Tips for creating original guitar instrumentals

[cotten]

I am not an accomplished song writer, so take this with a grain of salt, as they say. I cannot divorce melody, harmonic progression, rhythm, and dynamics from one another, even in the creation phase of music. I hear it all as a whole. This means that when I write, I tend to think of the mood I'm trying to convey first, the musical "message." This dictates so much, from the tempo and dynamic range to the range and movement of the melody and even the choice of key(s).

Oh, I have written some things that started with just one of these components, but to me that feels like choosing a road without having any idea where it will take me. This can work too, of course, but my songwriting is better if I choose the destination first, then how best to get there.

cotten

[devellis]

I think it really depends on the style of music you're trying to come up with and the answers so far seem consistent with that. Noodling around in a familiar chord progression is certainly one way I've come up with some tunes (although I'm no composer by any means). Another is whistling. Sometimes, I'll toot a little riff that I think is catchy and try to stick it into either an existing tune or something new that I work up (less often). Whistling a few notes and then playing them on guitar is a good way to get your ears and hands communicating with one another in general. It's fun but can be surprisingly hard sometimes. Then, there's the tried-and-true method of swiping pieces of other tunes, changing their order, and switching them up a bit in other ways. A lot of new tunes have been created that way.

[Jambi]

Get in the creative frame of mind and jam out some riffs. It's got to be fun or you're doing it wrong. After a while some of your jams will keep resurfacing, weeding out the other things that didn't make the same impression. Record them on some little player on repeat or loop em and jam to it until a melody or some complimentary part comes. Work on playing it all at once. Sometimes you have to make compromises based on your ability but I bet it will be cool Then practice it until you can nail it perfectly. A metronome would be good for this part.

But most importantly, love it.

It's music, it's meant to be enjoyed.

[jpbat]

The number of way to do it is greater than the number of guitar music composers, so you have choices...

For me, most often there is a melody first, but not always (although I'll will always end up with a melody driven piece).
Sometimes it's already in your head and you try to reproduce it with the instrument...
Sometimes you noodle and something sparks the mind and you follow the thread...
Mistakes when you are searching for something, they are extremely useful, too.

And anything in between.

[DrGoldsmack]

Thank you all for the replies! I hope to implement as much of this advise as possible.

[Glennwillow]

Hi Jasper,

I don't actively work on writing new material. I used to, but it's a lot of work. When I do that much work, I tend to want to get paid for it () so I have let myself off the hook and worked mainly on learning other people's work that appeals to me.

But when I do come up with something, for me, it always starts with some interesting musical phrase -- essentially a hook, even if it's an instrumental hook. In the end, for me, that's what a song needs to get anyone's interest, including mine. So when I stumble onto something that makes a good hook, then I might spend the time to work on it and see where that idea takes me.

I think this is just another twist on the idea of working off a melody, which is essentially what I do. But for me, the starting melody is that hook. And that hook tends to lead to other ideas as I play with the idea to see what I can make of it.

Hope this might be helpful.

- Glenn

[The Bard Rocks]

For me, they usually start with noodling around, seeing what happens. Sometimes, nothing. Other times, I hit upon something I like and then I start fooling with it, varying it in different ways to see what I like the best. Maybe I will use a different chord than "normal", say an Am when most would use a C, or maybe I will reverse two chords. Or add a bridge. Or end on a minor chord instead of the major. Or...

Most of my songs are what some folks (not me!) call "folk" music. They are melody-focused, eminently hummable, and relatively simple. I will often change something underneath without disturbing the melody line, enough that someone listening closely will snap to and wonder what was different - but most will only sense this. My stuff sounds familiar for the most part because of it's simplicity but when you examine it, you will find a few unexpected differences. Someone who does this extremely well is Gillian Welsh. her stuff sounds so simple, and basically it is, but if you relax, going on on auto-pilot, you risk screwing it up.

On ones that feel like they need words, I will most often select the subject before beginning on the words. Once that is done, the words come fast enough and from then on its rewriting.. and rewriting.. and rewriting....

[Rudy4]

Interesting topic.

For me I usually come up with tunes without an instrument being anywhere around. The creative process of flushing out a new tune comes from internalizing a simple musical phrase, and can pretty much do this silently. As a tune progresses I hum or vocalize the phrases and build up the complete structure, working out the form (such as AABB...) and including bridges or anything else that ends up being a part of the finished piece.

If it's an appropriate situation I'll grab a guitar as things progress, but more often than not I pick up an instrument later and play the final arrangement. That's when I might change the key signature, play with syncopation, timing, tempo, phrasing, and all the other stuff that serves as icing on the cake.

Songs are usually a bit more focused, and it's usually the lyrics or idea for the song that suggests a melody. At that point it's more of a joint effort, finding lyrics that flow with the musical idea.

Tunes, at least for me, are way more complex than would be possible by writing a song and throwing out the lyrics. Besides, tunes flow much easier than if you have to create lyrics that both fit the flow of a progression AND tell a story in a cohesive way.

Here's a quick example that demonstrates coming up with the complete melody and then simply allowing the other instruments to fill in the missing parts of the puzzle.
It was written on "low mandolin" but I also do it as a solo guitar piece.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydA7JgMHlQ4

Most of the time if I'm writing a tune I simply figure out the key and flat pick the melody interspersed with the chord progression, but that's just my style.

[Toby Walker]

Whenever I create an instrumental I think about two fundamental things first; the chord progression and the melody. Once those two things are flushed out you can then add in all the extras such as harmonies, bass lines, alternate chord voicings, intervals, etc. Basically, you're laying down the home's foundation and walls before you pick out the color of the shutters.