How do u exactly write a song...

okay so my question is...

how do you exactly put chords in your song.. i mean i already got lyrics and the rhythm but how do i put guitars on it.. do it still have a scale to follow? or you'll just going to find the chords whats best on the song...


and SECOND
how do you WRITE the LEAD AND RHYTM parts?? i mean i know how to use powerchords, octaves and palm muting.. thx :)

ps. can you kindly explain it in a newbie way :)

Hi,

First, you need to choose what the key of the song is. For example, if your chords all revolve around an ''A Major chord,'' then you are most likely in that key.

So once you have decided what the key is..you can make melodies or riffs that are in the same key as that key. These could be whatever scales are associated with that key..for example: In the key of ''A Major'' you could play these scales to make your melodies or solos-A Major Scale, A Major Pentatonic Scale, E Mixolydian Scale, etc. etc.

The melodies and scales you have in your song will be based off of the chords thatmake up the rhythm.

Writing lead and rhythm parts can be done in many different ways and methods. I would suggest writing some chord progressions and then playing scales over those progressions that are in the corresponding key. Perhaps this could get some ideas going for you. Also, you should look at the artists you like to listen to, and then try to observe how they made their music.

I would recommend checking out some books on music theory/composition in the future.

Good Luck.

what are the chords or how will you know the chords in that key?

i just downloaded scaletools.. if that would help

Check it! There are no rules in music. For the right chords what key is easy to sing in. Most stuff is in progessions. C,D,F C,D,G, E,A,D, E,A,B, F#,A,B, E,D,C, just what ever sounds good to you. It all comes down to how you sing the lyrics and play the chords and the time and placement of each.

Take a song you like. start with something that sounds fairly simple but good melody. Tab out what chords you sing over what words. If you're not ready for this find a friend, down load a tab, or buy a book.

Check out the key. See what chords they are using in the song.....
Major key I ii iii IV V vi vii* key of C is easy to start with no sharps or flats

CDEFGAB C=I, Dm=ii, Em=iii, F=IV, G=V, Am,=vii, Bm aug.=vii (I think thats right for the Bm chord)

In any case this gives you the chords that fit key of C. you'll find that I>IV>V and variations of the order of these major chords are in tons of songs.

Look up the interval between chords whole step 1/2 step for major minor keys and you can figure out what chords are used in any key.

Hope that helps and not completely confusing.

S

just go with what sounds right...if your gettin confused by theory..use sounds u feel comfortable with, just muck round with chords or notes or riffs or wotever u feel....i find it easier writing a riff then workin on the vocal melody...the beauty of songwriting is that there are absolutely no rules

Grab yourself Guitar Tricks "full access" for a month for $5 or whatever. I wrote a whole bunch of tutorials on songwriting in my lesson section, basically going step by step throught the process of writing a song. There's a whole bunch of different ways of writing songs, but I came up with a standard way of doing one from scratch even when you have no ideas to work with.

Basically, when I've got writers block, I randomly pick a BPM to write the song in.
(mainly cause I've got gigs of loops on my HD at different speeds, so I just pick one to work with).
Then I do a search for say '120BPM'. I get a hit of about 200 or so loops that I import into my Cubase recording software. Then I spend some time sorting them into a song format like intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus chorus, bridge, chorus, fade, end... (you do this by just using common sense by listending to the way the drum files are playing... some loop packages even sort them out for you.)

Then you grab your guitar and just start improvising to the drum trax.
You record several takes of different ideas, then kinda splice together the best ones.
Then you start adding the rest of the instruments..
Consider your first attempts as draft versions... just play whatever comes to mind.
When you finish the song, mumble a lead vocal over top of it using nonsense words. (meantime the song is already starting to form in your mind)

Then you go back and replace all the scratch recordings with performance level recordings... perfecting everything including replacing things with better snare samples or even using a real set. (the drumcorps snares at the end of the song were done with my fingers on a snare and recorded about a dozen times, then mixed down to stereo)

You write the lyrics based on what you were mumbling and try to come up with something that makes sense. If you get lucky you come up with something profound.

Then you set the song aside for awhile and come back to it later with fresh ears. Fix any parts that make you uncomfortable and edit down anything that doesn't make the song flow.

Last but not least, do a final vocal.
Then mix it and master it. (use something like t-Racks)

Overall, if you really want to do a decent recording figure on spending several weeks or even months working on it.

I posted a bunch of diary entries on some earlier songs I wrote if it'll help any.

For instance:

Going Home
http://s93744050.onlinehome.us/mp3/GoingHome.192.mp3

* best thing to do is listen with headphones nice and loud, so you can hear what's happening stereo wise...
The whole thing was done on a Mac G3 using Cubase, and basic instruments plugged direct into the audio input. The overdrive on the guitar and feedback was done using the computer speakers.

... here's the diary notes for it...

http://s93744050.onlinehome.us/SchmangeOnline/goinhomelog.htm

That was like, the second song I ever recorded on multitrack so it'll give you a good idea of the hassles I went through.

Then there's this one:

http://s93744050.onlinehome.us/mp3/NeonLies.mp3

Here's the log for it. This is the song from hell that took me two months of work.

http://s93744050.onlinehome.us/SchmangeOnline/neonlieslognew.htm


If you subscribe to full access, it takes your through the whole process with diagrams, screen shots, mp3's and other stuff.

Hope that helps!

to make it simple: pick one chord.... say Am. pick a second chord...say Gm. pick a third chord....say Fm. Put them together and what have you got? Nothing! Basically, you have to trust your ear. pick the chords that sound right to you. pick the progressions that sound right. record it and see how it sounds. i dont need to tell you that things sound different when you record them or that what sounds good to you may sound like crap to someone else.
Start out as simple as possible and add on as you go along. Usually the first chord you play is the key of the song. but again, play what sounds right to you.

Originally Posted by: armGETaTITonokay so my question is...

how do you exactly put chords in your song.. i mean i already got lyrics and the rhythm but how do i put guitars on it.. do it still have a scale to follow? or you'll just going to find the chords whats best on the song...


and SECOND
how do you WRITE the LEAD AND RHYTM parts?? i mean i know how to use powerchords, octaves and palm muting.. thx :)

ps. can you kindly explain it in a newbie way :)

As you may have read from others, song writing, lyrics and so forth can be done a thousand ways and thank god other wise we would have to listen to the same song, tune, melody etc over and over again. Fortuneately and because there are many ways to write songs, we now have rap, rock, country, folk, blues, jazz, and on it goes.
My thoughts about writing songs are simply to find a starting point. Do you get the tune first and write the words?, or write the words and then find the tune to go with it?, or do you simply make it instrumental.

I always start with basic lyrics and chase it from there. For instance, if you take any song that is considered a good one, you will find it has a theme. The theme can be anything such love, peace, war, happiness, loneliness, selfishness, sharing, waiting, wanting, dreaming, falling, losing, winning, living, losing, finding, searching, caring, giving, taking etc.
Ask yourself, what is the theme that runs through a song such as message in a bottle by the police. It's an everyday concept that the band pursued to it's final form though they could have taken it anywhere or written it in many different ways.

Start with an everyday word or phrase and play with it until you have a story and whether it rhyms or not doesn't matter though I think it helps if it has poetic structures in it that help the reader to visualise the story in their heads and or it connects to them in a way that they are familiar. One of our contributors to this forum recently wrote about the loss of his child which is really sad for him and his partner but I recall that Eric Clapton lost his son and turned his grief into a song, "tears in heaven". What he wrote was about a personal experince but at the same time, he wrote about loss which is an everyday happening and he wrote it in such a way that we all understood his pain. In his song he reflected on issues that we can understand. He could have written it a dozen different ways but chose to write it the way he did because that is how he perceived his world.
Take this poem for instance which I wrote some time ago and was published so there is copy right on it. See how you would write about the same thing in as many words or lines. You can see that this is a story about lost love and the painful way in which it was lost and though a short story it conveyes a lot of sentiment in its words. You can write the same story but your way.

Her goodbye was spiteful
yet a relief when it came
The pain of our empty home was more than I could bare
But lessened because she wasn't there.

Perhaps this would make a good song if put together with the right music which again will depend on how one wants to express such sentiment
Hard Rock, Folk, Rap, Jazz, who knows. All I'm saying is to take a thought, play with it and visualise what it means to you so that you can write about it and when that is done, how would you sing about it. When that is done, you can play with a few chords to get it moving and don't be affraid to ask someone for help until you get the knack of how it all goes together.
Best of luck
TC

Ok It's not that difficult once you get going so here's a tip.

For Songs with vocals Sit at a keyboard or with a note pad and pen with a coffee and sweat. The hardest part is that first line. A good idea would be to carry a note pad with you everywhere incase you get inspred.

Once you have your vocals sit with them and a pencil ( so you can erase mistakes) And decide on the key. Lets take E major as an easy one.

Basic three chords E,A,B ( additional chords D,C, F, ) oddly these additional chords do work and can be used to change key or add an interesting bridge to the solo.

With your key and chords written down look at the first line and play only the e chord and sing along that line. Here's where the magic happens doing this will instinctively give you the chord progression and the song will take shape.

For the chorus try using the alternate chords to see what that does, you'll get a surprise.

Definitely use the additional chords in the bridge it's a great way to lead in to a solo.

OK HERE'S AN IMPORTANT BIT.

THE STYLE OF THE WRITING WILL DICTATE THE SONG. BALLADS ARE SLOW ROCKERS ARE QUICK SO CONCIDER THE STYLE OF WRITING.

To create a solo just play what's in your heart. Guitar playing isn't only technique it's more to do with the soul. You could be the fastest guitarist in the world but without soul then your just fast. The solo will come out of the song so let that be the lest of your worries.

post solo

Ok from here you could go in to a chorus repetition and add an extra solo through it after the fist chorus or you could add an extra verse and a final chorus musical preamble such as a quiet bit of arpegio style plucking etc then in to final chorus to end.

If you listen to a lot of your fave music you can get construction ideas from that.

Hope this helps

Rod


Oh for vocal less music do the same as above start with a chord progression and go from there the tune is the vocal line.

Originally Posted by: armGETaTITonokay so my question is...

how do you exactly put chords in your song.. i mean i already got lyrics and the rhythm but how do i put guitars on it.. do it still have a scale to follow? or you'll just going to find the chords whats best on the song...


and SECOND
how do you WRITE the LEAD AND RHYTM parts?? i mean i know how to use powerchords, octaves and palm muting.. thx :)

ps. can you kindly explain it in a newbie way :)

ok so we both have opposite problems(if u haven't fixed yours)u can write lyrics
and i can write riffs.maybe we can help each other.when u get the chance p.m me and i can help u and u can help me :D