How do you write songs?

[Sockgazer]

It's a problem I have at the moment. I don't know how to write guitar based songs.

I could write basic powerchord and lead riffs and just remember them, I guess. There's a couple I still have but they're not noteworthy enough to put into a song. I'm not good at improvising with chords as my chord theory isn't very good and I have difficulty learning anything like that.

I don't know how to construct a song in a way I'll remember it. I could try tabbing, but that feels like an awkward way of doing it, unless there's a good piece of software I can get for it. I could try learning what chords I'm actually playing, but that'd require a lot of learning and still wouldn't tell me how to play the chords, since there's so many different ways and they can sound different.

The best solution I can think of is to give the chords "Names" and write them down, but I'd feel like a Douche doing that when an obvious chord comes up. Though still, it'd help me remember where to play that chord; ike it could be an octave up or one of those variants.

[tuffteef]

you could learn theory but i get ya on its difficult for me also

everytime i sit in my music theory classes they talk about writing songs and obeying the notes in the keys
which is boring

write it out however u feel if u end up getting a system
being able to know what chords your playing is learning chord formulas and intervals and knowing where the notes are on the guitar then piecing it together and such

you can write, well alot of pop songs are written using the cycle of 5ths maybe try that

[MannequinRaces]

What works for me is I know enough music theory to be dangerous but not enough to really feel comfortable writing songs in keys.

What I like to do is write riffs by ear and then when I get a couple parts that go together I usually turn on the internal web camera on my iMac, hit record and play my guitar. That way when I look at the video one year later I can at least see where my fingers were on the fret board and that gives me a good starting point to remember how I played the song.

Writing tab out is a pain in the a$$.

If you don't have access to a web cam then just buy a cheap digital recorder and use that to record song ideas that you have. Eventually you'll acquire lots of little pieces that you can string together to make full songs.

[PanicProne]

I guess it counts as tabbing but you should try downloading and using Guitar Pro. A lot of people use that for storing ideas. I can't stand it in the long run have ended up using it now since we're only two left in one of my bands and I have to teach everyone what to play when. (We'llbe bringing in "live-members") That way I just put things down in GP and send over the files and they can pratice at home.

Otherwise I've been using my Boss RC-20xl a lot for songwriting lately. Not for my hardcore band but for the more texturish stuff for the experimental one I'm in.

[Sockgazer]

IT'd be cool to get something that can auto-tab a recording.

[MannequinRaces]

IT'd be cool to get something that can auto-tab a recording.

I think the technology is slowly getting there. We have TC Electronic's Polytune which can pick out individual notes when chords are strummed and then there is Celemony's Direct Note Access software. It's only a matter of time.

[Ghost Hip]

There are programs that can turn whatever you play on Piano into sheet music. (Not too sure of their names, I just remember my music theory teacher speaking of them) I'm sure there has to be a program that can turn it into tab. I imagine the only problem is the fact you can play the same note in the same octave in more than one place on the guitar.

[Jero]

What I like to do is write riffs by ear and then when I get a couple parts that go together I usually turn on the internal web camera on my iMac, hit record and play my guitar. That way when I look at the video one year later I can at least see where my fingers were on the fret board and that gives me a good starting point to remember how I played the song.
Writing tab out is a pain in the a$$.
If you don't have access to a web cam then just buy a cheap digital recorder and use that to record song ideas that you have. Eventually you'll acquire lots of little pieces that you can string together to make full songs.

This is exactly what I do. SOO much easier to 'remember' stuff when you record.

[foomanfat]

What works for me is I know enough music theory to be dangerous but not enough to really feel comfortable writing songs in keys.

This is where I sit also.

When I write, it's gennerally me just messing around, working out some riffs.
When I get onto something I like, I record it and then try to expand on it and work out other parts around it. Structure and whatnot.
If I can't remember something, then, for me, it must not have been worth remembering.

[MannequinRaces]

Think of writing a song like building Lego blocks. You normally start with a foundation like a drum beat, a bass line, a guitar riff, or a vocal melody, and then the song gets built around any of those points. Song structure is basically about layering parts and getting different textures and sounds to gel together.

As one famous producer said 'if you think you stink' so I try not to over analyze things to much. And another one 'crap in equals crap out' so make sure the song has a 'feeling' to it and your good.

[erik]

i hated music since grade 1.
failed all music theory exam in school throughout till i left school.

i play the guitar by ear from day 1 and sing whatever comes to mind.
and here it goes, SONG!

i believe knowing too much music theory is dangerous
whatever natural and real are the best

check out this link if you're interested in knowing what a kid that failed all music theory can do 7 years later.
http://www.myspace.com/forgettheg

[hclapp219]

There are programs that can turn whatever you play on Piano into sheet music. (Not too sure of their names, I just remember my music theory teacher speaking of them) I'm sure there has to be a program that can turn it into tab. I imagine the only problem is the fact you can play the same note in the same octave in more than one place on the guitar.

This is all done through a MIDI keyboard. Each key on the keyboard directly corresponds to a note on the staff, so it works well. Any decent composition software allows you to do this (I used sibelius in hs and college). Having a MIDI guitar would be your best bet, but they can get pricey. I don't think any standard guitar will ever be able to tab accurately because of the problem you state; it might be able to tell you which notes to play, but not how to play them. Fortunately there are some cheaper MIDI guitar controllers coming on the market soon: the controllers for Guitar Hero 3 They will have buttons at each of the frets so it will be like a keyboard in that respect. As for which software you would use to interpret the MIDI data into a tab, I have no idea.

[tuffteef]

There are programs that can turn whatever you play on Piano into sheet music. (Not too sure of their names, I just remember my music theory teacher speaking of them) I'm sure there has to be a program that can turn it into tab. I imagine the only problem is the fact you can play the same note in the same octave in more than one place on the guitar.

sibelius
finale

[smile_man]

I like spaces in my songs, not a fan of nonstop chords.

I find a tuning or a couple of notes that I like together and then try and do something with that, I like improvising.

When I record I try to do as many things as possible in one take. Overdubbing isn't very fun.

[hclapp219]

Holy poops! Just found this: http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/20 ... better.ars