Jump to content

What is a good book on how to write music?


Acooljt

Recommended Posts

  • Members

I'm sure this has been covered ad nauseum, but I want to be specific in that I don't want to write pop music or country music. I am big into prog rock/metal because of its diversity so I'm looking for something that is expansive on things like when it is appropriate to deviate from the notes in the key, etc. We've all seen the crap on how to wrote the next big pop hit or country song or whatever, but that's not my goal. I'd rather recreate Dream Theater's A Change of Seasons than Taylor Swift's latest abomination, even if it attracts fewer listeners. I've read a lot of music theory books, but they don't tend to go into applying that knowledge (at least the ones I have).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I don't have a recommended book (I apologize for that). The thing that makes progressive rock...well, progressive, is that there are no rules to follow. The bands that did it well, did it by NOT following the norm. I'm not saying they purposely "broke" the theory rules, but they just didn't feel like they HAD to always conform. It was more about what sounded and felt right, not what theory says should probably happen. They added bars of 7/8 time signature where no one would expect it. They changed the key when it felt right, not when the rules said it was okay. They played a minor chord when the key called for a major chord, etc. Metal, in essence, is about abandoning the rules as well and being Mr. Badass and doing what you want (just louder, more distortion and more of an appeal to have a certain image).

 

I'm not sure you will find a good book about the subject. Even if you do, it's probably going to lead to some watered-down dribble that sounds like it could have been generated by a computer, not a human taking chances. And lastly, I would think that some of the coolest and most unique sounding stuff, was very possibly a screw up to begin with!

 

Sorry for posting "opinion" and not actually what you were asking. Good luck with you music endeavor.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Nah, thank you for contributing. I agree with everything you said. Unfortunately, my ear is TERRIBLE. I've been playing music for 19 years and my ear has learned almost nothing. I'm not tone deaf, I can identify when my guitar is out of tune and the like, but I have trouble distinguishing intervals based solely on ear. I was doing an ear training exercise the other day with just minor 2nd and major 2nd intervals. While I could identify it at one position, when the root changed, I got it wrong. And then you add the difficult of descending intervals and my ear is pretty much useless.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

For jazz players it's about learning the standards and gaining some understanding of how of how the different bits fit together.

 

For 'progressive rock' I would suggest...

 

41vb481amWL.jpg

 

When I was learning, I slowed Deep Purple records down to half speed and analyzed the bits the guitarist played and how those bits fit over what the rest of the band was doing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I'm not sure there is a good book on song writing, on any style. I've read more than my fair share. Mostly on writing good lyrics, and I know that's not what you want to do.

 

Sometimes a cool lil drum machine gets things rolling, but what ever you do to get your creative juices flowing write it down, tab it out or record it. You forget it otherwise, as fast as you did it.

 

Start writing every day, for at least and hour or more, if you can devote more to it things will happen. You don't need to do it all in one session, break it it through out the day and let you mind refresh.

 

 

Good luck, it can be a lot of fun, and some days, or weeks it can be frustrating as all hell.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

That's my problem. I can't make it sound on the guitar like it sounds in my head, my ear doesn't know what the hell it's doing, haha. That's why most of my musical life, I've relied on the notes in a particular key or scale to guide me, but that's only got me so far. I never really leave those 7 notes out of fear that it will sound wrong because what sounds right to me probably doesn't sound right tomost people.

 

Oh, and in case you hadn't guessed, I'm very critical of myself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

A couple of other things that may help with what you've said in your posts...

 

Do you sing? I'm a terrible singer, but I have been putting some effort into trying to get better. For me, I'm NOT going to be the singer, but I have to get the vocals good enough in a demo so that my collaborator knows where I'm trying to go. I have noticed that since I've been working on singing, my ear for picking out guitar parts, keyboard parts, etc. has gotten better (at least I think so).

 

The second thing I offer is record everything you make up. You may come up with a really neat part with the assumption that you'll remember it the next day. Heh, I've lost some good stuff by relying on my brain.

 

When I compose a song, rarely (maybe never) does the final product turn out as I initially heard it in my head. To be honest, one of my favorite guitar solos that I recorded was totally spontaneous. Hell, I can't even recreate it exactly. I totally updated all the guitar parts for that song, but I kept that old solo track because it just has some jive to it that I wasn't able to totally re-create. Again, record everything!

 

Dan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I do not sing (except in the car). Years ago I used to sing in a band but only because no one else would. It was pretty awful. I've always wanted to sing but it's always sounded harsh.

 

And I agree on recording everything, I need to save up for an interface, that way I can create a library of recordings and label each. I used to tab everything but that doesn't show rhythms. I've written some stuff only to come back to it a year later and not remember how the rhythm of the notes go. While I could write it on a staff, I think that would probably waste too much time trying to figure out all the different time signature changes and everything since I tend to write a lot of progressive music.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Acooljt -

 

From what you've said so far, it sounds like you need to sort some things out.

 

First, music is music. Being angry or annoyed at, say, a Taylor Swift (and I say this without knowing what she sounds like) shouldn't be your concern. Whether music is progressive or old-time or commercial or unmarketable is also unimportant. You're creating an imaginary box. Don't try thinking outside the box. There is no box - except the box you've created in your head.

 

Likewise, don't be concerned with how good your "TERRIBLE" ear is compared to, say, a struggling Berklee student. Or Winton Marsalis. You are who you are. Nothing will change that - thank God. You can't dial in aptitude. You can only build on what's there - your own raw material. Thank your lucky stars for whatever talent you do have, and use it. Quit bemoaning the talent you don't have! If you want to sharpen your ear, sing along with recordings you like. It's cheap, easy, and effective.

 

And finally, from the sound of it, the last thing you really want is a how-to cookbook. Do you? You abhor commercial drek, and books on songwriting - even the ones that pretend otherwise - prey on people who desperately crave a hit - a hit that the book will never deliver. I'd love to write a hit, too, it's a favorite fantasy of mine. But I know damn well no book will write a song for me - or sell it.

 

The way most people learn to write songs is by learning other people's songs. Internalizing them. Dissecting them. Good song writers are sponges for other people's material. It's just like those art students you see in museums copying the paintings hanging there. They're not trying to be original, and they're not trying to forge masterpieces. They're just learning the nuts and bolts of making art. Musicians do the same thing.

 

And the way most people get their songs out there is by playing with other people - publicly, privately, for money, for free. A song is successful not because it's good, but because it's good and people get a chance to hear it and decide it's good. My friends like some of my songs. Does that make them good songs? Who knows? Who cares? Does that make them successful songs? No! Because hardly anyone has ever heard them.

 

So answer these questions:

 

- Do you want to write songs for yourself or for others - and if it's for others, then for whom? Not Taylor Swift fans, obviously!

 

- Do you really have the time it takes to advance your craft? Few do. Lord knows, I don't, so I just make music because I like to.

 

- Is your real goal to make music or to "be a musician"? I have a friend who wants to be a musician. He doesn't practice. He just carries around a guitar and hangs around with musicians. Which at least makes him happy - sort of. If you want to make music, make it. If you want the cachet of being a musician but aren't interested in doing the work to become one, the best you can become is a convincing phony. The fact that you're here asking questions (even though you're resisting a lot of the advice you're getting) suggests that you really might want to make music.

 

Stephen King says the amateur waits for inspiration, the pro gets up in the morning and gets to work. It doesn't really matter how you make music. What matters is making music. Learn by doing. And doing. And doing. And doing.

 

Del

www.thefullertons.net

( •)—:::

 

-----------------------------

 

PS - Reading back over that, I realize that I sound pedantic and curmudgeony. All I'm really saying is: Be realistic. There's no "right way" to write a song or perform it. It's something you have to find out for yourself, through trial and error and paying attention.

 

Some do it because it's fun, some because someone told them to, some because they're driven - by angels, demons, the Ghost of Christmas past, or the tooth fairy. The why doesn't really matter. Just keep at it. Really. If you like what you come up with, that's its own reward. If you don't, let that be the fuel to make you try again.

 

As far as I know, we're only issued one life. Let's use it doing the things that matter to us!

 

And here's a bonus for reading all this curmugeony drek: a song by a solid song writer that says more than any book can about success:

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Yes, I'm piping up again. But I think this could be useful information.

 

I have a "guitar" tablature program called TUX Guitar. It's a free download (kind of the freeware version of Guitar Pro, if you will). I just got done tabbing out a Styx song called "Nothing Ever Goes As Planned". I tried to tab out everything (except the vocals). I discovered much more going on that what I initially thought. There are several guitar parts, bass, keyboards, drums, a horn section, and a couple of different sax parts. This was VERY time consuming and really, there was no real goal in mind except that I enjoy the song immensely and wanted to see what all went into making the song.

 

When I first started 3-4 days ago, I had the bass line from another tab I found on one of the popular tab sites, so that was my starting point. I broke it into sections, did all the instruments for the intro, then the verse, then the chorus, etc, until I got done. Going through the process, I noticed that my ear couldn't pick out all the parts at first, but as I got more involved, the individual instruments started "popping out" in the mix. Now that I'm done, I have a fairly decent and complete tab for this song...but...what I gained more, was the insight of what went into making it sound the way it does, plus the added confidence that I could figure out all the parts, reasonably accurate. It may not be 100% perfect, but it's pretty damn good and I'm just that much better for it.

 

With that being said, find a song you really like and try to break it down...figure out ALL the parts as accurately as possible. The TUX program allows you to add all the instruments with the correct (reasonably..they are General MIDI) sounds. Harmony parts are especially challenging to me, but your ear will get better and your mind will start to realize what all went into making the song sound the way it does, and you'll just get better. Yes, it's a LOT of work and it may take a big chunk of time, but it could be of great benefit if you put the time into it.

 

Sorry for being long-winded, but I thought this could be helpful.

 

Dan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
. . . find a song you really like and try to break it down . . . .

Dan

 

Yup. This is an excercise some friends who went to Berklee had to do with jazz arrangements. They'd figure out entire big band tunes by ear and write it all out.

 

They didn't use computer programs, but the result is was same.

 

If you don't want to delve that deeply (I wouldn't!), then delve shallowly into learning or figuring out other people's songs. The important thing, as Dan says, is: do it with songs you like.

 

And write out the words, too, and see what you notice. The more you do study other people's words and music, the more you'll learn about how to write it yourself.

 

Del

www.thefullertons.net

( •)—:::

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Another idea: Since you're not trying to create pop music sounds, how about experimenting with alternate tunings? You can find them online, and there are books that have lots of them. Or you can just make up your own - lots of folks do that.

 

Keith Richards likes playing a five-string Tele in open G. Robert Fripp uses some crazy combination that's really taken him places. I don't know that Dave Matthews ever uses standard tuning. Richard Thompson is a DADGAD god. Even pop stars (blechh!) do it: It seems like Joni Mitchell has a different tuning for every song.

 

​Most tunings probably won't appeal to you, but there are bound to be one or two or three that catch your interest. Worth a try?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...