Composers, Song Writers, and others... whats your process ?

[MazeRat7]

So I had a rather interesting conversation with a credentialed music type asking me about my "process" for developing tunes. I hate that... like I really know what hooks me into a melody, groove, or lyric.

Anyway, so I am asking you... an informal poll of sorts...

How do you compose ?
what is first - melody, groove, lyrics

My rather lame answer was, I never know. sometimes I can get any one of them in my head and end up developing the others. Other times, I work to develop one of those three and build the other parts around it.

MZr7

[Pepperbelly]

1. a riff, then a progression, then the melody, then lyrics. nt

[Idylle Moon Dancer]

2. as far as my older stuff goes,

I don't remember; that was about ten years ago. Lately, the inspiration
has been rather not forthcoming, so I've been learning some other's
tunes, and sometimes I'll get an idea for something new when I make
an interesting mistake, or maybe I'll have a certain passage that I
like, followed by one I don't care for too much, and I'll say
"I wonder what it'll be like if this tune goes over here instead?"

[cleofus1]

3. i just rip shit off

i find a song that i really like...like green green...from the new christy minstrals...then i get the chord progression down...then i write new lyrics...then i tweak the shit out of it until it is unrecognizable as (green green)...then i play it until i find different nuances for me...then wa la! i call it the george harrison school of songwriting...

[paulk]

4. that's a pretty good way to do things

I'll often get the inspiration for a piece by trying to at least get the "feel" of someone else's song. Who was it? e e cummings, I think, who said, "amateurs copy - professionals steal" Good advice.

[paulk]

5. when I was younger and doing guitar based music

it was always the melody and chords first, then lyrics.

after I got interested in synths and sequencers the groove - the drum and bassline came first.


sometimes I'd have to tweak stuff for weeks - months! other times a piece would come out complete in minutes. It never really seemed a consistent process - just a result of thinking about it 24/7.

[leftofthedial]

6. anything might come first

idea, lyrical fragment, instrumental progression, melody . . .

In Nashville, it's frequently idea first.

[cleofus1]

7. you mean....like...

i robbed a bank and my girl freind turned me in song....or

my pig ran away and i'm wandering aimlessly in the big city song...

high concept stuff..

i'm gonna write a song about trains...no...about drinking on trains...no no...my kidney's missing, becouse i was drinking on a train becouse my ex girlfreind kicked my horses ass song....in the rain...

[leftofthedial]

9. something like that

in the rain

[Goldmund]

8. Melody and harmony at the same time...

I sing it to nonsense syllables that slowly start morphing into words and then I write the rest of the lyrics around those words, the whole time keeping the image of the song's inspiration at the front of my mind.

I'm not a great player, either guitar or piano, so it's essential that I write it down and work it out in my mind BEFORE I ever play it -- otherwise, the fingers will do the writing, and they ain't so great.

[Tsiyu]

10. Songs have come to me all sorts of ways

Sometimes a phrase jumps out in conversation or speech somewhere, and I say, "Hmmm, that'd make a good song.

Sometimes I am trying to learn a cover song and I play the progression a bit differently and another song results.

At other times I have something to say so I just start writing words and build a song around that.

Haven't written in a long time, but I really should get back to it. Old people like me must keep our minds sharp....