How do you compose a song?

[TheBassBetween]

So, I've reached a point in my instrument playing where I am very confident and whatnot. I can play other people's stuff with a little practice, which is cool and all, but I wanna write my own stuff. My question is, how do YOU compose?

I know I have 100s of ideas that are all really cool alone, but how do you take an idea and put it into the context of a song? How do you go from one chord progression into another?

Broad question, but any tips on the matter would be helpful to pretty much any musician.

[iamchipsmith]

I'm new to writing, just like you, so I don't have too much advice. The one rule of song writing to remember above all others though is that if it sounds good it is good. So just try stuff out and expirement and you'll learn stuff that you like along the way.

[iceshaft07]

I agree, I pretty much go by ear.

I recommend making sure you know scales, as they will help you get rid of really sour sounding notes. Try to fit what you play into a scale. The more of the scale you know, the more you can expand upon your song.

If you can find a guitarist or drummer to play with, that helps alot. You influence eachother.

Lastly, I will usually write a piece and then get stumped. So, I drop it for a few months, and eventually, I will come back to it and find something I like, or just play it with an entirely different rhythm.

When you are stumped, try listening to someone elses music. Sometimes it will give you an idea of how to transition from one part to another.

Good luck!

[Lower-Than-Low]

Well, I just mess around and play for a bit, and when I get a good riff going I put it into Guitar Pro.

From there I just expand upon it. Sometimes it develops really well, other times not so much.

Basically, go by ear, and if you have Power Tab or Guitar Pro just start writing random stuff in there. You never know when you might come up with something awesome.

[SundanceChile]

One good note deserves a thousand more.

But seriously. Before you start even thinking about writing, you need to do a LOT of listening. Listen to songs, figure out why you like them, what makes them sound good, etc. Break down some of your favorite tunes, analyze them(theory wise), etc.

[Fealach]

Writing a riff or melody is much easier for me than learning a cover. Putting these pieces together into a cohesive whole with enough changes to be satisfying but not so many that it sounds like Dream Theater it tougher for me. It still pretty much comes from noodling and just happens; I'll know that I want to play this part a certain number of times, then change, and then experiment a bit until I get a change that makes sense and works with what I had already.

[SubGuitar]

Hey TBB. This is Gremlin from musicianwar.

I'm the same as you, in that I come up with far more ideas than the ones that become finished compositions.

A couple of tips:

1. - Record everything. Once an idea is down you can play around with other lines over the top, chop things around, loop a section with a space at the end and try different notes/chords to fill it each time etc.

2. - Don't throw away an idea until you've tried to develop it. Even if you don't like what you come up with, the process of writing needs to be practiced just like anything else. Most song writers I've ever known may write a dozen songs that they're not happy with just to find one good one.

Come on audiochat on MW some time and we'll compare notes

[zazz]

interesting thread.....

for me personally i find it very easy to compose ...and i am not limited to the bass...but i find the bass an excellent springboard as part of the embreonic process.

what i think is important is to have a vision of what you would like to acheive..obviously based on the influences that affect you at that particular moment.

so when i play the bass ...i can hear in my head simultaneously the drums guitar and vocal ect...not exactly but a flavour of whats going to happen if i continue down a particular route.

its not written in stone ...but you need to be constantly jamming the whole sound in your head..i cant imagine any other approach.

ps..using something fluid like the rc-50 can only help .

[TheBassBetween]

Hey guys, thanks for all the tips. I'm sure these will all come in handy for just about anyone.

SubGuitar/Gremlin-- How are ya bud? I'll come into the audiochat sometime and say Hi.

[hublocker]

I have been thinking about your question all weekend.

Do you mean words and music or music only?

If you write clever lyrics, sometimes the simplest musical thing will carry the song. "Look at Heartaches by the Number", it is simply I, IV, V over and over.

"Werewolves of London" too.

If you write a very strong riff, that can be utilized in a 12 -bar blues if it's good enough. That and a superb musical performance. Witness "Wipe Out" and "Green Onions."

More clever words over a simple blues progrssion makes a song like Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues or most Chuck berry tunes.

Or a combination of a good riff and good words can make a blues progression-based tune with an unexpected turnaround like the Cream's "Sunshine of your love" or the Beatle's "Day Tripper."

Like others have said, listen and study other compositions.

Study the cycle of fifths, major minor substitutions the relationship of the dominant seven on the tonic and if you're in a pinch, write I, VI, IV, V songs.

Remeber, Sonny and Cher's "The Beat Goes on" was a one-chord hit.

[JonathanD]

I read once that the first thing you need to write a song is something to say(not literal words, this can also be communication with your instrument.) If you don't have something to say you have no business writing a song. So far it is the most helpful advice I have ever found.
Jonathan

[owensea777]

Pick a key. Or let the key pick you, based on the scale of the riff you love, or something like that. Then build a progression. I, IV, V is very common, for example. This means the First, Fourth, and Fifth tones of a scale. Any major scale has 7 tones, all in specific order. You establish a home base, drift away, and come back to it in the end of the song. The "home base" is often the chorus of the song. The bridge of a song drifts away, creating tension. The bridge is right before you reach home base, sometime the final, ultimate home base. Well thats what I know, wish I could help more, but I myself am a work in progress Someone else could surely give you a good link...

[owensea777]

Couldn't resist doing a little research on this one
http://www.studybass.com/lessons/har...-and-V-chords/
That should help. There are many other lessons there that will help with your songwriting as well.

[owensea777]

Thanks for making this thread, I just made a bassline b/c of it!
It uses the I, IV, and V degrees of the D major scale, which are the notes D, G, and A, respectively. I just used the major triads of each of these three notes to make up a simple line.

G------------
D----4-774--- play four times( Dmajor triad line), then
A-55---------
E-------------

------4-774---
---55--------- play twice (G major triad line)
--------------
--------------

now play the D major line two more times, then play

-----6--996--- play once (A major triad line)
--77----------
---------------
------------

then play the G major triad line once more
then play the (home base) D major triad line again, and start all over.

After practicing this over and over, I have elaborated on the bass line and made it much better.

And sorry for post-whoring your thread

[TheBassBetween]

This thread is great, and I think it can help anybody when they're stuck. Thanks for all the tips.