[livingalive626]

write from the heart. the best songs always come from intense emotion. unemotional songs may be catchy, but they infinitly lack depth and meaning.

[Funky 1]

Here are my tips....

1) Keep your phrases short. In general, 5-7 sylable phrases work best.

2) Paul McCartney said, "Good artists borrow. Great artists steal."

3) Use the "Paul Simon method". Start with drums (to keep songs from sounding the same, I guess), then melody followed by words.

4) Write a melody on one instrument, then make that the bass line and come up a different melody based on the changes of the first.

[6strings21frets]

Originally Posted by Funky 1

Here are my tips....

1) Keep your phrases short. In general, 5-7 sylable phrases work best.

2) Paul McCartney said, "Good artists borrow. Great artists steal."

3) Use the "Paul Simon method". Start with drums (to keep songs from sounding the same, I guess), then melody followed by words.

4) Write a melody on one instrument, then make that the bass line and come up a different melody based on the changes of the first.

Okay, the first tip was helpful (THANKS!).

I liked the second tip best, though.

If you listen to some of the best bands, almost all their music sounds the same except for drums. For example, Guns N' Roses. On their Greatest Hits album from 2004, about 8-10 songs are in either F# or C#.

That last tip are you talking about the music that goes with the song?

Thanks,
-Liam

[PatchworkMan]

Don't be afraid to let a song go where it wants to go rather than where you want it to go. If the words sound good, go with them and see where they take you rather than wondering if they fit you preconcieved vision for the song.

Don't try to write good songs; just try to write songs. Decide whether or not it's good when you're done. You can always go back and fix it later. Many songs never get written because the writer just can't find words he thinks are good enough or sophisticated enough or creative enough.

[marky20]

Originally Posted by livingalive626

write from the heart. the best songs always come from intense emotion. unemotional songs may be catchy, but they infinitly lack depth and meaning.

I agree!


You can write anything but the best would still be a song from the heart. It will mark to everyone. They will feel what you feel!

[buckl114]

I have writen many songs, and always start the same way. I find a chord progression that i like, and sing a melody line that fits it. The words don't realy matter. For example, one song started out as "I love pink pajamas" sung fifty times over. After I have a melody line and a chord progression, I just sing. I sing line after line, until i find one that i realy like. I use that for the chorus, and then do the same thing for the verses and bridge, using a diffrent chord progression for each. After I have a simple lead sheet written out, I go back and fine tune the melody/lyrics/cord progression. Then i start to incorporate a more instruments, or a diffrent guitar part that fits. I then come back to the song a week or so later, and fine tune everything again; resulting in my end product.

[iAmAPeanut]

I think it's important to make sure the music and the lyrics sound compatible, not like they belong to two separate songs. Personally, I prefer starting with lyrics; if it's a sad song, write sad music. If it's a happy song, write happy music.

I love the song "Heart's Safe" by Tenth Avenue North, but as much as I like it I can't help noticing that the music is too happy. It doesn't really go with the words that well.

Another thing to remember when meshing your music and your lyrics, no matter what order you do it in, is make sure one doesn't take away from the other. What I mean is, don't write a bunch of complex music under your lyrics, cuz listeners won't know what they're supposed to pay attention to . The opposite can also be a problem; you don't want a bunch of lyrics overtop of basically zero music. Make sense? I hope so haha.

[GuitarGoofie]

all you guys have the point of vieuw that you should write a song first, and then make the music. i write music and not lyrics. why cant you make music first and than lyrics??

[iAmAPeanut]

Originally Posted by GuitarGoofie

all you guys have the point of vieuw that you should write a song first, and then make the music. i write music and not lyrics. why cant you make music first and than lyrics??

I'm not against it. I've written a few songs with music first. I just prefer to do it the other way, because I think the lyrics are more important. Lyrics should (imo) usually come first so you know what the song is about before you make any melodies.

[GuitarGoofie]

Originally Posted by iAmAPeanut

I'm not against it. I've written a few songs with music first. I just prefer to do it the other way, because I think the lyrics are more important. Lyrics should (imo) usually come first so you know what the song is about before you make any melodies.

OK you certainly should do that if that's your point of view. In my opinion, there is to much christian music with beautiful lyrics, but then the music is to simple and its artless. So what I think is that the music has to be as important as the lyrics.
As christian musicians we have to create a good balance between music and lyrics. There are to few christian bands with great music, although most bands have beautiful lyrics!