Calling all songwriters

March 16, 2005 8:30 AM

How do musicians write songs? Do they typically write the words then the music to those words...or the other way around? Or does it happen spontaneously so that some artists do it either way depending on their influence?
posted by SparkyPine to Media & Arts (16 answers total)

Best answer: You're going to get a million different answers; every musician does it differently. A given musician might not do it the same way all the time, even. I used to sit down with an acoustic guitar, come up with chords, and then spend hours painfully working out words. Or I'd have some topic in mind that I'd feel like I just had to write a song about, and this wouild usually mean that I at least had a bunch of phrases in mind, waiting for music to back them.

Now I usually end up coming up with music while free-jamming with my band, and then make up words on the spot.
posted by COBRA! at 8:54 AM on March 16, 2005

Yes.

Seriously, the answer's as variable as musicians are, and sometimes varies between works for musicians. I have some acquaintances who start with words, others who start messing around with an instrument and come up with a tune or chords first, others who do both. Sometimes the muse hits and they write the whole thing, fully formed in an hour. Sometimes they get one good phrase and work on it over months or years.

On preview, COBRA! has it.
posted by weston at 8:55 AM on March 16, 2005

Every musician works differently.

I always start with a melody. I'll sing gibberish to the melody while I work out the general song texture and phrasing. Gradually, while singing gibberish, words will suggest themselves: words which fit naturally into the rhythm and atmosphere of the song. I find the words to be far more malleable than the music. Often the thing that most holds up the process of finishing a song is honing/polishing the words. Rarely does the melody change that much after initial development (though sometimes I will add a bridge or rework a refrain).

Sometimes I'll try to start with a strong idea of what I want to say verbally in a song -- those are the hardest for me to write. They sound more unnatural, and some words and phrases, no matter how cool they seem when written on paper, reveal themselves to be real clinkers when sung. Similarly, great song lyrics sometimes look utterly stupid when removed from their context and put into writing.

I know this method is not universal. Country songs and show tunes, for instance, are more often built around verbal wordplay ("She's Actin' Single, I'm Drinkin' Doubles".."Master of the House"...). The musical composition for those tends to be more formulaic as a result; they are driven by verbal content rather than by musical expression. I don't mean to imply that that's bad; it's just an approach from a different direction.
posted by Miko at 8:58 AM on March 16, 2005

I work in a very similar way to Miko - I draft out an idea on guitar and sing whatever stream of concious stuff or gibberish comes out. I love these early drafts, they're so embarassing and funny to listen to...

After I've got the structure of the song basically figured out, i'll go in and fill in the musical/lyrical holes

Also, I'll often start about 10 songs in one or two sittings, then spend the next few sessions working out which ones are worth spending more time on.
posted by soplerfo at 9:27 AM on March 16, 2005

Without repeating the above, sometimes when I start with lyrics, by the time I finish, very little of the original lyrics remain. The same goes for when I start with a melody or with a series of chord changes.

Composing a song requires honing each part to fit the whole.
posted by mischief at 9:38 AM on March 16, 2005

I work with the music first. Record that, and then come up with words to fit the music. Otherwise, it can sound awkward.
posted by Quartermass at 9:44 AM on March 16, 2005

I'm like Miko - melody first. I usually don't use words, but the process is basically the same. If something comes to me (usually a bassline or a beat) while I'm at work or away from an instrument, I'll hum it into a small voice-recorder so I don't forget it.

Then I build around it, fill in the gaps, and strip it down. That's the hard part - throwing away ideas that aren't working or seem too forced.

Also, Oblique Strategies can be helpful for writer's block.
posted by hellbient at 9:56 AM on March 16, 2005

There's a book called Songwriters on Songwriting where the editor of this songwriter's magazine essentially asks a whole bunch of famous songwriters this question (Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Leonard Cohen) in long-form, detailed interviews. It's pretty interesting. Basically, though, it's 500+ pages that demonstrate that COBRA! is correct.
posted by jeb at 10:02 AM on March 16, 2005

I think every songwriter has been asked this question at least thirty times!

(full disclosure: I'm a bad musician.)

for me, whenever I get a chance I'll just jam around on whatever instrument I feel like playing and try to remember all the good riffs and progressions. then one day, if an idea for lyrics hits me, I'll go back and try to match them up. if it clicks, then I run with it!

I'd say the most difficult part of the process for me is writing lyrics. I'm a very harsh judge of other people's words and if I find a line that's too contrived or cheesy or insincere, then the whole song is ruined for me.

but anyways, I think the process is different for people that write songs for their bands, or write songs just to record (and perhaps put together a band later). when you're writing for a band, then you don't have to worry so much about the actual composition and arrangement of parts because hopefully your friends will have some fresh ideas and perspectives. and furthermore, a band can be limiting in some respects because you only have so many players who can do so many things. that's actually a good thing because sometimes it's helpful because when you're just recording yourself (it's extremely easy and cheap nowadays to have a studio in your own home) the possibilities are pretty vast and it can be hard to know when to start and even harder to know when to stop (with software multi-trackers, you can overdub as much as you like which can be addicting).
posted by mcsweetie at 10:44 AM on March 16, 2005

Response by poster: Thanks everyone, that's what I was hoping you'd all say...just wanted to make sure. My 11y/o son is learning guitar and, while I used to play, I never wrote songs or had a band so I was at a loss as to how to influence him.
posted by SparkyPine at 11:23 AM on March 16, 2005

SparkyPine: In that case, despite the trainwrecks, encourage him to experiment, compose and practice within earshot of the family.

Unless of course, that guitar is electric ...
posted by mischief at 12:22 PM on March 16, 2005

I skip the whole issue by writing dance music :P

That said, I've tried doing one or two vocal tracks... gotta echo what everyone else has said: melody first is easiest for me, when trying to do that.

(That said, with what I usually work on, melody comes last-ish. Beats & bass first.)
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 12:29 PM on March 16, 2005

I'll have these bits of lyrics floating around in my head, and I'll have these bits of melodies floating around. Every once in a while, a lyric and a melody will match up, and I'll write a song around them. I don't think it makes sense for me to say one or the other "comes first."

The down side of working like this is, it's not very efficient. For every idea that finds a mate and gets used, there are dozens that don't.
posted by nebulawindphone at 1:19 PM on March 16, 2005

Yup, you will get a million different answers on this one. When I wss in a band, we would just jam until we had something cool, discussing ideas while we went along, or someone would come to practice with at least a bit of a song idea. Lyrics/vocals would usually get added in later from a bunch we had already written. Collaboration in a band was key, at least for us it was.
posted by raster at 1:58 PM on March 16, 2005

It depends, but I'm a very lyrically-driven writer, so often the words come first. On the other hand, sometimes I find myself just 'jamming' a few chords/riffs and liking them, or even fitting chords to some lyrics I wrote earlier (I keep a notebook), then replacing the words with newer/better ones; newer isn't always better, but often it helps when you let a song evolve. Sometimes the words and music have years in between them. Sometimes they are written in the same hour.

My two main challenges are restraint and persistence:
-Songs tend to start sounding crappy when you get too perfectionist, so know when to stop, when to label it 'done'.
-And, a verse and a chorus (usually) don't make a song, so put down that remote control/ computer mouse and write that second verse and bridge already.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 5:17 PM on March 16, 2005

I generally find an obscure foreign writer, crib all the choice lines, and use a rhyming dictionary to flesh it out.

The only the way I've ever written that hasn't been mentioned is by hearing a song through a wall or something. When the sound gets muffled, it brings out different sounds, and lets my brain reconstruct the entire thing, which is fun, and sometimes productive.
posted by Jack Karaoke at 7:58 PM on March 16, 2005