Songwriting processes

guitarfishbay · May 2019

I usually bank any riff I think of in a basic way (e.g. voice memo) then play them to bandmates to see what they're liking.

At that point, usually me and the singer write with voice and acoustic guitar to get the basic chord progressions, rhythms, song structure. When that's more dialled in then bring in drums and electric guitars, in the recording phase bring in programming/synths, harmonies etc. I usually hear all the extra instrumentation in my head then work out how to make it happen.

I listened to the same podcast as @PolarityMan and while I can see where he's coming from that's not what I find works for me. I remember reading an interview with a pop producer who writes with the artist, and IIRC he just played root notes on bass as they worked out the song and melody, everything else got fleshed out later. He didn't even want to imply chords in case it pulled the vocalist away from the natural melody for the lyrics.

The way I see it is the music could be anything, you only have to type on "(pop) song title - metal" and you'll find multiple metal covers of pop songs on YouTube with vastly different instrumentation, still the same song though. That's not to say the music doesn't matter, of course it is hugely important, but my own methodology is song first instrumentation later.

PolarityMan · May 2019

guitarfishbay said:

That's not to say the music doesn't matter, of course it is hugely important, but my own methodology is song first instrumentation later.

I'm definitely advocating a song first approach, just not necessarily vocal melody despite it's strong resonance with the listener. We have written a few songs working back from cowboy chords and vocal melody but it seems easier to find a strong vocal melody by improvising over existing music (like a solo) than to come up with a really strong instrumental off the back of the vocal melody. Of course the whole thing is iterated on so if our singer says " I really want to go to this note but its clashing with something somewhere else" then we might adjust the other parts around a bit.

jpfamps · May 2019

I think you need to find an approach that works for you.

I generally write without any instruments, eg coming up with a vocal line, or hook. I'll then arrange the song around this.

The great advantage of this approach is that you can do it anywhere, eg on a train. Carrying a notebook is a good idea too.

Occasionally I might do something more riff based, in which case I would probably develop that from playing an instrument, usually, but not always, guitar.

To be honest I would say I'm much better at arranging songs than coming up with the original idea.

It really worth looking at well-written songs to see how great writers structure songs. The Motown catalogue is a good place to start.

Freebird · May 2019

I should have mentioned earlier that a piano is a songwriters best friend, and it can be a real one or digital. I've even gone a stage further and found some music software that can play every chord imaginable, which I use as the foundation for a melody that I tap out using a piano VST. I can easily get decent song starter ideas in a minute or two. The process could also be reversed, and you could start with a melody before finding a complementary harmony. You have to know the basics of music theory though, which I set out above.

GuitarPlayer777 · July 2019

You might find useful to learn the Circle Of Fifths. It helps a lot when you have to modulate to other keys, that in songwriting happens quite often.

gringopig · July 2019

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Freebird · July 2019

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Songwriting processes

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