[Register]

OK, from my vast experience and advanced years, I have some advice I wish I could have given my younger self, which is this...

What is paramount in a song is the voice.

When you write a song, start with your voice. If you find something to say, that's 99% of the song done and dusted. (When I say "find something to say", I mean something like "We will rock you" or "i bet you look good on the dance floor" or "love's the greatest thing" or "you are the sunshine of my life" or I wanna hold your hand" or whatever little phrase comes out of your brain.)

I'm making an assumption here that you're speaking to a rhythm (otherwise it's something commonly known as "talking".)

So, get a metronome or a simple drumbeat, and put some words to it.

If it's cheesy, you'll know it. If it's crass, if it's pretentious, if it's inauthentic, if it's overly sentimental, bombastic, maudlin, etc etc, you'll know it. Assuming that is that you can hear anything you have to say and judge it without prejudice in your favour, on account of the fact that you are you, and we all have a tendency to want to be better than we are, and have to fight that tendency in order to arrive at an honest appraisal of our talents.

(Of course, that is perhaps the hardest thing of all, to find that balance between being too hard on ourselves and being too generous, which is why all artistic creation ultimately comes down to a question of judgement.)

So, when you have some words sung at a particular pitch (or different pitches if you're really having fun), take an instrument and see what notes fit over it. Then you have a song, or the kernel of a song which can be expanded on much more easily than if you were to start from scratch.

But that point about having fun is important too. The greatest art is really the one where we can see that the artist has had the most fun.

Imagine if someone knew they were going to die in five minutes and chose to spend those last five minutes making music. Who the feck would do that? Boy oh boy, they must really love producing music. What kind of music would someone like that produce, that they would like to spend their last moments of life making music? At a guess, I'd say they were either crazy, self-deluded, or really having fun. It's the latter kind of music that I'd be really interested in hearing.

OK, I'm starting to go off piste a little.

To get back to my original point, a song more than anything should be built on the vocal line. That's pretty much the definition of a song.

So, as an exercise if nothing else, see how far you can get, see what you can achieve, by starting that metronome and putting down vocal phrases - no guitar, no piano, no bass.

Sorry, didn't mean to go on so long. I suffer from a serious medical condition experts sometimes refer to as longwindedness.

[Nick Ryder]

Hi,

Interesting post and I think this may be true of some songs, but not all by any means. Some songs are successful because of the arrangement around them, instrumental hooks, rhythm's etc.

Some vocal lines simple do not work without an arrangement behind them. One of the most ground breaking songs of all time - Tomorrow Never Knows by The Beatles is built around the hypnotic arrangement and production. Whilst it is interesting lyrically, the actual tune is not that interesting on its own, and yet it is an all time classic.

I think everyone has different ways of writing. I know that I write completely different songs when I'm sat at the piano than I do when playing the guitar. And interestingly, I started playing the Ukulele recently, and songs written on that are different again.

I cannot imagine writing to just a metronome but applaud those who can

[Wicked Deeds]

 @Register

I've been writing for almost 42 years.  Your post has invited me to consider why I do so.  It has changed over time. As a young man, I thought that playing guitar and writing was the coolest pass-time on the planet.  I thought that it would make me stand out from the crowd and that it would make me popular with the girls and that it would prove that I had value.  I  also wrote to ease the worries of life that plagued my mind (even at a young age)  I was always convinced that I would be a successful writer and that I would one day sign a lucrative record deal but really, that wasn't important .  As Lennon wrote "Life is what happens to you whilst you're busy making other plans."  As I became busy, experiencing life, songwriting became an extension of who I was/am.  Through the years, writing  helped me to exercise so many worries and doubts that pervaded. I started to believe that this was the true value of being a songwriter.  I now believe that I would have crumbled in life had I not honed my writing skills.  Rather than internalise problems, I wrote about them and along the way, I recognised the beautiful thoughts that came to be in doing so.  This is for me, the true worth of my ability to write songs. 

For the first time in my life, I have slowed down the writing machine.  It's not that I no longer know how to write but that my work demands are literally taking over my life.  Still, I feel a strong undercurrent of creativity awaiting to arise when I have time to commit my thoughts to music.  I have written and produced only three songs, perhaps 4 since January.  I would usually be nearer to twenty at this stage in the year. 

I would say, writing becomes a necessity for some.  You'll know when you have to exercise your ability to write.  That may even in involve writing during your last day on this earth if you are well enough to do so and should you feel that something has been left unsaid.  If your last composition communicates a beautiful and kind message that may help someone who you cannot see or talk to when you reach that last day then the practice/gesture/action is worthwhile. Especially when doing so, helps to brings peace to that person.

Thank you for this thought provoking post.

Paul

[cowparsleyman]

@Register - Very interesting, and a contetious point indeed, I gsuppose it depends on the the definition of a song, rather than a tune, or a piece of music.

I've written a few songs, and they never start with lyrics, always music first, and many of my songs don't have any lyrics in at all, my most recent "Don't Listen" has very few lysrics in so it gives the listener time to think and to work out what's going on, I'm not fast enough to work out the meaning of clever lyrics, so I thought I'd make this song appealing to folk like me, who can't pick up a vocal line very well, I'm way too busy listening to the music and production.

Personally, I agree with @Nick Ryder - I couldn't write lyrics to a metronome, I do love a bit of rubato, which increases feel, and therefore the likelyhood of passionate lyrics, when I do get the rare flow of lyrical outpouring it is indeed based around the dots, using the musical techniques

[missking1]

The voice is like the heart and soul of a song. It's where the magic begins. When you start with a killer vocal line, everything else just falls into place. And you're spot on about having fun while creating music. That genuine passion and joy shine through in the final product. So, let's all start tapping that metronome and letting our voices lead the way – no instruments needed at first!