[Jamie]

Hi all, not sure if this is the right place for this, but here goes. I'm a relative newbie to songwriting and as such my thinking is that the more songs I write the more likely I am to improve.now I recognise that this is not a given, but common sense suggests that the more you practice something the more likely you are to improve( of course then the notion of talent comes into view, but i'll leave that aside for the moment).

So when I get an idea for a song I tend to write it very quickly. I have a 'stock' of lyrical ideas that occasionally I'll get inspired to work with and sometimes it works with a musical idea eg a chord progression that I've had around for a while, but essentially it's a fairly quick process. Once I have an idea of the structure of the song I start to do a rough demo of the song, and by a process of osmosis/elimination etc I end up with a song that is largely how I want it to be, and because I tend to have songs 'backed up' I stop at maybe 80/90% of the level I could record it to myself. I have a low boredom threshold and I tend to move on fairly quickly so I don't polish the song as much as some contributors to the forum do. But I'm not commenting on anyone else's process merely outlining mine.

My thinking is that 'someday' I'll write some songs that I'm really pleased with and I'll either polish them up as much as I can or seek some help to record them. Is this a reasonable way to work? Or should,I really work hard on the majority of my writing to get as near to ' radio ready',as possible?

I didn't start doing this because I wanted to learn how to produce and record music, but because I want to write songs and have them played, so my primary thing is the song. However, I've recognised that I need to learn the basics, and I'm sure I've learned a lot over the last year or so.

I should,add that I have no illusions that I will be the next great songwriter but I get a great deal of enjoyment from doing this and well, you never know!

So any ideas, how do others see their working process?
Cheers
Jamie

[Vintage54]

         Jamie
           As far as im concerned, theres no right way and no wrong way, but theres always a better way. Dont know what it is though. Ive always found it easy to start a song, once i come up with a title and an idea. The hard part is running with it and carrying it through to the end, endings are tough. Ive got about sixty or so completed lyrics, some with music, some without, and god knows how many others started, but unfinished. Scraps of paper all over the house, need a secretary. I try to write quickly, but that rarely happens. First verse or two can come quick, then i start to run out of gas. My problem is, i cant leave a line that im not happy with, and come back to it later, i have to get it down before i can move on. If i cant do that it gets left, hence the scraps of paper cluttering up the drawers. I guess if you listen to enough music, or read enough verse, some of it has got to rub off. But the more you write the better you get, i think holds true. Its easy to rhyme two words, its in between those two words words that imagination comes into play, and i think we all have that. Did any of that make sense, i was getting carried away.

[danoctober]

I continually study and analyze songs that are hits that I also love. After a while you get a sense of what works for commercial material.

When you learn and break down others' songs allot it gives you a bank of ideas for words, phrases, titles, chord progressions, forms, etc.

The real knack is making it all work together in a natural, fresh, interesting way. That only comes with experience.