How did you learn to write songs?

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Ramshackles

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« Reply #15 on: May 18, 2011, 02:41:57 PM »
Ive never had any songwriting course or read a songwriting book and would be extremely wary of anything that claims to teach songwriting. How can you teach something with no answer?

Ive had piano lessons, and I think just having proper lessons on whatever instruments can certainly help you improve and open your eyes to other possibilities. I self taught myself guitar, mandolin and bass.

I think the most important starting point for writing good songs is an appreciation of good music. And Im talking all music, even if it isnt your preferred genre, being able to appreciate the songwriting and musicianship can help you understand where it comes from. It really irks me when, for example, a hardcore metal fan would dismiss the beatles or 60s music in general as it is not metal and therefore crap. If you talk to most sucessful acts they will all have at least an appreciation of this. (And this applies to all; just using metal as an example).
And taking inspiration from things outside music - books, art etc can all help.
And also being completely obsessive about music in general. I surf countless blogs, play all the time, go to gigs etc etc, all the time listening out for new interesting things, or different ways of doing things.

misterwillguitar

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« Reply #16 on: May 24, 2011, 02:22:38 AM »
Have any of you received any tuition in songwriting, read any books or studied in any other way?

I'm interested to know how you came to be songwriters!

For me, I think I said somewhere else, I never really consider myself a songwriter, but then Ive completed so many now, that I think its time to adjust that self discription!

As for learning, I just did it. Alot of ideas come to me either musical ones, or lyrical ones, and I think the first few times are about experiencing how you manage to put it together. You learn from that and repeat the process. Until it becomes a case of knowing how you put a tune together, what steps need to be done etc.
Ive been around a few decent songwriters too - one of my friends is a writer for Robbie Williams among others, and I got to work with him on a few occasions, and gained a bit of "calm" about it by working with him, but there was no formal training per se.

I think the main thing for me is to just do it, and keep doing it. Some people learn in different ways, but I tend to find if I focus on books or courses I don't really write, I nail down techniques. Which is not a BAD thing in any way, all that stuff is useful. I just think when it comes to actually writing a tune it has to be from you. Your own creativity as it were, which will always go back to what you can actually accomplish or are comfortable doing. Techniques are things you pick up on the way that will become natural at some point, but the actual process of writing a song doesnt change that much.

So I guess my only answer is, just by doing it until Im happy with it!

Mr.Will

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« Reply #17 on: May 30, 2011, 12:16:21 PM »
The moment you 'learn' how to write lyrics is the moment you stop writing lyrics. If someone tries to teach you then you'll end up writing their songs all over again.
Some people can't write lyrics so if you can't find a way of making them happen naturally then you just can't write lyrics. It's like how some people can excell at any sport they try and some people can cook a spectacular dish from scraps
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« Reply #18 on: May 30, 2011, 01:50:49 PM »
Depends how you define learning. Lots of people learn how to write songs just by doing it. Most people learn from a combination of listening, mimicking and doing. But if I was given the chance to spend the day chatting about songwriting with Neil Finn, there's no way I'd turn it down, and I'm certain I'd be a better songwriter at the end of the day because I'd learn new things about my craft.
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cbeeching

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« Reply #19 on: June 03, 2011, 02:46:12 AM »
I'm not entirely sure that I've learnt how to write songs yet, but I sure do write a lot.. well, let me re-phrase that: I start a lot and then occasionally finish them ;)