Song writing skills

[theguitarist]

i write poems and try to write songs.my work is more like a poem.Are thre any speciffic books or related stuff or suggestions about that.the main prob is that i write the whole thing but ain't able to come out with a tune.

[Carvinite]

im not really a lyrical songwriter...but I have been trying to wrte songs aroudn melodies ....It is prue torture for me...Finding chrod progressions etc... It doesnt come easy to me..Well I konw this was off topic...but hope you find what your lookin for

Ryan

[Skeletor]

I have the opposite problem. I can compose a piece but lyrics are not my thing... You should find someone like me and work with them.

[theguitarist]

well then let's work

[Skeletor]

...Me?

[LarryJ]

Theres an order that songs usually follow...check out the structure and just make it fit into that. IE: When its time for a chorus , then actually write the chorus, dont just write a sprawling poem or mini story that has no organization. If you do this, then try to break it apart and put lines in the correct place or whatever...piece together the song

Secondly, try to think of how a main part should actually work out, melody wise. When you get the melody, or how the lyrics should be sung (ie: do they go up in pitch towards the end, down , or whatever) then the rest of the song can kind of follow that. Some bands are really great at this, the beatles could fit any words into a song and make it catchy, even if it was nonsense, they could still turn it into a hook just by how they sang it.

I'm pretty bad at writing with lyrics, however it does get better in time. Writing a song isn't hard, writing a GOOD song is very hard, but its a skill that you can aquire with some work.

Most pro's will tell you don't 'force yourself' to write, but I almost think its nessicary till you start to know what your doing. When your accomplished at it, then you can get those moments of inspiration and write on the napkin or whatever, but when you have no idea how a song works, it won't help much to wait.

Good luck,

-Larry

[af_punk]

Well, I write a lot of songs, basically all the time I'm playing the guitar :-) I'm even more creative with lyrics...
but I'm not THAT good with my playying abilities, so my songs basically are with simple chord progressions and easy melodies... I'm focussing on good lyrics most of the time, because thats something I like in bands, too...

there are a couple of ways i'm composing... sometimes I mess around with the guitar and then a melody comes to my mind, or I have the words first anbd then find a melody, or I have a melody and find choirds and then write the lyrics... it all depends

[wild_child]

i usually have some sort of basis like a solid riff or hook and work around that, keeping the to the same sort of theme.
i think that power tab is a great tool for writing songs too. its allowed me to come up with things out of my league that i wouldnt be able to just come up with from noodling and gives an idea of how it will sound too. from there i can practive and eventually come to a stage where i can play it. allowing myself to be creative whilst still building up my technique, i guess.
my downfall in terms of songwriting is most definately vocal melodies, though. theres nothing that sticks in someones head like a good vocal hook and thats something you have to be very inspired to create, you cant just pull them out of nowhere. lyrics themselves though, for me, are not too much of a problem. i've written some poetry and study english language and creative writing in school. as long as i have an idea of what i'm going to be writing about, i can pretty much write it.

[af_punk]

well, im quite new to powertab... could you explain to me how it hepls with writing songs?

[wild_child]

basically, the main advantage is you can just put all your ideas down on there and save them. also, you can write stuff regardless of your own technical limitations and still be able to hear it when you play it back i.e. you can make up some rediculously fast stuff or something involving a technique you have not yet mastered. also, you can write harmonies and layered guitar parts (also bass) and listen to them too, without even touching your guitar.