Writing better lyrics

[VGW]

All I'm saying is if you want to write songs you should learn everything you can, in whatever manner you can. KAC

 

 

Kenny, I see where you are coming from with this, but I think in some cases this might not be true. I know we are talking about lyrics, but I want to broaden this to songwriting in general. Our lead guitar player is a self taught player, with NO formal training whatsoever. He can't read music. I am the exact opposite, with a bit of theory study in college. He will come up with these licks that just break all the "rules", weird time signatures (which he doesn't know what they are), bizarre chord progressions, etc. The thing is, a lot of the stuff sounds GREAT!

 

He has been asking me to teach him some of the theory, but I am hesitant. I am afraid the more formal training might affect his creativity, and how he looks at writing. Granted, the stuff he comes up with can be really challenging to chart and write a melody over, but the bottom line is the stuff he comes up with is so interesting, it is worth the trouble.

[kennychaffin]

Kenny, I see where you are coming from with this, but I think in some cases this might not be true. I know we are talking about lyrics, but I want to broaden this to songwriting in general. Our lead guitar player is a self taught player, with NO formal training whatsoever. He can't read music. I am the exact opposite, with a bit of theory study in college. He will come up with these licks that just break all the "rules", weird time signatures (which he doesn't know what they are), bizarre chord progressions, etc. The thing is, a lot of the stuff sounds GREAT! He has been asking me to teach him some of the theory, but I am hesitant. I am afraid the more formal training might affect his creativity, and how he looks at writing. Granted, the stuff he comes up with can be really challenging to chart and write a melody over, but the bottom line is the stuff he comes up with is so interesting, it is worth the trouble.

All depends on how you "manage" it. Certainly learning theory can harm some people, I never said otherwise, but if you are aware of that and approach it with that in mind, then it should be more helpful than harmful. What many people have trouble with is separating the creative phase from the craft phase. You have to let all the rules, the blockers, go and just be creative when coming up with new ideas, but then apply the craft to the most promising (and don't overdo it ).

KAC