My songwriting methods are weirdly funny

[Andrew Milner]

So I just realized that I don't really post too much stuff about what I do here, aside from music theory threads which I see Ids and Lindsey read religiously. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for being my greatest fans around here . I've also received compliments from other people as well, don't think I ain't grateful for you as well.

It just occurred to me that my songwriting methods are...weird . I'm not talking lyrics here, I'm talking actual songs. I mean yeah, riffs are easy enough to lay down once you get the hang of how you should juggle around with your rhythmic motifs. But when it comes to lead guitar or instruments? That's another story.

So I can't for the life of me produce a quality guitar solo on my guitar. I always get stuck in the same pentatonic box over and over. But since I wanted to finish the lead parts for my instrumental EP, which unlike Sigil, I hope to release sooner rather than later, I took a new approach. I just sat in front of my computer, opened Guitar Pro, and let my imagination run wild. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I managed to put out the most creative stuff ever . The only thing I need to do now is learning how to play it so I can record it.

A friend of mine, the one I go to sing with, said that he knows the feeling too. And it's because you hear the melody in your head and it's way easier for it to come out when you sit down and write it, rather than try to play it. And I kinda agree with this sort-of-explanation. And to be fair, in recent times, the only time I managed to piece together a song from start to finish was my So Far Away cover. But then again, I know that song by heart and transposing it to the piano was easy enough. And I still believe The Rev was giving me some sort of hints to make it so that I could put it on YouTube on the 28th of December.

But I digress. Do any of you experience this kind of stuff?

 

[Lindsey]

Weird method?
I must be the master of weird than!

I do play it on guitar first and write it down in a guitarpro program. (I use Tux.) It's nicely organised that way, it makes it easier to see the song structure and add other instruments. Especially if you use midi files or want to play along with the sheet. Also, I forget about it after a while if I don't write it down. If I make a drumtrack I use that program too and export the midi file, import it in Reaper and use a drum plugin if I ever record the song. So far my songs only have the rhythmic guitar part yet, I should dust of my keyboard someday..

 

[Edward John]

Weird song writing method, huh, ask Jimmy Page, guy smoked a few then went into an abandoned corridor in the country in England and put down some of the best solo's of all time.

 

[Calvin Phillips]

I wrote my first 10 songs on guitar pro.

I also rewrote all those songs again after realize none of them fit a scale. So I rewrote parts to match others. Sure itll.help you write but you may wanna choose the guitsr route instead. Itll get easier to write solo i promise. You just need.to do it.

 

[Andrew Milner]

@Calvin Phillips yeah, I know I do . I am confident it will get better in time though. As for Jimmy Page and the like, I prefer to stay sober while doing stuff most of the time. Though some good ideas have sprung to mind when I was in college and I went out with friends for a few beers.

 

[idssdi]

Weird song writing method, huh, ask Jimmy Page, guy smoked a few then went into an abandoned corridor in the country in England and put down some of the best solo's of all time.

That's a really a myth, Jimmy page only started doing drugs heavily later on. Like more towards the end of Zeppelin, same counts for John Bonham. During I-IV he wasn't that indulged in drugs.

 

[idssdi]

I never wrote in guitar pro, I did use it as a notation tool though. I always used to write my solos by putting the chords and drums in and improvise over it until I found something I like.

 

[Edward John]

That's a really a myth, Jimmy page only started doing drugs heavily later on. Like more towards the end of Zeppelin, same counts for John Bonham. During I-IV he wasn't that indulged in drugs.

Jimmy never got into the hard stuff till later, right, but he was known to have the occasional joint.

 

[Calvin Phillips]

@Calvin Phillips yeah, I know I do . I am confident it will get better in time though. As for Jimmy Page and the like, I prefer to stay sober while doing stuff most of the time. Though some good ideas have sprung to mind when I was in college and I went out with friends for a few beers.

You are 100 % right. You only get better by doing it. I've been writing music consistently for 2 years now and they are coming together much easier now and I find they are more complex without sounding complex. The structure has immensely improved.

 

[Andrew Milner]

You are 100 % right. You only get better by doing it. I've been writing music consistently for 2 years now and they are coming together much easier now and I find they are more complex without sounding complex. The structure has immensely improved.

Yeah, it's really cool how you are able to improve your song structure with enough exercise. I've been down the rabbit hole of not writing songs that fit to a scale. Sometimes it worked, sometimes no. That's when I started studying songwriting and actually applying all the music theory I had amassed over the years.

 

[Firsty Lasty]

I have heard a lot of guitarists say they use guitarpro to help write.

 

[Dominik Gräber]

So I have never approached songwriting to Date, but I did get a little into improvising (it's more jamming really) but what I try to do when getting stuck in a pentatonic Box is really thinking about runs, licks, ways to Play that I learned by Other Artists. Let's throw a 3 notes per String Run in, Syn Etudes Style. But then Go Back and forth between Strings Like in that Bullet solo you learned. Throw in bends between the pentatonic licks or do some legato stuff. Don't be afraid to Play notes twice.

So Long Story short, really thinking about Other Things you learned and applying them can make for some fun and creative jamming. Can't promise If a good solo comes Out though xD