can be done in 2 to 3 lines and a few chords,.
Now can you tell me what you just told me, but with imagery and metaphors? I think you could get a verse out of this.
To be clear, what I’m doing is asking you questions to provoke more lyrical/emotional ideas from you. I thought it might help. My original question was to get you to describe any particular chorus. Boom. Verse.
Edit: Sorry to be confusing!
Ok, now I got it ;). Yes, I can make derivatives from the chorus but I just feel it’s “add on”. I don’t have much to say per song as you can see from the below (chorus lyrics):
1.
I find it hard to believe
this is all the help you really need.
2.
Is this really the right time to
settle all the that debt I have with you?
3.
Bring the angels down to me
so I can be in their vicinity.
Help them over the Rubicon
because by then I’ll be gone
But what about me, bro?! You’re giving me a tangy dessert, but I don’t have the fatty dinner that makes it refreshing.
Why can’t you believe it? What does that feel like, look like, taste like? What is this person doing that makes you believe it let alone what they’re doing to pretend not to need it?
You can analyze what YOU’RE doing, but there’s ignorant listeners out here that don’t know what’s about to happen. You can call it derivative if you want, but it may propel you further to call it descriptive. Language matters. Feeling matters. Go watch Arrival. Duende, bro!
The key factor to grasping this is essentially call and response I think. It's hard to demonstrate via text but its creating an ebb and flow within the melody which balances it out.
There's lots of videos on YouTube about it.
the paparazzi, the constant barrage of fans, demands for photos . . . can't go to the grocery to buy a sixer without the kids screaming and fainting over my rebellious use of internal rhyme . . .
Letting go of a finished song that didn’t quite reach the potential of the original idea. Sometimes the best thing is to step away and sit on it a while, but the temptation to tinker can be stronger than my ability to listen to reason.
Sorry, I'm showing my ignorance, i mean which chords work with each other. I get stuck in certain patterns and have to put in effort to break out of it.
Oh, I see. I guess that's not so difficult, you just have to study the chord degrees of a scale (https://people.carleton.edu/\~jellinge/m101s12/Pages/15/15TriadsAndScales.html#:\~:text=Major%20chords%20appear%20on%20scale,appears%20on%20scale%20degree%20vii.)
Also learning different songs is useful, you will learn new chords, chord patterns and song structure.
EDIT: this is the link: https://people.carleton.edu/\~jellinge/m101s12/Pages/15/15TriadsAndScales.html#:\~:text=Major%20chords%20appear%20on%20scale,appears%20on%20scale%20degree%20vii.
Upload your instrumentals to beatstars and youtube so they’re available to musicians who attempt to specialize in lyrics?
Doesn’t have to be every instrumental, or most of your instrumentals. But letting some go and seeing what happens could help you find “that” direction and maybe the right lyricist/ vocalist.
Figuring out the instrumentation. Getting a melody is easy but figuring out where certain instruments should and shouldn't play have so many infinite possibilities, its hard sometimes to narrow that down
Coming up with lyrical ideas that are interesting, honest, and unique. I used to have ideas pop in my head all of the time but lately I’ve been in a bit of a rut and nothing has really come up so I’ve been avoiding writing which makes the problem worse. I simply don’t know what to write about
I was recently in a rut that suddenly ended. Regarding not knowing what to write about, have you been in touch with your emotions and the emotions of others recently? Have you been reading or listening, or seeing, or experiencing things that move you?
I often move through a cycle of
1. Trying to push through but getting stuck in a plateau no matter what I try
2. Getting frustrated and convinced I will never succeed
3. Taking a break and focusing on just reading, listening to music, and being present in my real life.
4. Trying again and pushing but actually having a breakthrough this time. Not necessarily finishing the song though.
I sometimes have to repeat 1-3 multiple times before getting to 4
Just the completion component, I love that I can get randomly inspired so easily but it's just positive energy with no logical spine to support it so I end up with lyrics I like and maybe even a concept for a chorus or rhythm I enjoy, I can even picture certain instruments that I think would work well together and add to the theme/aesthetics of my initial thoughts but all that doesn't make a song. I haven't learned how to consistently play an instrument in awhile. (since grade school and I'm in my 20s now) or read music so then there's even less logic to build my inspiration on. But hey, something is better than nothing.
Also humming original lyrics but it's to the beat of another song whether the vibe is similar or not, it still makes you feel a bit less original and can put a dent in your pride as an artistic thinker.
Honestly, for me.. it’s collaborating. A lot of ppl I’ve worked with don’t know how to teamwork and they think that their idea(s) are always best no matter what you contribute. So I just tap out.
Avoiding clichés. And as someone else mentioned - being struck by inspiration, writing down that bit and being jazzed about it, but then struggle to flesh the idea out without losing the original thought in the mix.
Good luck.
I am not a great guitar player, so writing the chord progressions can be challenging. Sometimes I work with a producer I know who will write a cool chord progression, and then I put my lyrics and melody over it.
Google it. "Interesting progressions" "5 chord progressions" "happy minor progressions" etc.
Don't listen to someone play them, just get the chords and strum them however you feel is interesting to you.
Being my own worst critic. I love lyrics and I latch onto profound and well thought out lyrics in my favorite songs. I struggle to write something that I would want to have stuck in my head.
Coming up with interesting chord changes is a tough one for me. Some songs i hear have these changes that sound magical and i have no idea how to do stuff like that off the cuff. Even though I have a degree in music and studied jazz theory for two years.
I just recently decided to write an album worth of 80s style power ballads. That stuff always has cool chord progressions. I analyzed a long playlist of favorites and found a few common techniques. Any of them could be incorporated by starting with cliche diatonic chords and then modifying them. In fact I was shocked by the diatonicness of most of the songs. (Diatonic means just all in one key, like if you're in the key of C, just playing chords like C, F, G, Am, Dm, Em)
1. Stick a weird chord in either the prechorus or the bridge. A III7 (V7/VI) chord or a VII (IV/IV) out of nowhere can really make it sound like you know what you're doing.
(III7 = if you're in the key of D, you're playing D, G, A, Bm, Em, F#m - stick a random F#7 in there. If you're in G, you're playing G, C, D, Em, Am, Bm - stick a random B7 in there. If you're in C, stick an E7, if you're in F, stick an A7 etc. )
(VII = if you're in D, stick a C in there; if you're in G, stick an F in there; if you're in C, stick a Bb; in F, stick an Eb. Warning: this will sound sad. Good for 80s power ballads)
2. Take one whole section of your song and transpose it (chords & melody) to a random sounding key. Up or down a minor third is a good one. Will sound like a whole new world, and will sound like that again when you switch back.
(If you're in C major, transpose to E flat major or A major. If you're in D major, switch to F major or B major. If you're in G major, try transposing to B flat major or E major.)
Feedback on the songs I used these techniques on, among others, was that they were more "sophisticated" than my previous work.
Haha! I know you were sort of joking but that song does have one technique in it - Saving one chord for the bridge. Most of the song is G, D, C, Am, but in the bridge they introduce Em for the first time. Even though it's a pretty commonplace chord in the key of G, the fact that they save it for later gives it some extra impact.
I think for me it’s writing lyrics. I typically write the guitar arrangement first then start writing vocal melodies by singing random words. Before long you get a couple of lines but then you gotta try to decipher what the song is trying to say. That’s usually the tricky part for me
Well.. writing songs. It's like I'm missing that artistic spark to create something on my own. There's nothing that I need to get out, no story to be told. They say you have to write shitty songs to get to the good ones, but I can't even come up with shitty stuff to begin with.
My head's just empty.
This is the exact problem I have. I used chat gpt to write a chord progression for me which sorta helped, but it's not brilliant but it's a starting point.
It's not about the chords for me. I play live gigs with my loop station so I know there's a lot of cool songs that use the same 4 chords in a loop throughout the entire song. It's what you build on top of it what makes it interesting, and that's the part where I can't even get a foot in the door.
Sounds weird, but falling out of love with your ideas overtime. When somethings fresh in the oven it really reaonates with you but by the time you're reaching the final stages of production it can have lost it's impact to you.
I don’t find any part of of songwriting hard. I used to, until I realized that my big hang ups had to do with my expectations about what I thought people might think about my songs - which is totally and completely insane.
I suppose if I had to say what bothers me today, it’s having to redu demos (usually because of tempo).
I hate being vulnerable about my feelings sometimes, i just keep the lyrics vague so hopefully people can find their own meanings from it. Another thing is making sure my singing sounds good and fits with the background. It can be frustrating on days I want to sing but I can’t seem to get anything right. Eventually I’ll just end up using filters til I stop hating the final product. (I have a love hate relationship with all my art lol)
The lyrics. I can come up melodies, lyrics, play all the instruments, engineer it, mix it, etc.
But lyrics take me forever. I still consider myself decent at writing lyrics. But I’m significantly better at everything else.
Writing vocal melodies that are both appropriate for my singing range and style. I’ve been getting a lot better but it’s something I’m focusing on right now. Just writing with longevity in mind has been a really challenging yet rewarding practice.
I have hundreds of songs, and can make new ones easily enough
The hardest part is understanding why bother - there are hundreds of thousands of great songs out there, who needs any more?
I would say having meaning behind the writing, I usually freestyle what sounds good. I use the beat and that leads to what melody I want to use. After free styling it’s more so making it make sense. After finding my rhythm it’s hard for me to construct words that grasp the listeners attention as well as making it punctual. That is my writing style, I start with the bones and then I get into detail which is usually the meat of the project.
Two for me
1. Concepts- trying to come up with a lyrical or musical idea that is creative enough to set it apart
2. Writing happy songs, I tend to write more emotional/slower/sadder stuff.
Reining myself back in after a frenzy of recording a continuous four minutes of a cappella vocals for a complete lyric set and established melodies, then realising I have to slow down to actually record it in time and figure out the chords and rhythm to accompany it.
Chord progressions, I can write pretty much everything else, but the chords are the last thing on my list because they usually give me the most headache.
In the process of writing the only “hard” part is lyric writing, but it varies.
Some songs the lyrics come super easy, some take a little more thought. But my only rule is I have to let it flow out of me and not analyze it too much
Otherwise, songwriting comes very easily for me.
The only other “hard” part is the process of recording it all. That’s the actual work
The bridge. I sometimes find it tricky to go somewhere a little different for a bridge. Not all the time, sometimes it comes naturally, but sometimes it eludes me for a day or two.
I get hung up on the bridge in nearly every song I write. It’s like a blank canvas just sitting there. It can go anywhere. I try to be conscious of dynamic change across the entire song, and the bridge is critical to that in my opinion. I also tend to put the most important lyrics in the bridge, and drive home the point. For me, it feels right when the song peaks at the bridge. That pressure I put on it may be why I struggle with it.
for me is not writing the song but figuring out how i want it produced. it’s hard for me to imagine a fully finished song when all i have is a piano part. i don’t know how to play many other instruments and i struggle coming up with production ideas through softwares like garageband. my producer is incredible, and always brings my song to life but it’s hard to envision it in the early stages of development
A organic sounding bridge. And the endings. Every song I end up trying to make fucking Hey Jude style massive crescendos. I need to learn that, hey man, some songs just fade out.
Cutting down my songs/finding a good song structure
I like to see how far I can take an idea. Most of my songs start with 50+ variations of an idea totaling 10+ minutes (a recent one had 80+ variations at 19 minutes), repeating the process if I need a B section. It comes together quickly, often within a day or a week, so coming up with and developing ideas is the easy part for me.
The hardest part is cutting that down, and turning it into a song with a good structure. 50+ variations means there are so many different combinations to try out, which requires lots of critical listening. So this is the stage where I’m most critical towards my work, deciding which parts are essential to the song, even saying goodbye to some sick ideas for the sake of the song.
By the end, a 14 minute song might end up 4 or 5. The 19 minute track is currently down to 15, but I could probably shave off another couple of minutes. This approach leaves me feeling more fulfilled with my songwriting.
Keeping focus. I start with a beautiful chord progression, try some ideas over the top, decide to double time it, decide to change them around, no, wait, how was it again? Ah, right, double time it again, yeah! Now it's heavy AF. Screeching lead over the top, more ride! Wait? What the hell is this?
Before I know it, it's three hours later and I have two unfinished songs and I don't know where either is going because I forgot one and the other isn't what I set out to make in the first place.
So, I try to have rules before I get stuck in - Bands it can sound like, bands it can't sound like, amount of dissonance allowed, max tempo/minimum tempo, is it subtle or is it showy, is it minimal or is it packed with ideas? Pork or beef?
When I work like this, I find that the more minimal and more subtle I am, the simpler I keep it, the better it ends up being and it usually ends up being a 'finished' song as opposed to a wild and confused idea that will never go anywhere.
Know your limits. I am no Devin, or Zappa, or Cedric/Omar, so until I am, I'll keep it firmly and satisfyingly basic.
The mind battle.
This is when I get hook or a nice bridge and when I start to build the other parts, my subconscious starts throwing other artists songs at me which blocks the thought process/magic and starts to take over.
It really pisses me off.
Like seriously 😆
Sometimes the mind battle wins and just ruins so it goes on the 'ill try something with that another day pile".
Structure and perfectionism revolving around writing lyrics. I have autism so I tend to stress about writing things in a way that’s blunt enough to be really easy to understand, but poetic enough to be enjoyable to listen to. But I have a bad habit of writing lots of verses and not really settling on a true chorus.
The second verse. It’s simpler for me to write a first idea, and an ending to tie it all together, but wtf am I tying together with that smart ending? The meat, I guess.
Lyrics
I’ve got hundreds of basically full-fleshed tracks finished in my DAW that have placeholder melodies until I write lyrics I don’t hate.
I wish I could Michael Stipe it and just sing mumbo jumbo and them but I love great lyrics. My favorite musicians are Leonard Cohen, the National, Wilco, and Dylan, so it’s always been super important to me.
🎶 Sometimes I have a melody or a chord progression that I love, but finding the right words to fit that mood and tell the story I want can be a real challenge. I often struggle with making the lyrics feel authentic and not forced. I want them to resonate and connect with people, but sometimes it feels like I'm trying too hard or not hitting the right tone. Balancing poetic expression with clarity and relatability is tricky. It's a process of constant revision and sometimes just stepping away to let inspiration strike again.
Solo project(s). I'm so anxious to get to putting drum tracks to my never satisfying or already forgotten guitar riffs. The infinite freedom and possibilities. It's a realm where I definitely tend to struggle. Just me, all alone with my untamed creativity and overflowing bottomless barrell of ideas. The place where I have no sense of boundary, no structure, limit, or foundation. My lack of discipline and ability to keep it simple and just stay in the fucking pocket. No resistance what so ever to the way my beautiful blacked out murdered from head to toe ebony pearl ex drumset looks right there and the temptation to just say fuck all this bullshit and just hop over there really quick and blast the rest of the night away on her little sexy ass. I can handle that by myself just fine, though
For me personally is staying on topic or keeping a solid theme/idea while writing a song. Writing lyrics is one of the only ways I have to put my emotions out and feel them. However, since my emotions can be caused by multiple factors in my life, I tend to start with a topic and then change what I’m talking about completely multiple times since those different ideas are tied to the same emotions I’m channeling
I’m struggling to find new inspirations atm. Not only lyrics-wise, but sonically as well. Especially when you’re living in a routine, sometimes it’s kinda hard to come up with new stuffs.
More often than not I write 30-60 seconds of something I love but struggle to write around it because I don't want to bring down the whole song with filler content around the actual part I think is good.
yes thats so real!!!! like i get a strike of inspiration for just one little piece but now how to match that energy
Curious if anyone has tips to get out of this hole?
I think that if you try to figure out the song's meaning and/or message and then think about the structure of the song (by that I mean what is every part going to talk about. For example, if you have a song about, say, a past lover, you could make a first verse talking about stuff you did together, then a second verse describing them or getting a little more specific, then the chorus to be about what you're feeling along with the core neaning of the song, and so on and so forth) would be some way to work around it. But what works for me might be different from what works for you. The only objective advice I have for everyone equally is really just "keep writing", but that isn't very satisfying.
i think it’s very specific to your writing style, but two things that have helped me are: 1. I try to play a variation of the original part but transposed around a higher or lower tonal center. 2. I choose a song in a completely different style that you really like and play a game of ‘what-if this riff from another song was played in the style of my original part?’ after attempting one of those approaches, i focus on just getting the transition to work between the two parts without being too judgemental. once that’s fluid, then I get a little more critical and try to focus on how to improve the second part. try to get a vibe. i find it helps to carry over (or exaggerate) one element from the original part: it could be a rhythm, a mode/mood, a short motif, a repeating interval, some other feature. i might try a few different variations, give up, have an idea while doing something else, try to notate it some how, forget the part, try it all over again. you’ll get there, it’s a process. but you have to put in the time. oh and record. record everything. go back and listen, you may decide an old version is genius and you didn’t recognize it while you were writing it.
Thank you! Awesome advice. I'm definitely putting in the work, sometimes it's productive work and sometimes not so much. I often ask myself "why am I doing this" and I've realized the meaning of the whole "enjoy the process" mantra - and that's exactly why I play. It's absolutely insane how important music is to humanity, and how much work it takes (hours and hours and hours), but how little it's financially valued (in general, for the vast majority).
glad this was useful to someone. yes. nailed it. sometimes work is not immediately productive… but eventually. it can be hard to hang in. huh. good to hear an outside perspective about the importance of music. i’m old and along with the usual “why am I doing this?” I wonder if music is even a thing anymore as it seems to be experienced by people so differently than it used to be. I often wonder if investing so much effort in music is as useful as working on my skills to be a silent film projectionist. agree completely about the pay situation. been seeing this happen in slow motion for decades. at some point something will have to give —and I think musicians unions must be the way. google ‘US laws and regulations: fair pay for musicians compared to other countries’. it is truly eye-opening. all my former bandmates that have gone on to make a living at music have had to do so out of country.
What I typically do, if I really like a piece, is I'll record it without having the lyrics I need (second verse or whatever) and then I'll just workshop over that instrumental section until I find something I like. Often I'll just pull old lyrics that I liked that fit the theme and put new melodies to them and see if they work. That's usually how I power through it!
Keep all the best parts. Over time, match up great verses with great choruses.
Ahhh the perfectionist in us all haha! What’s crazy is a bunch of famous singers/rappers/song writers write songs filled with filler content and people eat it up no matter what.
You're me.
Same here. My problem is that I think about songwriting as capturing a moment. Not telling a full story. So I might end up with one or two really nice parts, maximum going up to a minute. Recently my vocal teacher simply forced me to try to make full songs out of them, to get songwriting practice. No matter if I’m happy with the quality or not.
Great advice. I subscribe to the idea that powering through the process will make the process easier overtime.
Well, I must admit he is right in terms of getting songwriting practice and a baseline to build on. However, I really just write for myself mostly, so doing these kind of exercises are less fun for me than just enjoying the moment.
Makes sense. I can relate. The writing is basically just a form of therapy for me. But I have found that completed songs do energize me more to write and record even more. But it’s not for everyone. Gotta scratch the itch however is best for you
Haha, I love the last sentence. I can relate very much. I’m just thinking why should I go through all this additional pain , if I’m doing this for myself and I’m enjoying it. However, I do also play and sing in a band, so I guess there are some practical benefits to it.
Having filler until inspiration strikes again is the only way I can finish songs. A nearly finished song with filler is better than a snippet of a song I’m afraid to touch. If you’re resisting using filler, try inserting silly lyrics as filler, like ‘sausages, baked beans and egg’ and then it’s clearly filler and not something you’ll stick to, and you’ll be motivated to change it sooner.
What I typically do, if I really like a piece, is I'll record it without having the lyrics I need (second verse or whatever) and then I'll just workshop over that instrumental section until I find something I like. Often I'll just pull old lyrics that I liked that fit the theme and put new melodies to them and see if they work. That's usually how I power through it!
You just described literally every musician…
Didn't say it was unique to me. We all struggle!
This is literally what I was coming to say. I write one helluva good piece that isn’t finished, then I sit on that until I figure it out. Sometimes that’s days, but it’s been years before too
This for sure. The reason 99% of my songs are like 2 minutes long is because I cannot cheapen the song with worse lyrics or something in a subsequent verse or bridge.
I find multiple aspects of songwriting very challenging. Here are some: 1. **Adequate use of repetition:** I think it's difficult to use repetition enough for the listener to familiarize with the music without it becoming boring. 2. **Building around a seed:** I feel like it's reasonably easy to come up with a reasonable idea (melodic motif, chord progression, lyric, *etc.*), but it's very difficult to expand on that in a way that is coherent and not disjoint from the initial idea. 3. **Remembering how to play things:** I find it difficult to remember how to play certain things on my instrument (guitar). I have voice memos, but it is not always obvious how I was playing the part. 4. **Interesting chord changes:** I find it difficult to build interesting chord changes. I don't think they need to be SUPER complicated, but I get bored pretty quick from | Am | F | C | G | or stuff like that.
I'm just writing my first fully fleshed out song, and all 4 of your points are things I had trouble with
Have fun and don't be too hard on yourself! Writing songs is challenging, but finishing a song is one of the most rewarding experiences I know.
Thanks fellow Canadian! I just played the full song for my band for the first time last night. I screwed up a bunch, but they got the idea of it. Everybody seemed excited, and are now going to write their various lead/drum parts based on it. I felt like I needed to get other people involved so that I'll stop changing things. But I also felt that if I shared it before I was happy with the overall identity of the song, it could be changed too much by other people's input. Anyway, sorry for the stream of consciousness rant, I'm just excited/terrified of where I'm at with the song.
That's awesome. Collaboration is a great way to write songs! I don't have a band, but I wish I did. It's also important to move on after a little while, because songs can really feel like they're never "done" and keep you from progressing. There are tons of songs to be written, so good enough is often all it takes! Better write lots of songs than very few "good" ones, in my opinion.
In terms of your third point, add a note to the voice memo! When I record voice memos I at least write down which fret the capo is on and what chord shapes I’m using (if I’m using chord shapes). You could even try videoing it or writing out tabs.
Those are good tricks; thanks. I do that, but I tend to use unusual chord voicings, so it's slow and I don't do it consistently enough. I'm also a little bit lazy. 😅
>4. Interesting chord changes: I find it difficult to build interesting chord changes. I don't think they need to be SUPER complicated, but I get bored pretty quick from | Am | F | C | G | or stuff like that. Something that helps with this are passing chords/leading tones, and different chord voicing, especially on guitar. Try doing C, raising the root c to c#, now you have an inverted a major chord, then to d if you want the a to function as a secondary dominant or to dminor for dramatic effect. You can do that all the time, all over the fretboard, and make things Spicier/give your song more movement. You can do it going down as well. G to D sounds more interesting when the root g moves down to F#, the 3rd of d which makes it an inverted d, rather than just the standard cowboy chord shapes of g and d. It really opened up my songwriting and chord choices. Sometimes a different chord voicing makes it sound like a totally different chord, even within the same song!
I agree, there's a lot of tricks to spice up otherwise blend progressions! Still difficult to me.
If I think about the reality of music theory for too long I feel the same way... like there's nothing new under the sun. Things that get me out of that rut are A) writing something purely for the sake of whacky chords or B) doing the exact opposite and writing primarily for the melody, regardless of how simple the underlying chord structure is. Occasionally while doing this I'll substitute the "obvious" chord for something stranger that still works with the melody and stumble upon something interesting/effective enough to stash for future use. When in doubt I almost always just follow the melody and don't worry too much about how interesting the chords are. But I do marvel at artists who are capable of creating sublime melodies while also incorporating unique, interesting and most importantly extremely effective chord choices. But yeah I relate to your points strongly.
Yep! I need to focus more on the melody. I don't know why I've always been more drawn to cool chords when, in the end, I think that the melody is much more important and can generate chord progressions that I never would have thought of otherwise.
Something I used to do a lot more of is make up melodies while walking around or showering, sing them over and over until they're memorized, and then write the chords way later, writing chords *to* a melody, rather than the other way around. Nine times out of ten this would result in super basic chord progressions, but the opportunities for stuff you'd never come up with otherwise were worth it and some of my favorite ever songs I've written I did this way. Definitely worth a try!
why is this sorta chat gpt lol
Regarding the first point, I find that it helps to first build the song around a known structure like `verse verse pre-chorus chorus verse pre-chorus chorus bridge chorus chorus`, then evaluate and change whatever needs changing. Sometimes it's moving things around, sometimes it's adding or removing stuff, sometimes it's little changes within the parts. For instance, "I feel like these words need more time to hit, I'll stretch that little moment". Structuring the song might be my favorite part :)
The chorus. When listening to music, you just know a good catchy chorus when you hear one. I have yet to write a chorus that triggers that
For me, I usually only write a chorus, which actually says everything I wanted to say. So I have 30 seconds to 1 minute. Now I need to fill another two minutes. It just feels like unnecessary to me.
I don’t want dessert right off the bat. How does the chorus say it? Describe that!
Sorry, I’m not sure if I understand the question correctly. Are you asking me how everything can be packed into the chorus? For me, it’s basically a combination of the words and the melody delivered by the chords. I don’t mix m messages per song, usually it’s just one thing I want ti get off my chest. So this can be done in 2 to 3 lines and a few chords,.
Now can you tell me what you just told me, but with imagery and metaphors? I think you could get a verse out of this. To be clear, what I’m doing is asking you questions to provoke more lyrical/emotional ideas from you. I thought it might help. My original question was to get you to describe any particular chorus. Boom. Verse. Edit: Sorry to be confusing!
Ok, now I got it ;). Yes, I can make derivatives from the chorus but I just feel it’s “add on”. I don’t have much to say per song as you can see from the below (chorus lyrics): 1. I find it hard to believe this is all the help you really need. 2. Is this really the right time to settle all the that debt I have with you? 3. Bring the angels down to me so I can be in their vicinity. Help them over the Rubicon because by then I’ll be gone
But what about me, bro?! You’re giving me a tangy dessert, but I don’t have the fatty dinner that makes it refreshing. Why can’t you believe it? What does that feel like, look like, taste like? What is this person doing that makes you believe it let alone what they’re doing to pretend not to need it? You can analyze what YOU’RE doing, but there’s ignorant listeners out here that don’t know what’s about to happen. You can call it derivative if you want, but it may propel you further to call it descriptive. Language matters. Feeling matters. Go watch Arrival. Duende, bro!
The key factor to grasping this is essentially call and response I think. It's hard to demonstrate via text but its creating an ebb and flow within the melody which balances it out. There's lots of videos on YouTube about it.
the paparazzi, the constant barrage of fans, demands for photos . . . can't go to the grocery to buy a sixer without the kids screaming and fainting over my rebellious use of internal rhyme . . .
Coming up with melodies that i like
Dealing with musicians They are a motley crew. Half an hour to write a banger and three years to get a decent recording of it with the band
Letting go of a finished song that didn’t quite reach the potential of the original idea. Sometimes the best thing is to step away and sit on it a while, but the temptation to tinker can be stronger than my ability to listen to reason.
Finding sounds that are different. I write on guitar and I'm limited in my ability so I'm learning as i go.
Hi, idk what you mean by "finding sounds" but you can try some pedals for your guitar, you will definitely find new sounds lol.
Sorry, I'm showing my ignorance, i mean which chords work with each other. I get stuck in certain patterns and have to put in effort to break out of it.
Oh, I see. I guess that's not so difficult, you just have to study the chord degrees of a scale (https://people.carleton.edu/\~jellinge/m101s12/Pages/15/15TriadsAndScales.html#:\~:text=Major%20chords%20appear%20on%20scale,appears%20on%20scale%20degree%20vii.) Also learning different songs is useful, you will learn new chords, chord patterns and song structure. EDIT: this is the link: https://people.carleton.edu/\~jellinge/m101s12/Pages/15/15TriadsAndScales.html#:\~:text=Major%20chords%20appear%20on%20scale,appears%20on%20scale%20degree%20vii.
Thank you!!
Link doesn't work for me?
The lyrics
This x 100. I have dozens and dozens and dozens of finished tracks that need lyrics. I can’t find a lyricist that I mesh with and I HATE writing them.
Upload your instrumentals to beatstars and youtube so they’re available to musicians who attempt to specialize in lyrics? Doesn’t have to be every instrumental, or most of your instrumentals. But letting some go and seeing what happens could help you find “that” direction and maybe the right lyricist/ vocalist.
Deciding it’s ready to share. Rarely feels done.
I read it somewhere "you might have a banger on your PC which will prolly never come out" and it really hit me... Go for it man, put your music out
Figuring out the instrumentation. Getting a melody is easy but figuring out where certain instruments should and shouldn't play have so many infinite possibilities, its hard sometimes to narrow that down
Coming up with lyrical ideas that are interesting, honest, and unique. I used to have ideas pop in my head all of the time but lately I’ve been in a bit of a rut and nothing has really come up so I’ve been avoiding writing which makes the problem worse. I simply don’t know what to write about
I was recently in a rut that suddenly ended. Regarding not knowing what to write about, have you been in touch with your emotions and the emotions of others recently? Have you been reading or listening, or seeing, or experiencing things that move you? I often move through a cycle of 1. Trying to push through but getting stuck in a plateau no matter what I try 2. Getting frustrated and convinced I will never succeed 3. Taking a break and focusing on just reading, listening to music, and being present in my real life. 4. Trying again and pushing but actually having a breakthrough this time. Not necessarily finishing the song though. I sometimes have to repeat 1-3 multiple times before getting to 4
Emotional lyrics
Just the completion component, I love that I can get randomly inspired so easily but it's just positive energy with no logical spine to support it so I end up with lyrics I like and maybe even a concept for a chorus or rhythm I enjoy, I can even picture certain instruments that I think would work well together and add to the theme/aesthetics of my initial thoughts but all that doesn't make a song. I haven't learned how to consistently play an instrument in awhile. (since grade school and I'm in my 20s now) or read music so then there's even less logic to build my inspiration on. But hey, something is better than nothing. Also humming original lyrics but it's to the beat of another song whether the vibe is similar or not, it still makes you feel a bit less original and can put a dent in your pride as an artistic thinker.
Honestly, for me.. it’s collaborating. A lot of ppl I’ve worked with don’t know how to teamwork and they think that their idea(s) are always best no matter what you contribute. So I just tap out.
Avoiding clichés. And as someone else mentioned - being struck by inspiration, writing down that bit and being jazzed about it, but then struggle to flesh the idea out without losing the original thought in the mix. Good luck.
Writing lyrics around a chorus. Often times I’ll have great ideas for the chorus, but when it comes to building lyrics around it, i get lost
Writing the song.
I am not a great guitar player, so writing the chord progressions can be challenging. Sometimes I work with a producer I know who will write a cool chord progression, and then I put my lyrics and melody over it.
Google it. "Interesting progressions" "5 chord progressions" "happy minor progressions" etc. Don't listen to someone play them, just get the chords and strum them however you feel is interesting to you.
Finishing anything.
Piecing together the word salad in such a way that doesn’t violate subject/verb agreement.
LYRICS
Being my own worst critic. I love lyrics and I latch onto profound and well thought out lyrics in my favorite songs. I struggle to write something that I would want to have stuck in my head.
Coming up with interesting chord changes is a tough one for me. Some songs i hear have these changes that sound magical and i have no idea how to do stuff like that off the cuff. Even though I have a degree in music and studied jazz theory for two years. I just recently decided to write an album worth of 80s style power ballads. That stuff always has cool chord progressions. I analyzed a long playlist of favorites and found a few common techniques. Any of them could be incorporated by starting with cliche diatonic chords and then modifying them. In fact I was shocked by the diatonicness of most of the songs. (Diatonic means just all in one key, like if you're in the key of C, just playing chords like C, F, G, Am, Dm, Em) 1. Stick a weird chord in either the prechorus or the bridge. A III7 (V7/VI) chord or a VII (IV/IV) out of nowhere can really make it sound like you know what you're doing. (III7 = if you're in the key of D, you're playing D, G, A, Bm, Em, F#m - stick a random F#7 in there. If you're in G, you're playing G, C, D, Em, Am, Bm - stick a random B7 in there. If you're in C, stick an E7, if you're in F, stick an A7 etc. ) (VII = if you're in D, stick a C in there; if you're in G, stick an F in there; if you're in C, stick a Bb; in F, stick an Eb. Warning: this will sound sad. Good for 80s power ballads) 2. Take one whole section of your song and transpose it (chords & melody) to a random sounding key. Up or down a minor third is a good one. Will sound like a whole new world, and will sound like that again when you switch back. (If you're in C major, transpose to E flat major or A major. If you're in D major, switch to F major or B major. If you're in G major, try transposing to B flat major or E major.) Feedback on the songs I used these techniques on, among others, was that they were more "sophisticated" than my previous work.
I will try this. Here i go on my own ^again
Haha! I know you were sort of joking but that song does have one technique in it - Saving one chord for the bridge. Most of the song is G, D, C, Am, but in the bridge they introduce Em for the first time. Even though it's a pretty commonplace chord in the key of G, the fact that they save it for later gives it some extra impact.
Love the single-use chord
Lyrics.
I think for me it’s writing lyrics. I typically write the guitar arrangement first then start writing vocal melodies by singing random words. Before long you get a couple of lines but then you gotta try to decipher what the song is trying to say. That’s usually the tricky part for me
Well.. writing songs. It's like I'm missing that artistic spark to create something on my own. There's nothing that I need to get out, no story to be told. They say you have to write shitty songs to get to the good ones, but I can't even come up with shitty stuff to begin with. My head's just empty.
This is the exact problem I have. I used chat gpt to write a chord progression for me which sorta helped, but it's not brilliant but it's a starting point.
It's not about the chords for me. I play live gigs with my loop station so I know there's a lot of cool songs that use the same 4 chords in a loop throughout the entire song. It's what you build on top of it what makes it interesting, and that's the part where I can't even get a foot in the door.
Sounds weird, but falling out of love with your ideas overtime. When somethings fresh in the oven it really reaonates with you but by the time you're reaching the final stages of production it can have lost it's impact to you.
Finishing a song
I don’t find any part of of songwriting hard. I used to, until I realized that my big hang ups had to do with my expectations about what I thought people might think about my songs - which is totally and completely insane. I suppose if I had to say what bothers me today, it’s having to redu demos (usually because of tempo).
I hate being vulnerable about my feelings sometimes, i just keep the lyrics vague so hopefully people can find their own meanings from it. Another thing is making sure my singing sounds good and fits with the background. It can be frustrating on days I want to sing but I can’t seem to get anything right. Eventually I’ll just end up using filters til I stop hating the final product. (I have a love hate relationship with all my art lol)
Either lyrics, or just simply the challenge of writing something as catchy as what all the famous people I listen to write.
The lyrics. I can come up melodies, lyrics, play all the instruments, engineer it, mix it, etc. But lyrics take me forever. I still consider myself decent at writing lyrics. But I’m significantly better at everything else.
Writing vocal melodies that are both appropriate for my singing range and style. I’ve been getting a lot better but it’s something I’m focusing on right now. Just writing with longevity in mind has been a really challenging yet rewarding practice.
Writing a second or third verse. I have so many beautiful, but unfinished songs.
Getting them produced well was a challenge for us until recently tbh. The songwriting part isn't the hardest part for me.
The getting inspired (which is kinda out of our control at times) part 🫠
Starting
find topic! and if it's in another language rhyme..
Getting a song to sound like what I hear in my head. :)
[удалено]
If you don't enjoy the process, stop.
I have hundreds of songs, and can make new ones easily enough The hardest part is understanding why bother - there are hundreds of thousands of great songs out there, who needs any more?
The second verse, Coming up with new melodies. Finding original chords
I would say having meaning behind the writing, I usually freestyle what sounds good. I use the beat and that leads to what melody I want to use. After free styling it’s more so making it make sense. After finding my rhythm it’s hard for me to construct words that grasp the listeners attention as well as making it punctual. That is my writing style, I start with the bones and then I get into detail which is usually the meat of the project.
I always get an idea and the start of the lyrics (usually either verse or chorus) but then can’t write anything else
I always get an idea and the start of the lyrics (usually either verse or chorus) but then can’t write anything else
Not Slipping into other songs that also sound like MY SONG!!! lol A few days ago I discovered I was writing Come on up to the House by Mr. Waits lol
Two for me 1. Concepts- trying to come up with a lyrical or musical idea that is creative enough to set it apart 2. Writing happy songs, I tend to write more emotional/slower/sadder stuff.
Reining myself back in after a frenzy of recording a continuous four minutes of a cappella vocals for a complete lyric set and established melodies, then realising I have to slow down to actually record it in time and figure out the chords and rhythm to accompany it.
Chord progressions, I can write pretty much everything else, but the chords are the last thing on my list because they usually give me the most headache.
The finish.
Feeling light. The more I compose, the more responsibility is on my shoulders that I have to produce it to the end. That weight gets heavier
The 2nd verse. Intertwining it with the first verse and hook.
Keeping the same energy throughout the entire song. The beginning is always better than the end for me
Second verse lyrics.
In the process of writing the only “hard” part is lyric writing, but it varies. Some songs the lyrics come super easy, some take a little more thought. But my only rule is I have to let it flow out of me and not analyze it too much Otherwise, songwriting comes very easily for me. The only other “hard” part is the process of recording it all. That’s the actual work
I can never seem to get anything quite finished. I'll have lyrics or chords or a melody and can't seem to knit them together.
The bridge. I sometimes find it tricky to go somewhere a little different for a bridge. Not all the time, sometimes it comes naturally, but sometimes it eludes me for a day or two.
Getting people to listen to my shit songs
Not knowing love
Starting a song
I just sit down and start hitting the keys. Getting them in the right order... now that's the trick
Lyrics all the way. Mine are terrible atm
instrumental. or production overall. for reasons that i dont even have an instrument!
Honestly it’s my focus because my ADHD runs ever so wildly
I get hung up on the bridge in nearly every song I write. It’s like a blank canvas just sitting there. It can go anywhere. I try to be conscious of dynamic change across the entire song, and the bridge is critical to that in my opinion. I also tend to put the most important lyrics in the bridge, and drive home the point. For me, it feels right when the song peaks at the bridge. That pressure I put on it may be why I struggle with it.
for me is not writing the song but figuring out how i want it produced. it’s hard for me to imagine a fully finished song when all i have is a piano part. i don’t know how to play many other instruments and i struggle coming up with production ideas through softwares like garageband. my producer is incredible, and always brings my song to life but it’s hard to envision it in the early stages of development
Finding other melodies and harmonies to write off on, after finishing a song.
The hardest part is starting because I always feel like I don't want to
Titles
It’s not hard at all…it just takes time.
The hardest for me is not hating what I wrote. Occasionally, I write something that I struggle to play on guitar.
Drums and bass are the toughest for me even though I do it all the time I just don’t consider them as fun as leads.
By far the two things I struggle most with songwriting are: 1) not making them way too fucking long 2) not changing the bpm midway through
Lyrics. I struggle a lot with connecting them wrong the mood of the song and with the themes i want to use.
Being broke
Writing the second verse.
Writing the song *side eye *
Finishing 😭
A organic sounding bridge. And the endings. Every song I end up trying to make fucking Hey Jude style massive crescendos. I need to learn that, hey man, some songs just fade out.
Cutting down my songs/finding a good song structure I like to see how far I can take an idea. Most of my songs start with 50+ variations of an idea totaling 10+ minutes (a recent one had 80+ variations at 19 minutes), repeating the process if I need a B section. It comes together quickly, often within a day or a week, so coming up with and developing ideas is the easy part for me. The hardest part is cutting that down, and turning it into a song with a good structure. 50+ variations means there are so many different combinations to try out, which requires lots of critical listening. So this is the stage where I’m most critical towards my work, deciding which parts are essential to the song, even saying goodbye to some sick ideas for the sake of the song. By the end, a 14 minute song might end up 4 or 5. The 19 minute track is currently down to 15, but I could probably shave off another couple of minutes. This approach leaves me feeling more fulfilled with my songwriting.
the start and the end... and the bit in the middle
Sitting still
Keeping focus. I start with a beautiful chord progression, try some ideas over the top, decide to double time it, decide to change them around, no, wait, how was it again? Ah, right, double time it again, yeah! Now it's heavy AF. Screeching lead over the top, more ride! Wait? What the hell is this? Before I know it, it's three hours later and I have two unfinished songs and I don't know where either is going because I forgot one and the other isn't what I set out to make in the first place. So, I try to have rules before I get stuck in - Bands it can sound like, bands it can't sound like, amount of dissonance allowed, max tempo/minimum tempo, is it subtle or is it showy, is it minimal or is it packed with ideas? Pork or beef? When I work like this, I find that the more minimal and more subtle I am, the simpler I keep it, the better it ends up being and it usually ends up being a 'finished' song as opposed to a wild and confused idea that will never go anywhere. Know your limits. I am no Devin, or Zappa, or Cedric/Omar, so until I am, I'll keep it firmly and satisfyingly basic.
Convincing myself that it's not trash
The mind battle. This is when I get hook or a nice bridge and when I start to build the other parts, my subconscious starts throwing other artists songs at me which blocks the thought process/magic and starts to take over. It really pisses me off. Like seriously 😆 Sometimes the mind battle wins and just ruins so it goes on the 'ill try something with that another day pile".
Structure and perfectionism revolving around writing lyrics. I have autism so I tend to stress about writing things in a way that’s blunt enough to be really easy to understand, but poetic enough to be enjoyable to listen to. But I have a bad habit of writing lots of verses and not really settling on a true chorus.
Remembering my words i can freestyle but writing gets hard sometimes poetry helps tho
Finishing
Coming up with a melody
The second verse. It’s simpler for me to write a first idea, and an ending to tie it all together, but wtf am I tying together with that smart ending? The meat, I guess.
Lyrics I’ve got hundreds of basically full-fleshed tracks finished in my DAW that have placeholder melodies until I write lyrics I don’t hate. I wish I could Michael Stipe it and just sing mumbo jumbo and them but I love great lyrics. My favorite musicians are Leonard Cohen, the National, Wilco, and Dylan, so it’s always been super important to me.
Finding a theme
Finding a theme and ensuring i portray the message intelligently.
🎶 Sometimes I have a melody or a chord progression that I love, but finding the right words to fit that mood and tell the story I want can be a real challenge. I often struggle with making the lyrics feel authentic and not forced. I want them to resonate and connect with people, but sometimes it feels like I'm trying too hard or not hitting the right tone. Balancing poetic expression with clarity and relatability is tricky. It's a process of constant revision and sometimes just stepping away to let inspiration strike again.
Solo project(s). I'm so anxious to get to putting drum tracks to my never satisfying or already forgotten guitar riffs. The infinite freedom and possibilities. It's a realm where I definitely tend to struggle. Just me, all alone with my untamed creativity and overflowing bottomless barrell of ideas. The place where I have no sense of boundary, no structure, limit, or foundation. My lack of discipline and ability to keep it simple and just stay in the fucking pocket. No resistance what so ever to the way my beautiful blacked out murdered from head to toe ebony pearl ex drumset looks right there and the temptation to just say fuck all this bullshit and just hop over there really quick and blast the rest of the night away on her little sexy ass. I can handle that by myself just fine, though
Lyrics.
challenging myself to use words with more than 2 syllables.
For me personally is staying on topic or keeping a solid theme/idea while writing a song. Writing lyrics is one of the only ways I have to put my emotions out and feel them. However, since my emotions can be caused by multiple factors in my life, I tend to start with a topic and then change what I’m talking about completely multiple times since those different ideas are tied to the same emotions I’m channeling
I’m struggling to find new inspirations atm. Not only lyrics-wise, but sonically as well. Especially when you’re living in a routine, sometimes it’s kinda hard to come up with new stuffs.