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Building a song...

sirpug

sirpug

May 8, 2008
503
6
Everett Wa
www.facebook.com
#1
How do you build your songs?

I've come up with some cool bass lines but they never seem to morph into full songs; I usually end up saving them in the back of my mind and then modifying them for use in songs later during the creative process. A couple have turned into good intros but...

For the most part I've found that 75% of our songs have started with a riff by one of our guitarists and the other 25% start with a basic chord progression from our piano player.

I guess you can build a house without building a strong foundation first...
 
#3
figure out your root notes, and key you are riffing in

write down some chords that fit A G D whatever

is it the intro verse chorus bridge or outro ? name it accordingly

whats the next part ? write down the chords for that part

practice the whole bassline together part to part

how are the transitions? if they are smooth great!

at next practice, hand chord changes to guitar and keys

hand arrangement to drummer

add water (beer)

??

profit!
 
#5
I agree with the foundation being the chord progressions but I've found that, for my band at least, it seems to be easier for me to build a good bassline around the guitar riffs as apposed to the other way around. Our best (and most favorite) songs have been built this way. I'm not sure why that is...

We usually start with a riff... build the chord progression on the piano... then the drummer and I work out our end and we add that to the mix. For us the lyrics come last most of the time. The process just seems to flow better when we work it this way and I was wondering if anybody else has this same process.
 
#6
I think it really depends. In my newest band, some songs are built off chord progressions. I can come up with some decent stuff at times and work with the guitar player (who is also an amazing bassist) and we come up with a melody.

Other times, we have a melody we hear in our head and make the progression fit with it. If it's not a full song then we go back to the drawing board.

And still other times, our drummer says "Hey I want to do something in 13/8" and we make some really weird stuff that sounds complicated but is really only 3 or 4 chords.

I guess it works since our stuff is more jazz/jam oriented than actual full songs; sometimes we have hits that work around a given part but even those are mostly through eye contact during performances.
 
#7
I have to use the guitar to start writing a song; I’m not good, but I can pick some chords and find some nice progressions, but some songs have started from just jamming with buddies, and something cool comes out,

So we’d rough record it, I would write the lyrics, and we add turnarounds/whatevers, and make an arrangement out of it.

Hell, I’ve made a couple songs playing the chords to a covers song, wrote different lyrics and melody over top o it and voila!

I have to say, anytime I’ve written lyrics (essentially poems), I could never add music that made it sound like good song, but that’s just me.

I got sucked into a covers band now, so I haven’t written anything new for a while, but I’ve got a few of those recording with lyrics just waiting to be put together.
 
#9
I believe pretty firmly that the absolute best starting point is a good melody.

The chord progression makes a solid foundation for building a song, but that shoudl be the SECOND thing you work on.

all fo the suggestions so far are things you'll have to do to develop a song,
but if your main melody ain't happening, you at best have a well executed,toe tapping, head bobbing, yet completely forgettable tune.
 
#10
mambo4 said:
I believe pretty firmly that the absolute best starting point is a good melody.

The chord progression makes a solid foundation for building a song, but that shoudl be the SECOND thing you work on.

all fo the suggestions so far are things you'll have to do to develop a song,
but if your main melody ain't happening, you at best have a well executed,toe tapping, head bobbing, yet completely forgettable tune.
Click to expand...

I’ve written a few songs, and have hung out on song-writing forums, and as a result, I’ve found that I can’t firmly believe that there’s any best way. Different people do it different ways, and what works for them works well for them.

For me, give me the music, and when I write the lyrics, a melody just seems to naturally come with it.

If I write the lyrics first, I end up with a poem that never turns into a song.

For others, complete opposite, but it works for them.

We’ve had forum “challenges”, one of which was for one member to write the music to a song based on another’s lyrics, and vise versa, and it’s just amazing how differently people do things and they work for them.

I’m not wanting to argue with you, but to state that one way is more “right” than another, imho, is not right.
 
#12
Depends on the kind of song you want to write. If you want to write a guitar driven song then start with a killer guitar riff that stands well on its own. If you want a bass driven song then start with a bass line that really hops/makes you want to dance. If you want a melody/lyric driven song then start by humming something very catchy and then write lyrics to match the humming.

That said - every band I've ever been in has added lyrics last.
 
#14
I've only recently figured this one out enough to get my tunes used by the band.

+1 on the root notes. If you can tell the rest of the band exactly what the chord progression is you're golden. They can riff, rhythm, or improvise over your line once they know how to follow it.

I then take my chord progression and mix it up, find other chords, figure out what's major, minor, if at all.

Figure out what you're going for too. Listen to bands that you love within the genre, and really dissect what they're doing.

My experience is with Minor Threat. I'll write a bassline that really moves and isn't too funky, but has some 8ths and 16ths. Find the chords, then pick maybe three of those and cut the time in half for a "faster" sounding chorus.

That's worked out because the band used the song I wrote that way. You'll also have to let the song change quite a bit, to fit other playing styles and singing arrangements.
 

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