Everyone's Writing Process

[Mike_S]

If we try too hard to analyse or try to hard to come up with a good song then it can sound forced or not really from the heart as such, so at the moment I think just try and let it flow and if a decent idea comes, get it down and see where it goes...

Absolutely - I really like playing and singing in the dark at the moment (and recording it in the dark). I feel able to connect with it better and write/deliver something a bit more honest, even if it's not about me if that makes any sense.

I just sit in the dark for a while and see what turns up - Broken was done like this.

I think we are similar in that kind of zoning out approach Hilary - recently tunes and lyrics have been coming to me when I am half asleep... as I am just lying half awake half asleep in the mornings sometimes I get an idea for a song. I guess it must be when the brain is relaxed and not a million things whizzing through it, it allows creativity in more easily.

[Redler]

I try to play My Way, but I just can't...and there it is, a new song

Seriously, when playing guitar there's always Micro BR with me. When I got an idea for a song, I switch it to Mp3 mode and hit the record button and "write" the idea down. It is unusual that I can write a song instantly, but very often I come back at my "song sketch store". It is so difficult get the song done, because I must think the structure for a lyricist, get a good tone on guitar and think about arrangement etc...

[Frank53]

In the past I would try writing lyrics, then put them to music. What I discovered is that I run into a brick wall with lyrics too often - trying to decide on a subject, coming up with right words and phrases, and cramming it into some preconceived structure. When I am finally done, the music comes easily.

What I have recently discovered is that I think I am more productive if I have music in front of me first. It seems to inspire me, and give me ideas and direction for the lyrics, instead of stumbling in the dark. It also gives me the meter and timing, and suggests the rhyme structure. It's like part of the lyrical puzzle is already solved for me. The foundation is already there to build on.

I know everyone does it differently, and it can change, sometimes. But that seems to be where I'm headed.   

[StephenM]

In the past I would try writing lyrics, then put them to music. What I discovered is that I run into a brick wall with lyrics too often - trying to decide on a subject, coming up with right words and phrases, and cramming it into some preconceived structure. When I am finally done, the music comes easily.

What I have recently discovered is that I think I am more productive if I have music in front of me first. It seems to inspire me, and give me ideas and direction for the lyrics, instead of stumbling in the dark. It also gives me the meter and timing, and suggests the rhyme structure. It's like part of the lyrical puzzle is already solved for me. The foundation is already there to build on.

I know everyone does it differently, and it can change, sometimes. But that seems to be where I'm headed.   

I haven't written that many songs with lyrics but for me it absolutely works better...music first, at least the rudiments of it...then lyrics...

[bruno]

I seem to be able to write songs every time I pick up a guitar - however it doesn't mean it's a good, or original one ...

[StephenM]

I generally start with a guitar idea...and get that roughed in...then I get a drum track to use as a metronome to play over...and record the first couple of rhythm guitar tracks...I think just about everything I come up with starts with guitar.  Then I work on whatever else I am going to do...generally most of my stuff has been instrumental so I would work on leads and stuff...bass lines... then I would turn off the drum tracks and play my own drums on the Alesis performance pads.  I am not a great drummer but I am getting better and I really like this so it works for me.  I had to admit though that I was writing almost everything slow because of that...I decided to bump it way up and my drumming I had to work on alot...but I finally got it...and I love drums.
now that I am doing more lyrics I will usually start with a lyric theme and then write to fit the music and by the time I have done that the song is totally different than what I thought it would be.  Then I have to learn to sing the lyrics...that is work...then I add the lead guitar last....I have learned to just be ok with how long it takes and not to get in a hurry...to just enjoy the process at each point... I don't pump alot of stuff out in a hurry.

[Boognish]

Hope everyone is Coviding properly out there and staying safe...
Love reading through these old threads.

Not sure if I posted on this thread years ago or not hahahaha
As for me, I'm usually starting with a guitar riff, and try to get it recorded onto my phone or BR-whicheverisavailable and then add the bass line/drums/vox around it. Lyrics are usually my last priority, but these days I'll sometimes get an idea for a riff or even a lyric, just a phrase maybe, and start there.
For my lyrics its usually more of a timing thing or maybe just a phrase, and honestly I'm looking more for a riff or hook to dig into.
A lot of times recently, I'll be in the truck working and just record riffs out loud by mouth lol jamming in my head out loud. (Bill&Ted Air Guitar)
Hopefully not too many people think I'm crazy haha

I actually bought for around $80 a little handheld Tascam DR-05. I can layer recordings with it, without losing the last. So I can record my voice, record again and I get a second track with another voice, leaving the original alone. Do it again, you have all 3, etc. It is a nice gizmo for demos, etc.

[Boognish]

I recently saw an article about Steely Dan and their song Peg.
They were studio musician types and spent hours and hours and hours perfecting every little thing, the article was in detail with their quotes discussing how they tried multiple session guitarists for the solo, liked them all but one stood out, etc.
Compare that to the Dire Straits' Money for Nothing. Mark Knopfler used what was overheard by workers discussing their daily work for lyrics.
"We've got to install microwave ovens, custom kitchen deliver-y-y-y-y-y!!!!"
I'd imagine he had a riff he'd been tinkering with for a while, maybe years, and this was what finally made sense to him to make it work.

Really quite amazing to see the different approaches and how they work.

[WarpCanada]

What an epic thread.

Here's my process.

I start with a phrase or a story detail.  Example: Thank God That's Over.

The context of that phrase is the song, that I want to write. In this case,  it's a song about a woman in her 70s who was unhappily married for fifty plus years, and now her husband has died, and she survived into her seventies without becoming a divorcee.  It happens to be about someone I know, but I don't want to name her.  I just want to write about the feeling that she felt that she couldn't divorce her husband, because that just wasn't done in the traditional conservative religious family environment she was part of.

Then the song changed on me and became, instead of something sad or angry or broken, something happy. I didn't plan it.   The chorus became "Thank God that's all over, I'm ready for what's next".

I still want to capture the way we sometimes suffer, make ourselves suffer.  But I'll wait for the next little angle or insight to hit me.   


Warren

[Farrell Jackson]

Somewhere way back in this thread is my songwriting process of usually writing the music and lyric at the same time. I haven't changed it up much over the years. So Yesterday I decided to do just that and write the lyrics for an entire album...then put music to them. I challenged myself yesterday to write a song lyric each day for 12 days. I'll come up with the topic during the day and write that lyric first thing each morning and repeat the process 12 times. Lyrics and rhymes come fairly easy to me but that doesn't mean they are works of poetry by no means, lol. I've decided to give myself no more than an hour each morning, including wordsmithing and re-writes, to finish a set. So far so good as I just finished my 1st and 2nd lyric yesterday morning and this morning. Only 10 more to go....wish me luck! 

Farrell