I`m never satisfied when writing my own song. What to do?

[AS200]

I usually hang out in the Guitar-section( `cause I`m really a gear-fanatic ), I didn`t even know this forum existed...Anyway, here it goes again:

 

I`m my worst critic.

 

I mean, I`ve listened to the creme de la creme since i first started playing. I`ve also studied music for a year, and taken numerous lessons and I participate in loads of project-bands doing cover-tunes.

 

But as long as I keep comparing my early attempts at song-writing to the seasoned pros, how can I ever muster up enough courage to have them performed in public? How do you guys do it? How do you know you`ve completed a song, and how can you ever be satisfied with the result?

[WattsUrizen]

I found that I had the same problem early on. When I compared my songs to that of other bands that I listened to, I always came off second best in my mind.

 

But then you realise that you don't have to write like they do. You start to develop your own style, and you appreciate that.

 

Nowadays I still don't think I could write a song like bands that I listen to. But that's not the point. Yet I still think that the music I write is just as good (if not better) than the music they write.

 

My advice is just to keep writing, and keep in mind that you don't have to write like other bands. In fact, that will just consign you to unoriginality. Eventualy you will gain the confidence in your own ability to show it off. Good luck.

[Boron]

From one songwriting forum newbie to another, lemmie tell you that I share your pain. I don't think I'll ever play a song out in public.

[SomeGuyNamedRob]

To be honest, I prefer that my stuff doesn't sound like what other people are doing - it helps keep me honest in develloping my own voice.

[WattsUrizen]

 

Originally posted by SomeGuyNamedRob To be honest, I prefer that my stuff doesn't sound like what other people are doing - it helps keep me honest in develloping my own voice.

 

 

Exactly.

[The Cerastine Order]

Writing and arranging takes a lot of practice, you just have to accept the fact that for a little while your stuff may not be the greatest...we've all written our share of {censored}ty songs, but thats just part of the process. If you want to improve you have to be critical of your work, as well as others...even the pros are not perfect, they'll make tons of errors and you'll be all the better if you can point out things that could have been done differently.

 

I know my tunes are far from perfect, but I love performing my musick to people, there's nothing quite like having 50 - 100 kids beating the {censored} out of each other to your tunes

[Forsythia]

i know what you're going through! after a while you'll just come to accept that you don't write like your idols and that the music you write is YOURS. it's in your style - it's unique. I'm always criticising myself because i can't write a heavy song, but i'm gradually getting to accept that i can't write them because i have my own style. You'll get that too eventually - it's normal to think you don't compare to everyone else at first.... i bet 99% of songwriters out there are unhappy with a lot of their work and nitpick at the slightest things, even though they have adoring fans all over the world..... one thing i tell myself is that if at least one person in the world loves the song, or at least likes it, then it was all worth it - and you can guarantee that someone out there WILL like it...... i don't know if that made sense

[Greenshoe]

Just do it - it's not more complicated than that. The more you perform your own songs in front of people, the more comfortable you'll be with your material. Trust me. Don't compare your songs or your music to anyone else's - it's fruitless.

 

It's nervewracking at first - at least for me it was, playing in coffeeshops where it was just me myself and I on stage with no band and there's a mic in my face. But you'll get used to it in no time - I still get nervous, but I'll perform anyways.

 

Actually, I played on Sunday night at a local bar/restaurant; I forgot the lyrics right in the middle of a one of my songs - stopped dead, and somehow managed to get through it with a sense of humor, and the audience was with me the entire time.

[JackSonic]

if you have a chorus (hook), bridge and a couple of verses (with cadence) and toss in a couple of key changes (solo optional), your audience will be impressed.

[djelf]

yeah, and the more you do it, the more you'll find your "voice", the more comfortable you'll get with the vocal melodies, and all of a sudden you won't feel as stiff with your songs.

 

and the more you work with your songs, the more you can develop the parts/rhythms. it'll happen mostly spontaneously.

 

when I listen to my first solo "album" that I recorded on a Fostex 4-track, the singing makes me cringe. that was 6 years ago. the seed was there, but you have to water it, take care of it, grow it.

I knew that I was writing for a band, so I actually liked that the songs were open (often simple) because it allows the players a lot of room to breathe in coming up with their own takes on the tunes. when we play these songs now, they might as well have been written yesterday, they are so much different from back then.

[Electricview]

 

Originally posted by nosuprizes I would say 90% of people have the exact same problem. How many people do you know that hold up their latest masterpeice and shout "Behold! It stands thus! Kneal before me and I shall resite my opus for all!"

 

 

 

That was beautiful man, i needed a laugh bad....

 

Actually i was posting a sort of similar thread.. not really the same.. I've never sung in front of people but i've played guitar on stage a few times.. i dont think i'd have a problem with singing my lyrics or whatever. but related to this topic. I Find none of the songs i write really do anything for me, i feel they all are just crap after i'm done.. I'm tired of my playing style.. Distorted chorus of chords, clean regular flat ryhtym cords for verse... and i know people will say "try other things" But i guess just writing stuff on your own, my brain tells me to use chords so it sounds more fuller.. i dont have that imagination that lets me do single strings and imagine a whole song behind it....

 

I think one thing i've learned.. when your writing a song or recording it or in the process of learning to accept a song you just wrote (i deny so many things i start and throw them away becuase i hate them the day after i write them) .. the important thing to do is try not to listen to any other songs that that current time.. maybe just for a few hours around that writing process.. becuase when you do, you just feel like "My stuff is crap compared to this artist that i like so much" at least i know i do.. maybe one day, you'll write something then listen to your favorite band and go "oh ..my...god... my stuff is nearly as great as this!! I'm there!!" But for me i never envision that.. Sometimes I think practice might just be the only answer..

[WattsUrizen]

 

Find none of the songs i write really do anything for me, i feel they all are just crap after i'm done.. I'm tired of my playing style.. Distorted chorus of chords, clean regular flat ryhtym cords for verse... and i know people will say "try other things" But i guess just writing stuff on your own, my brain tells me to use chords so it sounds more fuller.. i dont have that imagination that lets me do single strings and imagine a whole song behind it....

 

 

You are searching for your own style. That is all there is to it. It's not an easy thing to find.

 

It's hard to be happy with your music, if it's not the style you want it to be. It's hard to be happy with your music if it doesn't have the emotional intensity you want it to have. It's hard to be happy with your music if it doesn't have the craftsmanship you want it to have. It is very hard to be happy with music you write.

 

I am rarely happy with the music I write. But it makes me a better composer.

 

You need to keep trying. Keep listening, keep thinking, keep feeling. You will find something that reaches out to you. You need to find a sound that expressess YOU.

 

However, as you change, so does your musical view. Things that you hadn't thought of writing before, now seem to dominate your artistic vision. Be prepared to embrace different things, as often these lead to great enlightenment and joy.

 

I guess there's no easy answer for you. There's no easy way for you to suddenly begin to write music you like. But you will get there if you are prepared to make the effort. And it is an oh so sweet reward.

[Electricview]

Yea i guess you are right, i've been trying to write on and off for a few years now, I just allways run into problems, the vocals suck and i cant think of anything else, or the guitar is plain and ugly, or this or that....

 

You might have sounded a little bit like a fortune cookie, but your right..

[Stbean]

Ackkk!!!!!!!........your not alone. I'm am NEVER satisified. But in a way I think this is a good trait. It shows that you know there is room for improvement and that you know it sounds bad. Otherwise you wouldnt strive to be better. When I first started messing around with midi I thought I was the bomb because I didnt know any better. Now that I have more experience I realize I have a long way to go, but at least I know that. Have you ever listened to a track youve recorded long ago and said to yourself.."oh gawd that sounds horrible, how could I have thought that sounded good?" Its kindof funny.

[Brian Marshall]

ok here's my free advice. I had the same problem about 4 years ago when i really started trying to write. I felt like my stuff was too simple and tried to make it more complex, and through crap in that didnt really fit, tried writing lyrics first, tried guitar first, tried drums beats first, and it all sounded like crap. Here's what i can tell you. Keep it simple. Also remember that simple is diferent for different people. For some sitting down with the accousic is simple. For some piano, for others sequencing. I'll assume you play guitar. Sit down and try something simple, for example, play 2 chords over and over again, and sing what ever come to your mind, and just have fun with it. Love and rockets had a song called sweet F.A. and the whole song only had 2 chords in it except for the bridge. Not saying all songs should be like this, but once you have a beginning that you are happy with the rest usually just falls in to place, and the process gets easier and easier as you practice. Just go back to one of the songs you were working on, and find that one thing you like about it, and build from that. rewrite the whole thing, but filter all the crap out. I find that if i come up with melody and chord structure it is really easy to fill out the rest of the song. Anyways that is my free advice. You get what you pay for.

 

Brian

[WattsUrizen]

Brian has hit on one of the keys to good composition. Keeping it simple. Simple means accessible.

 

But simple does not mean a lack of depth. Simple really means, use a minimum of ideas. I think you already know that if you drown the listener in a torrent of different ideas, they will get lost, and stop listening. A good composer will be able to use his few ideas to get a large amount of music.