Song writing help

Fable Sinatra · Song writing help

I wasnt sure where to post this honestly...

I'm a really new musician, I have been playing guitar for 3 years and singing for about the same. Though i know theres alot of people in SL that really like what i do, i know im not a very good musician. I'm totally self taught and don't think im naturally musically inclined.
I started writing my own songs about 2 months ago, and i only have one fully complete one. I find it very difficult to write lyrics and compose music. Since writing that one song about my son which i know alot of people now know as ''Sunshine'', I have been working on others and have about 5 half complete ones. I get so far then get stuck. Now i KNOW practice is they key and this is something i really want to do so i really am trying.
But i was wondering if anyone has any tips to writing songs, i know theres loads of great song writers in SL and i guess this post even may seem silly to some. But I'm sure also there are some who may have been in my same situation when they started out and maybe even other people here feeling the same.. so any help would be apprechiated Wink

Thank you

Fabs x

Doubledown Tandino

Metaphores, lots and lots of metaphores!!

and also mention things that couldn't possibly happen, like Jupiter dripping and a lord buying a Mercedes Benz.

Laughing

I suck at lyrics too.

Silas Scarborough

Fable, you can get more useless advice on how to be creative than maybe any other subject. You really answered your own question already: practice, practice, practice.

luketemplar

Consider a collaboration if you are not very good at lyrics. I certainly know a lyricist/poet who is looking for someone to collaborate with. IM me in world if you are interested in contacting her Smile

Doubledown Tandino

you can ask the paperclip in microsoft word. start to type one line in the lyrics and wait for it to pop up.

"It looks like your writing song lyrics... need some help with that?"

Vincent Merricks

Hi Fable! I've been writing songs for years and I've gotten a lot of help in making my songs better from some forums dedicated to songwriting and music. The forums allow you to post lyrics or mp3's and the other writers will give you advice on what works and what could be changed to make the song better or more commercial. There's a long-standing feud between the first 2, so don't mention one site's name in the other. Smile

I visit both sites often and have posted a lot of my lyrics for critiquing. I've also listed a few other non-forum sites that contain useful tidbits of wisdom for songwriters.

http://www.jpfolks.org/home.html This is the site that Kaklick and I are members of and he has started a chapter in SL. The group is Just Plain Folks. JPF covers all styles and includes members from all areas of the music industry.

http://www.tunesmith.net/ This forum concentrates on commercial songwriting and 'making it' in Nashville. Other styles are represented and accepted by the forums, but the emphasis is on country music in all it's forms. The members include people from all aspects of the music industry, but is composed mostly of songwriters.

Here's a few other forums or sites that I don't visit often, but contain useful info on songwriting:
http://www.musesmuse.com/
http://www.songwriterpro.com/
http://www.thesongwritersforum.com/
http://www.johnbraheny.com/index.html

There's lots of resources for songwriting on these sites. I'm hoping that the SL chapter of JPF can attract enough members to where the songwriters can get together for meetings/collaborations.

Hope you find some of this useful!
Vincent Merricks aka Todd Cody

ka-klick

Maybe we need to get a shotgun meeting of JPF to kick things off.

Shotgun: meaning, I called it, so here's what we're going to do, and if it doesn't work for everyone, someone else can call "shotgun" at some other point. (Like calling "shotgun" to get the front passenger seat in a car).

Bibi Ballinger

"I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay
Wasting time." by Otis Redding

Fabs--You never are at a loss for words! At least you can tell us about all the men (and women) you are in love with.

Thaumata Strangelove

i think the first thing to writing music or any kind of creative expression is to remind yourself that it doesn't matter if anyone else likes it. if i write with this in mind, i tend to be less critical of myself and more likely to get creative.

i cannot sit down and write music on command. i wish i could but my brain doesn't work that way. instead, when i feel like i'm stuck, i sit and learn new things. new chord progressions, new scales, new covers, new techniques. by expanding your musical vocabulary, you might find the notes to express something you couldn't say before. it's kind of like laying a trap for inspiration.

lyrics can be hard for me sometimes. my rhyming dictionary rarely helps me produce rhymes that don't sound completely ridiculous and corny to me, but it does occasionally produce phrases that stick in my head and turn into other things. i'm kind of a semantics junkie, and i have a lot of foreign friends - both of these things often lead to me thinking about an old idea in a new way, which helps break things up when i get stuck.

other things: i've taken some poetry and creative writing classes, and spend a lot of time examining what kind of poetry and language speaks to me and why. also, i've had some songs that just weren't working for me, so i applied them to a completely different style of music, and they took on a new life of their own. (like, ballads into rock songs, etc.)

but mostly, just keep trying. and keep a record of your songs... i'll find an old minidisc once in a while with me twittering on it and i'll say, "holy cow, i almost forgot about that!"

Komuso Tokugawa

There are skills that you can learn by bashing away at things for a long time, and then there are skills that you can learn by being more efficient and productive in the way you go about learning and practising.

After long experience doing method 1, I now prefer method 2 [though I still do method 1 for the pure fun of random exploration and stress relief]

http://www.howmusicreallyworks.com/ for very focused practical advice on the craft and discipline of songwriting.

http://www.chordwizard.com/products.asp is a great tool for guitarists.

Distilled1

Fabs you know if you post for help at dmusic and post some of the 1/2 songs you can get tons of good crit. and help there, just post on the site shout box and in the forum.
\
I get half way there as well all the time, I have books ( I mean BOOKS!) of lyrics/poetry/musings) but putting it to music is hard for me, I can come up with music easy, weather simple or complex, but getting things to fit is my devil...

I think you may been there when I have done some Original stuff improved off the top of my head, start with a basic song 3 chord structure verse and refrain same 3 chords (they are the big #1 hits anyway every time lol)

and work the melody out with your beautiful voice, with just the base 3 chords ...and if needed add some nice change with a bridge or two Wink

Soundcircel Flanagan

a true dutch story Smile

we had a famous dutch singer here ( died a few years back )
lots of number 1 hits.....

he wrote his lyrics using a rhyme book...

he just started and when he got stuck, he just looked into that book for nice words that rhymed, then he could go on Smile

Jasmine Usher · Chiming in

Recently I attended a workshop about songwriting and how we shape songs to place. We did two exercises where we asked ourselves " How do we feel right now." The next excercise was to think of a place in our lives that made us feel connected. If that makes any sense. Just writing it all out and then from those answers weaving together a song.

Another thing that was mentioned was taking a picture that tells a story. For example a work from visual artist Andy Goldsworthy. The story is in colors, shapes and anything that caught your eye.

I know for myself these methods have been working, the library is a great resource for finding inspirations within the written word and picture books of places around the world.

Also someone mentioned the muse website. Great website and I refer back to often.

Hope this helps.

dakota7z7 · writing

carry a notebook at all times. jot down meaningless randon phrases and things you see lol... try new chord progressions and scales and above all....play play play.......ply with multi-effects, sometimes just a new sound will lead to a new song with the same old chords and scales..i love that song about your son!!!!.....dak

Nad

this is a handy tool to have bookmarked.

http://www.rhymezone.com/

Fable Sinatra

wow thanks guys!! i hadnt checked this post in alittle while, but the recent posts bumped it for me!!

Im gonna check out all those sites thanks very much for not just dismissing me with '' practice is the key'' I did say i knew that already, but like Komoso said there are ways to be more efficient and productive rather than just struggling on my own and not really getting anywhere. We all have to start somewhere!!

Jasmine and i got together on monday and went through some techniques, which helped me a bunch too! thanks sweety ))

How come i didnt see there were new posts here til now??

Thanks guys )) I really apprechiate it Smile

elvisduffy

Always rhyme fire with desire. Very Happy

It sounds corny but you'd be surprised how many times it shows up.

Idea

And don't forget "can't you see".

vonjohin

In my RL job, we just shipped a great new book to the printer, it will be out in about 6-8 weeks. Its called 1000 Songwriting Ideas. I love this thing. Its literally 1000 things to think about to help trigger ideas for melodies and lyrics, give you places to start, help you get past the block. Search for it on Amazon.com. Its published by Hal Leonard Corp, and its written by Lisa Aschmann. 300+ pages, under $30, and the content is priceless.

Phoenix Psaltery

My friend Dave Byers, who runs DC Music, wrote a great book on songwriting. I did the cover for it.

http://www.dcmusicstore.com/Songwriting-Fundamentals-book?sc=9

Worth the $14.99.

P2

Song writing help

Chiming in

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