Your Songwriting Process

[richardmac]

I KNOW this is not the songwriter's forum, or the recording forum, but I'm curious.

 

I'm in the process of writing some new songs but my "studio" is currently a storage room that is so full of crap you can barely walk in the door. So I'm slapping down some ideas on my laptop in my bedroom. I normally try to write out an entire lyric first, then write music around it, but that hasn't worked for me lately so now I'm trying to write the drums, bass, and guitar parts before even thinking about what the lyric or melody will be.

 

So my question - when you write a song, what is your normal songwriting process? And if you want to shake things up, what do you do?

 

PS - For those of you who are just getting started as a songwriter, I can tell you the secret in writing a good song - you must first write a crapload of BAD songs. Then you'll be able to write a good one. Also write every day. As Steven Pressfield said, the muse respects hard work and hates a slacker.

 

(But the hard work should be FUN! LOL.)

[sventvkg]

My process is to find some peace and quite. Not as easy to do these days. After that, I have to have some privacy. Then I pick the guitar up and start strumming to see where it goes. I usually pick a key that i'm in the mood to play in and then mess with it later when i have some melodies fleshed out. As i'm playing a progression or a riff that will span a progression, those in turn are spawning a vibe which in turn spawns a lyric or lyrics. This is my most common process. However sometimes I get a cool phrase and then i go sit down and write a song using the same process but everything, including type of key, tempo, and vibe will come from that lyric or title. I can write anytime I sit down because after 33 years of doing it, I've developed a way to get into the process pretty fast. It's all about focus. These days I don't write {censored} songs anymore. IF it's not happening, I will abandon it and move on.

[daddymack]

My process varies, so I guess it isn't exactly a 'process'; sometimes it will start with a lyric, sometimes with a melody, sometimes with a chord progression, sometimes I will walk away from an idea for years and come back to it. I have written maybe a dozen really good songs in 35+ years of song writing...so I know about writing bad ones, mediocre ones, dumb ones, okay ones and the occassional good one.

[philbo]

My best songs come to me in dreams. They become earworms, where wherever I go and whatever I do I hear that song stuck in my head, playing over and over. It evolves, over a couple of weeks (sometimes months, occasionally years), into what I end up recording when the evolution stops...

[BlueStrat]

I don't have a process. I've had songs I've wrestled with fr years and never got, ones I've started with lyrics and put to music, music I've put to lyrics, parts of multiple songs I've turned into one, and entire songs come to me all at once. I wish I knew how to make it a process, but I really don't.

[JonChorba]

My process, usually, is when I'm jamming or noodling and I do something that I like, I'll stop what I'm doing and record that little idea and tab it out or video tape it so i don't forget it. I'll keep compiling those little ideas and then when I'm inspired, I'll sit down with one of them and listen to it and really think how I want it to sound when it's a finished product. Then, I'll start developing other parts, then arrangement, then I'll throw some programmed drums to it in Pro Tools. Once I have a rough arrangement with drums, I'll edit it around to my liking and then start working on lyrics and melody. From there, it's just editing and deciding.

 

Sometimes though, lighting strikes and I flesh out something complete in one sitting. If I ever get stuck or in a rut, I'll start with lyrics first or with drums first. Sometimes I'll just write something stupid and cheesy just to break out of a funk.

[Inazone]

I usually think up melodies while driving, humming the same thing over (and sometimes expanding on it) until I get home and can grab a guitar. From there, I play it over and over until it sticks with me, and eventually record it. Of course, whether anything happens with it or not after that depends on what else I have going on. I know that I have some song ideas recorded that I was absolutely thrilled with at the time, but haven't gone back and listened to since.

[TenDerFlames]

just wanted to applaud the whole "write bad songs" to write good ones theory. I think it's not even a matter of bad/good but just practice. One thing which throws me off is the DESIRE to write good ones blocks me from writing anything. It's like each note is some sacred moment... I do much better when I'm just fooling around and feel like I have a lifetime to keep writing whatever... no pressure is best.

[daddymack]

I have gone out of my way to intentionally write bad songs, just to see how bad a song I can write; I have done this since I first started playing guitar and writing.