[MusicllyMotivated]

I live everything about music. I listen to to all genres but r&b/hip hop are my favorite. Writting lyrics to instrumental beats is as far as I've gotten in writting. I don't know how to read, write or play actual music. I really want to know if it's possible to make a great song without any musical training? One day I hope to sell my songs to artist like Rhianna, Jhene Aiko, Sevyen Streeter just to name a few. Is my dream too far fetched?

[tone]

Depends on how you define 'musical training' - I would suggest the majority of members here have little to no musical training in the formal sense, yet most of us play an instrument at a basic level at least.

You say you live all things music. Listening is an essential part of musical training. You don't need to be able to write music notation to love listening to music. But if you want other people to play your music further down the line, being able to say what chords are in your song is probably essential.

If you want to write songs, I would suggest learning an instrument. I know it seems daunting, but you can pick up enough guitar/ piano to play the chords to well over 50% of pop songs in a year or two depending on your ear and how committed you are. It's never too late to learn, and the longer you leave it, the harder you'll probably find it as the years go by.

The other route you could possibly take is to team up with a musician/ producer, someone who can take your raw ideas and translate them into the music you want to sing/ rap over.

Welcome to the forum

[GuyBarry]

I would suggest the majority of members here have little to no musical training in the formal sense

Is that right or not?  I've got Grade 5 theory but no higher qualification.  I know enough about harmony and counterpoint to be able to write arrangements for SATB choir.  I can listen to a song and transcribe the melody and chords to a reasonable degree of accuracy, though it depends on how chromatic the harmonies are.

yet most of us play an instrument at a basic level at least

I'm terrible technically.  I do have a keyboard at home so that I can work out the more complex harmonies, but I mostly rely on other people to accompany me for all but the simplest songs.  My main instrument is my voice.

[tone]

Is that right or not?  

Yep. I said most, not all. Check out some of the older threads about theory and you'll see most folks around here play and write solely by ear. Some are even superstitious against learning theory. I blame the Beatles for that one

[CaliaMoko]

It's my opinion that it would be easier with a background in music theory. When someone in these forums writes something really, really good and I find out s/he doesn't know anything about notation or theory, I always wonder how much more awesome s/he would be at writing if s/he understood music better.

Some people think it would be more limiting if they had to stick to a bunch of music theory rules while writing, but it doesn't really work that way. You can break all the same rules, regardless, but when you understand the theory, you know what you're doing and why you want to do it that way, and it can even give you ideas you might not have had otherwise. You know...things like "maybe a major 7th would add some interesting color here instead of a plain major chord", or "What would happen if I tried the 2nd inversion and add a 9th?" Which is easy, by the way, because it's right between the 2nd and 3rd notes of the 2nd inversion.

So, I agree with Tone that it would be good if you at least learned to play an instrument, like guitar or piano, at a basic level. Learning some theory would be a bonus.

My opinion, for what it's worth.

Vicki

[GuyBarry]

It's my opinion that it would be easier with a background in music theory. When someone in these forums writes something really, really good and I find out s/he doesn't know anything about notation or theory, I always wonder how much more awesome s/he would be at writing if s/he understood music better.

I agree totally, and I can't see how knowing some theory can possibly be a disadvantage.  I'd still be writing songs with very basic harmonies if I didn't know any theory.  Having the keyboard has given me a chance to experiment in the way you describe - "what happens if I put such-and-such a chord here?" 

Because I mainly write comedy I've even noticed that certain chords are better for comedy value than others.  If I'm in C major, for instance, the note A flat sounds particularly funny for some reason.  If I want to emphasize a comedy word then quite often I'll put A flat major under it, or F minor, or even D diminished.  I've no idea why this should be but it seems to work.  I'd never have guessed that without some knowledge of theory.

So, I agree with Tone that it would be good if you at least learned to play an instrument, like guitar or piano, at a basic level. Learning some theory would be a bonus.

Indeed.  I don't think you need to be able to play well - I certainly can't! - but it's very useful to at least know where all the notes are and how to put chords together.  I'd love to be able to play the guitar but my fingers simply aren't nimble enough.  Picking out chords on the keyboard is as good as it gets for me.

Of course, if you've got a particularly good musical imagination, it's possible to "hear" the chords in your head, which I can do to some extent.  I've found it's particularly good practice to listen to recordings of songs that I know and transcribe the harmonies, then play them back to see how accurate I've been.  (I'm quite often better than the chord transcriptions that you get on some internet sites!)

[Helena4]

Start learning, mate. Not being able to play an instrument is not personlity trait, its a decided action. You have decided not to learn thus far. Change that.