how do u write music

[vismund624]

im talkin bass players in bands. Do you pick up a guitar and start there or do u try to find a riff that works on bass and sing along. how do u guys do it?

[hi.flyer]

i write on guitar, piano, and bass. in that order. decreasing from most to least often.

[catphish]

All different ways....lately the most common seems to be getting a melody in my head (usually at very random times which requires me to use the voice recorder on my phone to remember) then figuring it out on a keyboard or guitar and then figuring out what the chords are that go around it.

 

Other times though, it's a catchy bass line, or chord progression that I build off of.

 

Othertime the lyrics almost create a melody of their own and I go from there.

[bnyswonger]

I draw a picture of it....then photograph it in a mirror.

[DevilRaysFan]

I usually come up with a melody line in my head in the oddest places - like driving in my car - and start writing the arrangement in my head. I must look like an ass when this happens while driving: "Look, Mommy, that man in that car is bopping up and down talking to himself...." :D

[ThudMaker]

I usually come up with a melody line in my head in the oddest places - like driving in my car - and start writing the arrangement in my head. I must look like an ass when this happens while driving: "Look, Mommy, that man in that car is bopping up and down talking to himself...." :D

I'm disappointed in you, DRF. You should expect, "Look, Mommy, that very sexy man in that car is bopping up and down talking to himself....";)

[Death Hands]

I've done very few jams and such, but I usually just make sure I've got the beat and key, and work my way from roots to walks to embellished bull{censored}.

[DevilRaysFan]

I'm disappointed in you, DRF. You should expect, "Look, Mommy, that very sexy man in that car is bopping up and down talking to himself....";)

 

 

Somehow, if that person is using "Mommy" in a sentence, I don't think that I want them to view me as sexy.....

[zachoff]

Man, depends. Sometimes I'll hear a drum beat and go, sometimes I'll play a melody and like it and go, sometimes I'll think of lyrics and try to put a melody around it, and sometimes I'll hear something in my head and try to play it. Totally depends.

[guitargod0dmw]

I usually come up with a melody line in my head in the oddest places - like driving in my car - and start writing the arrangement in my head. I must look like an ass when this happens while driving: "Look, Mommy, that man in that car is bopping up and down talking to himself...." :D

 

That's how I do it...

 

In my band, we'll jam out on different riffs to see what works, then try to put something together. It's a long process for sure...

[Bob O'Brian]

 

i write on guitar, piano, and bass. in that order. decreasing from most to least often.

 

 

+1

[X the Dead Pawn]

Well... I don't know if you'll listen still I'm still a beginner. But, I find it easier to pop in a cd and listen close for the bassline in a song I like or I'm drawn to.

Then I learn to play it. WAIT!

Then I try and play it with a couple changes like a fret down or two then I try different pick gauges and see if it sounds right.

 

I know this will proably get me ridiculed but, that's how I write basslines. So far I only have two.

[DevilRaysFan]

 

Well... I don't know if you'll listen still I'm still a beginner. But, I find it easier to pop in a cd and listen close for the bassline in a song I like or I'm drawn to. Then I learn to play it. WAIT! Then I try and play it with a couple changes like a fret down or two then I try different pick gauges and see if it sounds right. I know this will proably get me ridiculed but, that's how I write basslines. So far I only have two.

 

 

No redicule at all, my friend. There's actually a logic to it...Another example can be reversal: I always said that a good catchy song forwards can be a good catchy song backwards. I guess if you play "Sweet Home Alabama" backwards one would hear "The Joker" by Steve Miller Band

[sunburstbasser]

Usually, I get an idea of some kind for a story. Rather than writing a story, I make it into lyrics. Then, its just a matter of throwing the lyrics into a melody and coming up with a good groove.

 

Of course, most of my lyrics are a little off the wall. For instance, this next set is supposed to be set to a cheesey Johnny Cash style accompaniment.

 

Don

[Gruntollio Bass]

I write on both Bass and Guitar but it depends on whats going on in my head.

 

If I want a real fast metal song with big guitars, I riff around on the geetar with siome real ball-tearing chunky distortion and come up with some cool stuff.

If I want a song that has cool bass licks and intricate "spider" riffs, then I pick up my bass and start working out bits that sound kinda cool but not like something I've heard before.

[randomhero2006]

I'm not in a band, but everything I write is for a project I'll be recording. I always tend to write guitars out on paper with bass, and then take it from there.

[baracuda2004]

if i have a nice guitar line then it starts there.. if I have a nice bass line then it starts there.. if i find a good drum beat then it starts there.

[SpaceGhost]

I work inwards -> out. I start out with bass but keep chord changes in mind.

 

Because I have a key and know what tones I have to work with, I'll write the rest on piano with the bass line in mind.

[Captain Fathead]

It depends... The last original band I was a member in, we'd get together and jam, and songs would emerge from that. If I wasn't satisfied with my lines, I'd go back to my room and work out something that I was more satisfied with.

 

I did some work sitting in with a couple of bands. They'd send me a rough track with something, and I'd write a line in my head, then figure it out when I had a bass in my hands.

[T. Alan Smith]

 

im talkin bass players in bands. Do you pick up a guitar and start there or do u try to find a riff that works on bass and sing along. how do u guys do it?

 

 

I just jam with myself. Check my sig.

[BrutalTechnical]

I usually either pickup a guitar and write a riff, record it, listne to it, change it, then do those steps again, then when I find the riff sufficant, I then do those steps with the bass. Though usually in a bdn environemnt I sit down with the principle writer, usally the lead guitarist, but also on occasion rythm guitarist. Then we just sit there and make a song.

[Carvinstein]

I write with the bass. I usually start with an existing song(someone else's; I used The Ramones tune "She's A Sensation" when I wrote "The Road Looks Different", this process is called ghost riding. The end product comes out sounding different and becomes your own as you tweak the tune to fit your lyrics. What The Ramones wrote and what I ended up with sound nothing alike. Other times I start with just the lyrics and find the best I, IV, V that works best. My last tune used a I ii IV V. I let the guitarist in the band work out whether the chord is an augmented, demented, or fractured.