does anyone have any good songwriting tips?

[PianoGirl4444]

^MAYBE.  But it also works the other way around.  Mediocre lyrics & amazing music.  I say if you just care about the lyrics, be a poet.

[Jophess]

^MAYBE.  But it also works the other way around.  Mediocre lyrics & amazing music.  I say if you just care about the lyrics, be a poet.

Agreed. As a musician, I'd take crappy lyrics and amazing music over the opposition. Ryou-Neko, you have said that you're a writer, so you probably care more about lyrics.

Why not both? My writing style is very spontaneous. I barely ever go into recording a song with a complete song. I'll normally have a verse or a chorus or something.

[Ryou-Neko]

No, I care about the music too. It has to fit with the song and such, and it can't just be totally bad, but the writing is just more important to me. But, Jophess, I write music too, and have recorded an album-length demo, and I just think that writing is more important. And, yes, I am a poet. I care about both, but writing moreso. And it does work the other way, if you have mediocre lyrics and brilliant music, then it can still be a good song.

[zurielshimon]

I think that's probably why I don't really care much for most country music.  So much of the time, they put all their effort into the lyrics (or sometimes, obviously no effort as all as so many songs sound like they just wrote down whatever came to mind) and then just started singing while they strum a guitar or two, and then BAM, there's your song!

But there's always the notable exception.

[Ryou-Neko]

I like the Dixie Chicks' new single, if that even counts as country. Lovely arrangement, it's a great song. Most country lyrics are pretty stupid. This journalist has a sadistic column in the back of my newspaper and she made fun of some Lee Ann Rimes song, it was hilarious. You can find the article somewhere here. When you go to the website, search for Tamara Ikenberg and it should show a list of the columns. It's a more recent one. That seems like a lot of work, but it'll be well worth it.[/url]

[vampires01]

I always have trouble with melodies/riffs. Most of the time I start off with simple chords and then go from there. It usually helps me if I try not to think about it too much, because when I do I tend to stress myself a bit. Also, don't make yourself write something. I strongly believe that a song should be something you feel, and not something you're forcing out.

If you're having trouble with lyrics, there is this exercise that I find extremely helpful when needed. You'll need a stopwatch, a piece of paper and a pencil. What you do is you write for two minutes non-stop. Just write. It doesn't matter what you write or even if it makes sense, just keep the words flowing. After your two minutes are over, reflect on what you've written and brainstorm from that. I've written my best songs doing this.

I hope that was helpful.

[MeganJane]

If you're having trouble with lyrics, there is this exercise that I find extremely helpful when needed. You'll need a stopwatch, a piece of paper and a pencil. What you do is you write for two minutes non-stop. Just write. It doesn't matter what you write or even if it makes sense, just keep the words flowing. After your two minutes are over, reflect on what you've written and brainstorm from that. I've written my best songs doing this.

I hope that was helpful.

Take it a step further: distance your conscious mind from what you are writing, if you can, so it's like you don't know what you're writing. It's called Free Association writing. Ya might have heard about it in the movie The Sixth Sense. Ooooh, spooky.

[Ryou-Neko]

You shouldn't set a time when to write. You should write when it occurs to you to write. Most good songs are spontaneous. Writing, music-wise, is different. What instruments do you play, if any?

[vampires01]

If you're having trouble with lyrics, there is this exercise that I find extremely helpful when needed. You'll need a stopwatch, a piece of paper and a pencil. What you do is you write for two minutes non-stop. Just write. It doesn't matter what you write or even if it makes sense, just keep the words flowing. After your two minutes are over, reflect on what you've written and brainstorm from that. I've written my best songs doing this.

I hope that was helpful.

Take it a step further: distance your conscious mind from what you are writing, if you can, so it's like you don't know what you're writing. It's called Free Association writing. Ya might have heard about it in the movie The Sixth Sense. Ooooh, spooky.

Very spooky, indeed.

[Ryou-Neko]

I see dead people.

But really, You shouldn't set a time when to write. You should write when it occurs to you to write. Most good lyrics are spontaneous.

[vampires01]

I see dead people.

But really, You shouldn't set a time when to write. You should write when it occurs to you to write. Most good lyrics are spontaneous.

I agree with that in some ways, but I disagree in others. I think that you should write everyday, not trying to create a masterpiece, but because it's good for you to write. I find that the more I write, the better I get at writing. I do agree that there shouldn't be a set time to write an amazing song, but I think there should be a set time to write.

If that made any sense.

[Ryou-Neko]

It made sense. =)