writing music for lyrics

[seth_southerland]

i decided to try to start writing songs with lyrics, and so tonight i finished my first set of lyrics, but am clueless on where to start with trying to arrange some music for it, what are some strategies that you guys have for putting music to lyrics that you write?

[Davy28]

meh, I usually come up with the music first, then mumble like a drunken fool until words come to me that I like, then I try and make them poignant, rhyming, or otherwise catchy. Its tough to do it the other way around.

[seth_southerland]

thats a good idea for the future, thanks

[Davy28]

Otherwise, jam until your fingers bleed and eventually you will find a tune that matches your lyrics. patience is the key.

[seth_southerland]

thats what i've been doing so far, and tonight i found that the f chord fits the first few words, so there is a start, eh? lol

[6_strings_for_life]

you will need 4 things
#1 a fat joint
#2 a nice guitar
#3 a copy of the lyrics in front of you
#4 a good slot ofyour free time

[fatjack]

come up with a melody to the lyrics, sit in front of a piano to do so if its available. once you have a melody, the chords just fall into place

[Ranting Thespian]

I find it easy to write music then put lyrics to it. I did that the other day with my latest song (it's a semi love song). But, when I try to write music to lyrics, I have the worst time. I can't seem to get it. My hats off to Elton John on writing music to lyrics.

[mangold]

no no no... i always write lyrics first. then sing them as you want them to be sung into a chromatic tuner. recrord the notes, make them chords, and theres your progression. then transfer them to barre and use taht to write a verse riff, and then do like a picking intro or sumthin

[i am sam2]

no no no... i always write lyrics first. then sing them as you want them to be sung into a chromatic tuner. recrord the notes, make them chords, and theres your progression. then transfer them to barre and use taht to write a verse riff, and then do like a picking intro or sumthin

i dont mean to shoot down your specific way of doing things, because it sounds like youve got it figured out for yourself, which is great. but...

it seems to me that there should be no "formula" or "method" for creating songs. it seems that takes away from the feel and the expression in it. maybe not, but thats just what i get the feeling of

[mangold]

no no no... i always write lyrics first. then sing them as you want them to be sung into a chromatic tuner. recrord the notes, make them chords, and theres your progression. then transfer them to barre and use taht to write a verse riff, and then do like a picking intro or sumthin

i dont mean to shoot down your specific way of doing things, because it sounds like youve got it figured out for yourself, which is great. but...

it seems to me that there should be no "formula" or "method" for creating songs. it seems that takes away from the feel and the expression in it. maybe not, but thats just what i get the feeling of

i dont get instictual feelings... this is just a framework though... you can do any number of things from those base chords. all songs are built on base chords

[MWR]

no no no... i always write lyrics first. then sing them as you want them to be sung into a chromatic tuner. recrord the notes, make them chords, and theres your progression. then transfer them to barre and use taht to write a verse riff, and then do like a picking intro or sumthin

i dont mean to shoot down your specific way of doing things, because it sounds like youve got it figured out for yourself, which is great. but...

it seems to me that there should be no "formula" or "method" for creating songs. it seems that takes away from the feel and the expression in it. maybe not, but thats just what i get the feeling of

i dont get instictual feelings... this is just a framework though... you can do any number of things from those base chords. all songs are built on base chords

Yeah but your theory is very flawed. By constantly having the melody be the root of the chord you're robbing the song of expression. It takes more work but you should be aware of what interval you're singing over the chord. If it's always the root, third, or fifth than you're songs will all sound the same and boring to boot.

[mangold]

no no no... i always write lyrics first. then sing them as you want them to be sung into a chromatic tuner. recrord the notes, make them chords, and theres your progression. then transfer them to barre and use taht to write a verse riff, and then do like a picking intro or sumthin

i dont mean to shoot down your specific way of doing things, because it sounds like youve got it figured out for yourself, which is great. but...

it seems to me that there should be no "formula" or "method" for creating songs. it seems that takes away from the feel and the expression in it. maybe not, but thats just what i get the feeling of

i dont get instictual feelings... this is just a framework though... you can do any number of things from those base chords. all songs are built on base chords

Yeah but your theory is very flawed. By constantly having the melody be the root of the chord you're robbing the song of expression. It takes more work but you should be aware of what interval you're singing over the chord. If it's always the root, third, or fifth than you're songs will all sound the same and boring to boot.

well depending on the lyrics you write chances are your verse and chorus will have diff root chords

[fatjack]

well depending on the lyrics you write chances are your verse and chorus will have diff root chords

i would point of the syntactical errors in that sentence, but saying it has any syntax would be an insult to the english langauge.

[mangold]

ow