Songwriters, assemble!

[Jake-41]

Fuck, am i fucked..

I write good songs, ya know. Catchy stuff. But i SERIOUSLY need help. Like, how do YOU write songs? Instrument first?

Well.. I write mine lyrics first. And so, i write this beautiful piece of song. But when it comes to lay down the guitar track i struggle with melody and everything. And these songs are basic melody. I mean, srsly.

I dunno. I mean, sometimes i CAN match melody. But it takes, for exp, 4 power chords in about 3 seconds or so, and it sounds like shit. Any solutions?

EDIT: By melody i mean guitar with the lyrics. Just incase. Thank you. (:

[ptido]

It depends, sometimes I find a catchy melody in my head and I make a full song with this melody, most of time it become a chorus. In this case I try to find lyrics a bit fast.

Sometimes I write the music first and then later I try to put vocals on it.

Sometimes I make lyrics for a specific music, sometimes not.

Every way can work to make a cool songs in my opinion, but you have to feel it. It has to come naturally, if you "search" a melody, it won't be a good one, it has to be inspiration.

[dbauer91]

i write the guitar part first always (or piano if it's a piano-driven song). then i throw in the bass and maybe add effects (keyboard, guitar, fills). of course i have the drum loop going the whole time btw. and as far as lyrics go, i always have ideas for songs in my head, but don't use them until i come up with the appropriate music. it's weird, though, cuz my lyrical ideas usually just happen to sync up with the music i've come up w/ at the time (granted i usually have anywhere from 2-6 guitar/piano ideas going on at any given time). w/ raps, though, it's totally backwards. all i do is come up w/ punchlines and then base the music around it. although this is a sum 41 fansite, so i'm sure none of you give a shit about how rap-writing goes ;)

[Jake-41]

Oh.. Any tips on going lyrics first? I mean, is it even THAT possible to do guitar melody under lyrics?

[UltraKolby]

Well when I write songs, I write the lyrics first and do the music last. While I'm writing down the lyrics, I think about a riff or any idea of music to go along with it. Usually I come up with songs while I take a shower, i don't know why I just do. I know, kinda weird but hey, it works

[Tyler.]

Doing lyrics first is baaaad, you always try jam them into the song and it sounds rushed. You can always tell when a band writes their lyrics first because they don't sound too good...

[MachineGun]

i write all the music parts first (guitar, bass, drums, effects), so i can better pay attention to the sound and to the riffs...
when i'm ready with the music and the song sounds great, i write the lyrics. unfortunately i'm not good in writing lyrics...or i'm too lazy to do it?! so i've finished the music for about 50 good songs and i've got lyrics for only 10-15 songs but i'm working on it.
it's like you said, when i write the lyrics first the guitar plays only 4 powerchords in the end.

[Heather]

I usually have a guitar melody first then vocals, followed by lyrics. I've written a few songs with lyrics first and a vocal melody that I had to find a guitar melody for. And like Kolby said, stuff usually comes to me in the most inconvenient and random times.

and I listen and watch a lot of KT Tunstall videos, where I learned more of my melodies/chords

[Dylan]

write whichever you want first. majority of bands write music before/during lyrics, but that don't mean thats the way it should be. Rush usually writes music and lyrics separately, yet kinda at the same time and it works. Against Me!/ Tom Gabel writes the music after the lyrics. because essentially, you want the music to convey the feelings of the lyrics, right?

[Jeremy Kill]

I haven't added lyrics to any of my work yet, but I'm pretty sure I'm one of those "music before the lyrics" people. I think mostly because I don't know any theory that I could put what I'm hearing in my head to music. So if I were to do lyrics first, it'd take me a long time to come up with music. I also have this habit of writing shit lyrics.

[BrandonCorey]

I usually pick up the guitar, play chords and sing giberish untill I come out with a good melody and an idea for a song