[Serotonin]

I have an issue which is not really an issue. It's more a feeling of inadequacy or insecurity with my budding writing career. Just a heads up, this is primarily related to guitar riffs and melodies.

A lot of songs that I like involve melodies or riffs that are simple and memorable but when I come to look at a tab they seem very very complex in comparison to what I have written. If I were to tab out some of my tracks they would probably be beginner level and very very easy. While a lot of my favourite songs are difficult for me even with the tab in front of my eyes. This is...intimidating as it makes me wonder, if a song seems hard and complicated when the music is in front of me, just how the hell did the original artist come up with it from nothing?

It fills me with frustration. I worry that what I currently write is so simplistic that it I am denying a great many possibilities that could make the song more interesting either through an inability to think of a melody or an inability to play what is in my head.

I know that difficult is not synonymous with good, and simplicity is certainly not bad, but when everything I write comes out relatively easy to play I feel like I'm missing something.

[Neil C]

Re you issue/non-issue as you say there is no simple/complex good/bad relationship, its more about how you feel about not being able to do complex i assume musically. If easy to play = good songs then you're on to a winner. Chuck Berry and Status Quo created a whole careers on simple 3 chord tricks. Chuck has some great lyrics too.
If you want to be able to do complex things musically and in terms of writing then its probably down to hard work and practice. Equally it could be that you come to terms and learn too love simple and exploit it. 

When I listen to the charts and Radio 1 the tunes often sound dead simple in terms of chord structures, with subtle melodic variations between verse and chorus. I'm thinking Ed Sheran, 1D, Bastille. In modern pop the production arrangements are often where some of the magic happens.

A couple of examples of simple and complex might help here.
I hope this is of some help.
 
Neil

[diademgrove]

I have a similar problem with my singing, it down to my inability to control my voice properly. Luckily the solution is lots of hard work in learning to sing. Once I gain control over my voice I can then vary my melodies. Sounds simple but it isn't.

With my guitar playing I have a fairly long standing practice regime that means over time things get easier to play. Stuff that I struggled with two years ago now takes little time to get right. The problem is you move on to more difficult material as you get better. Basically you always feel your up against it.

The lessons of Justin Sandercoe work for me. I find the way he explains how to play songs really helpful. If you haven't come across him before here's the link

http://www.justinguitar.com/

Make sure you follow his more practical lessons as well.

Hope this helps and good luck,

Keith

[Serotonin]

Re you issue/non-issue as you say there is no simple/complex good/bad relationship, its more about how you feel about not being able to do complex i assume musically. If easy to play = good songs then you're on to a winner. Chuck Berry and Status Quo created a whole careers on simple 3 chord tricks. Chuck has some great lyrics too.
If you want to be able to do complex things musically and in terms of writing then its probably down to hard work and practice. Equally it could be that you come to terms and learn too love simple and exploit it.  

When I listen to the charts and Radio 1 the tunes often sound dead simple in terms of chord structures, with subtle melodic variations between verse and chorus. I'm thinking Ed Sheran, 1D, Bastille. In modern pop the production arrangements are often where some of the magic happens.

A couple of examples of simple and complex might help here.
I hope this is of some help.
 
Neil

Well, while I don't personally like any of the named artists, I don't doubt the merits of simplicity.

Anyway, some examples:

This band are my reference point because they are probably my only main influence. The riff is very memorable but for me it's fucking hard to play without studying it and looking at tutorials. So...how could somebody write that? Nothing seems to be natural about it looking at the tab and trying to play it but the melody still feels memorable...Anyway here's the song:

It's the riff from 0:31 that I'm referring to.

And attached is a tab of something I've written which looks very simple and easy by comparison:

[DevyE]

Not a song I know but the riff at 0:31 does sound fresh and enjoyable. Looking at the tab for this online (ok, not a guaranteed source   it is based around a Db bar chord at the 9th fret. From the tab I've looked at the first finger is anchored on the 9th fret E string and the second finger is anchored on the G string 10th fret, the 3rd finger dances between the A and D strings on 11th fret and the pinky plays the notes at the 13th fret on the A and D strings. Then there is a little run up the neck from the 8th fret on the A string to finish.

Funnily enough it is very much in Chuck Berry, Status Quo territory and riffs in this area have been successfully used many times, two that come to mind at the moment are All Apologies, Nirvana and Pick A Part That's New, Stereophonics.

You've obviously got the tab so a little patience and practice and you're nail it and then believe it's as simple as everything you write.

Have fun!

[adamfarr]

Random encouraging thoughts of the day:

1. It's always harder to play other people's music - yours may also look hard to others!

2. Tabs and notation make everything look twice as hard as it really is - there are always a million tiny rests and grace notes, when the key notes often aren't that hard.

3. Start with your simple riff and then play repeatedly. Each day you can experiment with a few nuances - different picking, a bend or two, hammers on or off, leading notes, chromatic transitions (booyaka!), different rhythms, octaves, double stops, basically whatever sounds good to you (or maybe none of the above and just add a distortion pedal). A few of the things usually stick and you can end up with something unique.

4. Echoing what others have said, nothing wrong with simple. My two last songs featured an intro and the main part of a guitar solo which were basically just scale runs (played with feeling!). I don't think anyone really noticed or cared...

5. Go see Paulski's latest Country / Pop formula post in the Bar!

6. Don't be discouraged!

[MartiMedia]

Hi Serotonin,

Very interesting subject!
'Simple' is really context-dependant imo, the 'hardest' stuff
becomes 'simpler' over time or when broken into seperate
pieces.

Some thoughts:
-I'm a very bad guitar player, so I took some lessons. Was
scared for example by looking at the tabs of the main riffs of
'Always on the run' from Kravitz. I recorded a video of my
guitar teacher playing this riff and then I practiced (breaking
the riff down in pieces and study each piece really hard) a
few days (2 hours a day) and it's already feeling definately
more simple.
-When writing my own music I'm a micro engineer. I know how
I want it to sound in my head, and then I micro-practise till
I can play a short riff that sounds okay to record.
After that I immediately forget how to play it. But when you
hear the end result of all that different riffs it can sound
really complex. So when somebody asks me to play 'that live'
I  really have to study my own work haha. Just pointing out
that when you think of simple 'riffs' or 'chord progressions'
they can be used to build 'complex' sounding structures. And
when you see tabs of that 'complex' structure it might look
intimidating at the fist glance, but once broken up to pieces
again most pieces might be 'simple' on their own.

Hope this helps a little bit...
MM 

[Boydie]

Riffs like the one you have referenced rely much more on "rhythm" than they do on the notes

If you want to write riffs in a similar vein I would suggest listening to some more exotic rhythms and then just try to emulate them on one note

Once you have the rhythm going vary the notes and voila - a riff

[Serotonin]

The lessons of Justin Sandercoe work for me. I find the way he explains how to play songs really helpful.

Yeah Justin Sandercoe's website is a great resource for learning guitar

2. Tabs and notation make everything look twice as hard as it really is - there are always a million tiny rests and grace notes, when the key notes often aren't that hard.

This is true. Another song from the same artists looked and sounded very complex when in reality it was basically just a D chord with the first finger hammered on.

5. Go see Paulski's latest Country / Pop formula post in the Bar!

Haha, that is hilarious XD

So when somebody asks me to play 'that live'
I  really have to study my own work haha. Just pointing out
that when you think of simple 'riffs' or 'chord progressions'
they can be used to build 'complex' sounding structures. And
when you see tabs of that 'complex' structure it might look
intimidating at the fist glance, but once broken up to pieces
again most pieces might be 'simple' on their own.

This is true, the song I linked is the result of a lot of editing and probably a bit of sampling, and the chorus is incredibly basic, with just two alternating chords and a very simple vocal melody. The main riff does seem difficult to me but that may just be because it's based around a chord that I was previously unfamiliar with, that and I hate barre chords in general. They do play it live though so I imagine that they can just sort of 'play it all as it is' if that makes sense.

Riffs like the one you have referenced rely much more on "rhythm" than they do on the notes

If you want to write riffs in a similar vein I would suggest listening to some more exotic rhythms and then just try to emulate them on one note

Once you have the rhythm going vary the notes and voila - a riff

Hmm, that is true as well, the rhythm makes that song. I tried the same rhythm on some other chords and even with very rudimentary open chord progressions it was still recognisable. Rhythms are hardly difficult to come up with either, every rhythm has been done at some point.

[Rachel]

Random encouraging thoughts of the day:

1. It's always harder to play other people's music - yours may also look hard to others!

2. Tabs and notation make everything look twice as hard as it really is - there are always a million tiny rests and grace notes, when the key notes often aren't that hard.

3. Start with your simple riff and then play repeatedly. Each day you can experiment with a few nuances - different picking, a bend or two, hammers on or off, leading notes, chromatic transitions (booyaka!), different rhythms, octaves, double stops, basically whatever sounds good to you (or maybe none of the above and just add a distortion pedal). A few of the things usually stick and you can end up with something unique.

4. Echoing what others have said, nothing wrong with simple. My two last songs featured an intro and the main part of a guitar solo which were basically just scale runs (played with feeling!). I don't think anyone really noticed or cared...

5. Go see Paulski's latest Country / Pop formula post in the Bar!

6. Don't be discouraged!

Hi adam
i just wanna say that your random encouraging thoughts of the day made me feel a lot better! I struggle with the simpleness of my songs a lot - I've never thought about how hard they may be for others to play . really, you've made my day. so thanks for your thoughts

[tboswell]

Lots of great advice given already there.

To play difficult things what classical musicians do is:
1. Practice the rhythms and notes separately as Boydie suggests. Practice the rhythm on a single note, practice the notes in a very boring straight rhythm.
2. Start slowly and get faster by small increments, ideally till you are playing it faster than you need. Then when you need to do it at the real speed it seems easy.

In your songwriting, remember musicians of great skill strive constantly to make things simple. I force myself constantly to do so. There is just as much value in simple songs and complex ones.
Do what comes natural to you and it will appear natural to the listener.

Keep at it and keep enjoying it always