Auals

Keep writing. Seriously, I started out the same. The guys here give REALLY good advice.

The reason that I'm the poet/lyricist I am now is because of guys like Dylan (#1synth), Jamie (JammyDude) and HendrixEdge (Has anyone seen him since he left last yaer?)

Read their stuff, I am inspired by Dylan, with almost EVERY SINGLE PIECE he writes. And I don't know about other people, But I get into certain moods, when something inspires me i write with that idea in mind, not neccessarily about the topic, but about the feeling I get.

Oh and just write, the reason your rhymes sound forced is because you're using simple, obvious, or awkward rhymes. When you're starting out, that's going to happen. Look up Parrallelarhymes (I love that word, I know it's meant to be ParaRhymes) and other things, read poetry, GOOD poetry. Learn how they do it and DON'T be afraid to write something based on the same idea as someone else, you NEVER have to show it to people.

I have HUNDREDS of pieces that no one will ever read from when i was starting. Just write, everyday, I don't anymore, but when I started I was writing upwards of 8 pieces a day. I'd write during school, I'd write during study, I'd write during lunch.

Start listening to other bands, if it's lyrics you're after bands like Bright Eyes, Say Anything, Jack's Mannequin/Something Corporate (if you're into Pop-Punk), Brand New. (These are just bands that inspire me so you may have different musical tastes)

Just spread out mate, we learn from our mistakes and when you're starting out you will make a lot. Cliche's abound, it's just something we deal with





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To the guy above me. I don't write with other people. I tend to trust my own creativity over theirs. If I want to work out counter melodies or alternate rhythms, I just record the first part. If I have another guitarist around, they're there so that I don't have to worry about recording.

Not saying that if they give me an opinion i'll instantly discard it, but I wrote the lyrics and the basis of the music, I know the song better than they will.

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Auals

Falsetto is what Mika uses (the guy who sings Grace Kelly etc).

Thom Yorke (Radiohead) uses Falsetto. Listen to Fake Plastic Trees (He does a falsetto jump to a High A ever verse) and then listen to Creep (The interlude).

Matt Bellamy (Muse) uses his falsetto, my favourite example is "Feeling Good" a jazz standard that they covered. His voice is DIVINE.

And the use of it depends on the person, I can use mine, but I don't like the sound of it. However, on some songs I think that it works. Yet, I know some guy with an amazing sound to his falsetto who can hardly get to it, he can't switch cleanly between his chest/head vocie and his falsetto.

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cameroooon89

I really think it's about what you believe about music.

like i'm on both sides of the fence quite frequently. sometimes, I write lyrics that I love and then I think "this is kind of a dramatic part in the lyrics. i should put something explosive like a split bend or just something really low and thunderous" or "this is the part of the song where i think the mood changes. I should minimalize the amount of instruments here".

or maybe you write a really amazing guitar part and think to yourself what it feels like. this one is a little less common I imagine unless you are really good at making your lyrical verse flexible and fitting a lot in to smaller areas or much larger areas that you normally would not have thought to put such an expanse of verses/stanzas what-have-you.

it's really an individual exploration of yourself and not a formula that can be applied to any portion of a song. just reach deep and loose yourself in your art. i hope everybody keeps playing. my favorite author kurt vonnegut once said that practicing an art, no matter how good or bad you are at it, just putting your heart in to something artistic is the best thing you can do for your soul. he's a wise mutha****a (r.i.p.)

Auals

Did I hear you pretty much describe Say Anything right there? (for the first two) and then Bright Eyes (for the third).

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tapout30

I was stuck between those choices but I got a gibson sg, the same one Angus Young from AC/DC or even I think Jimi Hendrix played sometimes, just mines wood. Les Pauls are nice but they don't feel right for me, so I got a sg.

mafuhungy

I'm going to share some awesome tips here for everyone.

the best music youre ever gonne come up with is completely random,

play randomly when youre writing the music youll find a sound you like then use your knowledge of musical theory (if you have any) to work out the rest of the song from there, of course youre gonna need some creativity but that goes without saying people get inspiration in different ways so youre gonna have to find your own.

when it gets to vocals write the lyrics 1st. melody comes second because the melodywill be fueled by the lyrical content ie. it sound wrong if you were singing about killing bunnys to a happy kind of melody (unless youre a very sick person)

start writing the song from the position you can relate to best. I love to play rythm guitar so thats where i start, it makes your songs more of a personal reflection and youll end up with a song that sounds a lot more natural and in tune with the way you think and feel

try not to force youre music to be about a specific thing because when you write, what you usually feel most strongly about will be what you write down

take it or leave it im not a music pro this is just what works for me and what ive seen work for many other people

YesImSardonic

I think not. Having a melody and a central idea in your head is about the best thing you can do for your lyrics, since you then have a foundation you can build on, change, append, etc.

That's what works for me, anyway.

Gmoneydogg360

I live in the suburbs so I go outside and write songs

-The Descendents Rock-

Twister886

I have already made some new songs.. they ROCK!

Greendrag92

Usually wut helps me is to play sus 2 and 4 chords to help write melodies just strum the sustained 2nd and 4th versions of the chords your using a couple of times before the chord change and it always helps me come up with melodies

tybronzebc99

i have trouble writing lyrics to a song without singing it exaclty to the sound of the guitar. I am using power chords not regular chords. If you have any suggestions or tips please help me out. thanks.

BurnTheInnocent

Thats actually a good place to start tybronzebc99, if you can write lyrics just to go along with the rhythmical sound of the guitar or other instruments then you're on the right path. Eventually with time you will gain the ability to diversify your lyrical content and tones so that it varies/harmonizes with the instrumental parts. Also have you ever considered playing like a simplistic lead riff over the rhythm riff and then taking that lead lick and matching it to your vocals, then you would have a varied vocal contrast to the music yet it would still be in the same key and sound cool. Just some suggestions. Keep on rockin.

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Mike430522

I have the same problems as a lot of people earlier on the thread, only I just plain lack confidence in lyrics but feel comfortable about the actual music I write. Actually I dont think I lack confidence, I think I lack vocal, lyrical writing skill. Would It be wrong to say "ok, I suck at lyrics so the vocalist in my band can handle it, Ill just focus on the guitar parts"?

Marquezz

Yea. I agree with you. Another thing i learn from song writing is that don't put too much thought in it while writing. It isn't about writing to please someone, it's about relaxing and being yourself. It's not possible to write a song while having the thought of writing something original and that no one has even heard before. If you start worrying about this, you would never complete your song. When I first started writing songs, I tried too hard as in I always try to change the tunes i made up because it sounds familiar with other famous songs. In the process, I keep changing, modifying, so that it would not sound the same, and that made me really wanna quit writing. But then i tried a new way,that is not to change the tunes made although it sounds familiar, i just relax and enjoy what I'm writing. It may sound familiar at first, but after finishing the whole song, I notice that it is a totally original piece of my own. So, while writing..just continue writing.. put aside all the hesitation.

R03B96

Just Work out what key its in, then mess around with that as your 1st chord.. or try and hum or play your riff as simply as possible as in, only hum or play the notes that it wouldn't sound right without. It sounds hard but try it, its easy, then use those notes as chords... for the verse its good to use method 2 and then the chorus method 1.... hope i helped!

True_Rock_God

Okay you can do it the easy way or the hard way. The hard way is the most effective but takes longer. The easy way is least but itll get you sumwhere. For the easy way, just sing your lyrics to a random chord progression, but sing the lyrics in key, dig? The hard way is basically hum the melody of the lyrics and play it on your guitar so it sounds something like a solo, then deprive bass notes and root chords from that and put the chord pattern togethor. Good luck!

Rosario_kit-kun

their r many ways to write a song, if u need help finding notes, i suggest fiddling with a chord until you find somthing that you like, somthing small can grow huge in a matter of minutes,, ive actualy had to rewrite entire songs before because they ended out with 10 to 15 minutes worth, remmember guys, just a 21 fret 6 string guitar has 132 notes, the possibilities r endless

stonesfan1964

everything ive read so far in this thread says the feeling of the music should match the feeling of the lyrics. i agree for the most part but throw some contrast in there. write depressive, dark lyrics and sing them with a light, happy tune. just try it.

littlenickjr

Maybe I'm not experienced enough to be writing on a forum, so u can just dismiss what i say. Cause i just started writing songs and lately I've been on what i consider "a roll". When i first started i was having the same issue of not being able to put words with the notes.Then i couldn't get out of the habit of singing the exact same notes that i was playing. Then i stopped trying too write the notes/riffs and the lyrics at the same time and instead began too write them separately. Then i began too get a few "rough drafts" goin and soon i had a song. Now i just write the lyrics then find notes to go with the feeling or mood. And yeah, dont try to insult the base.