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  #16  
Old 03-11-2019, 09:55 PM
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rick-slo rick-slo is offline
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An extended musical phrase (or small section played before you do a repeat or move on to something else) often runs about 15 to 30 seconds. Try not to repeat it over
and over with little or no variation, not add any other sections and then think you can run to the bank with it. Put more effort and time into composing. Let those effort
stew around a while before serving.
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  #17  
Old 03-12-2019, 04:35 AM
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Originally Posted by rick-slo View Post
An extended musical phrase (or small section played before you do a repeat or move on to something else) often runs about 15 to 30 seconds. Try not to repeat it over
and over with little or no variation, not add any other sections and then think you can run to the bank with it. Put more effort and time into composing. Let those effort
stew around a while before serving.
Thanks. It's probably best I work at it and don't keep imposing my garbage on everyone.
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  #18  
Old 03-12-2019, 03:26 PM
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I enjoy writing songs - some I have written are pretty darn good and others are less than average at best....it’s weird - it comes in spurts and I can go days working on lyrics and patterns and come up with nothing - and the last couple I have written were done completely in about an hour or so and they are darn good - I can’t figure it out....I have also found that keeping it simple with both melodies / chords and lyrics makes a world of difference....I have also found that it’s best to take notes during the day when a song phrase or thought pops in your head....write it down and keep it for the next time you sit down to write...

Don’t stop writing and don’t get frustrated....even the best will tell you how frustrating it can be....bottom line is that if you have a guitar in your hands and you are trying to create something new, that is a really, really good thing in my book...

:-))
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  #19  
Old 03-12-2019, 05:50 PM
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Literally all of the music I write is a result of happenstance. In other words, I don't attempt to write songs anymore. Melodies evolve over a period of time from excursions around the fret board. They kind of develop autonomously. I tend to develop them without a thought to record them. My reason is because I don't want to capture anything. I would rather keep it alive, fluid and influencing my further development as a player. If I intentionally dedicate a particular melody to a song, or instrumental recording, then that melody is forever locked down and cannot be a part of the larger picture. I know me. Once I record something I write I'll never play it again. That might sound weird but that's me.
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  #20  
Old 03-13-2019, 09:19 PM
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Originally Posted by blews View Post
I enjoy writing songs - some I have written are pretty darn good and others are less than average at best....it’s weird - it comes in spurts and I can go days working on lyrics and patterns and come up with nothing - and the last couple I have written were done completely in about an hour or so and they are darn good - I can’t figure it out....I have also found that keeping it simple with both melodies / chords and lyrics makes a world of difference....I have also found that it’s best to take notes during the day when a song phrase or thought pops in your head....write it down and keep it for the next time you sit down to write...

Don’t stop writing and don’t get frustrated....even the best will tell you how frustrating it can be....bottom line is that if you have a guitar in your hands and you are trying to create something new, that is a really, really good thing in my book...

:-))
Thanks. Some of my tunes have a hint of being good, but I don't know how to develop my ideas fully. Like Rick pointed out I tend to push things "out the door" too soon. I'm going to keep at it though and try to concentrate on composing music from a listeners point of view.
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  #21  
Old 03-14-2019, 10:44 AM
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Thanks. Some of my tunes have a hint of being good, but I don't know how to develop my ideas fully. Like Rick pointed out I tend to push things "out the door" too soon. I'm going to keep at it though and try to concentrate on composing music from a listeners point of view.
This is a double edge sword. "All things being equal" on the one hand the more songs you finnish and then move on to write another the more actual practice you will get and hopefully the better you will become at it.
That said the better you get, the more you should be able to critique your own songs and improve them while writing .

And lastly especially with digital technology you can always revisit and rewrite or duplicate the original raw files and then try find a new, different/and or improved version. I have rewritten several , a few even a couple years later .
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  #22  
Old 03-14-2019, 11:37 AM
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And lastly especially with digital technology you can always revisit and rewrite or duplicate the original raw files and then try find a new, different/and or improved version. I have rewritten several , a few even a couple years later .
Just don't be like my old bandmate. We'd be playing a song we'd been doing for years, and out of the blue he'd starting singing or playing something different. In the middle of a performance.

"What the heck were you doing?!"

"Well, I just got tired of that part and didn't like it any more."
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  #23  
Old 03-14-2019, 12:22 PM
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Just don't be like my old bandmate. We'd be playing a song we'd been doing for years, and out of the blue he'd starting singing or playing something different. In the middle of a performance.

"What the heck were you doing?!"

"Well, I just got tired of that part and didn't like it any more."
Ha! yes that would be a bit disconcerting
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  #24  
Old 03-15-2019, 05:42 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KevWind View Post
This is a double edge sword. "All things being equal" on the one hand the more songs you finnish and then move on to write another the more actual practice you will get and hopefully the better you will become at it.
That said the better you get, the more you should be able to critique your own songs and improve them while writing .

And lastly especially with digital technology you can always revisit and rewrite or duplicate the original raw files and then try find a new, different/and or improved version. I have rewritten several , a few even a couple years later .
Ever know a person that decides that they can sing, but they really can't? It's as though they can't hear themselves as others hear them. Yet, they insist on singing the loudest and with a bravado and smugness that implies "Aren't I good?"

That's a problem.

I have the ability to record music and the means to upload and share what I do on the internet. Just because you can do something though, doesn't mean you should,

I think I was falling into that category.
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  #25  
Old 04-11-2019, 09:02 AM
DaveKell DaveKell is offline
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Two years ago an old guy introduced himself to me at a craft fair I was set up at. He saw a Guitar Room interior decor sign I hand lettered and asked if I played guitar. He invited me to a weekly jam he held in a nearby restaurant. I was one of the young'uns there at age 64. Several of the folks were in their 80's, and this being Texas, the repertoire was ancient country gold. A few months later the jam leader said he wished someone would try writing some new songs for us to learn instead of the old stuff we were constantly rehashing. I took up the challenge and began bringing an average of one new song each week. I was surprised at the reception they got as I was after all in the presence of bonafide country music experts. I began referring to my songs as "ones they forgot to write 50 years ago".

I set up a rudimentary computer based recording studio in my sign painting shop and began sending raw recordings of my songs to an old friend in Nashville. My buddy was a retired very successful songwriter. His songs had been recorded by Garth Brooks, John Denver, Charlie Pride, Dianna Ross and many others. I was blown away by the praise he heaped on my work. He's been coaching me on how to eventually score one being cut.

I majored in comparative literature many years ago at Indiana University. I always aced my composition classes and I guess I'm finally getting some use out of the writing instruction. I've written songs that have taken from 10 minutes to a few hours. I get feedback on them from a weekly songwriter circle as well as the jam. I'm entirely obsessed with it, it's as necessary to me now as breathing. I even have dreams about it. At my age I harbor no illusions of commercial success with the pursuit. For now I'm content with occasionally having a request at the jam to do a song somebody remembered from weeks past. I listen intently to feedback from others to improve a song. After all, nobody but me knows what was in my mind when I wrote it and what I might be assuming everybody knows about the meaning. I find this approach keeps me growing with the pursuit.

Last edited by DaveKell; 04-11-2019 at 09:04 AM. Reason: sp
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  #26  
Old 04-14-2019, 07:07 AM
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Thanks. It's probably best I work at it and don't keep imposing my garbage on everyone.
Nah, I changed my mind. I'll keep torturing everyone
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  #27  
Old 04-14-2019, 07:17 AM
Nymuso Nymuso is offline
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  #28  
Old 04-15-2019, 03:56 PM
Laughingboy68 Laughingboy68 is offline
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I write mostly for myself. I will play my songs at a gig, but usually restrict it to one or two a set. I usually wait for inspiration to fall in my lap. It usually comes with a comment from someone that gets my ear up - “hey, that should be a song”. Then I take one of the harmonic ideas that I’ve been throwing around and mold it to fit the idea.

My wife is a teacher. There is a classroom management technique that primary teachers sometimes use to promote good behavior; it involves moving marbles from jars designated “good” and “bad”, with the goal of meeting a threshold line on the “good” jar that gets a reward for the class. My wife had heard a teacher say from her room, near the end of what seemed to be a trying day - “come on now boys and girls, we are just one marble away from a good day”. She texted me that line and I immediately knew it was a song. It came out in minutes and was fairly painlessly refined over a weekend. Is it a good song? I don’t know. I’ve played it for several people and gotten a good response. It has a story behind it, I’m glad I wrote it, it’ll probably help me write better ones in the future - that’s good enough for me.
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  #29  
Old 04-16-2019, 08:24 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveKell View Post
Two years ago an old guy introduced himself to me at a craft fair I was set up at. He saw a Guitar Room interior decor sign I hand lettered and asked if I played guitar. He invited me to a weekly jam he held in a nearby restaurant. I was one of the young'uns there at age 64. Several of the folks were in their 80's, and this being Texas, the repertoire was ancient country gold. A few months later the jam leader said he wished someone would try writing some new songs for us to learn instead of the old stuff we were constantly rehashing. I took up the challenge and began bringing an average of one new song each week. I was surprised at the reception they got as I was after all in the presence of bonafide country music experts. I began referring to my songs as "ones they forgot to write 50 years ago".

I set up a rudimentary computer based recording studio in my sign painting shop and began sending raw recordings of my songs to an old friend in Nashville. My buddy was a retired very successful songwriter. His songs had been recorded by Garth Brooks, John Denver, Charlie Pride, Dianna Ross and many others. I was blown away by the praise he heaped on my work. He's been coaching me on how to eventually score one being cut.

I majored in comparative literature many years ago at Indiana University. I always aced my composition classes and I guess I'm finally getting some use out of the writing instruction. I've written songs that have taken from 10 minutes to a few hours. I get feedback on them from a weekly songwriter circle as well as the jam. I'm entirely obsessed with it, it's as necessary to me now as breathing. I even have dreams about it. At my age I harbor no illusions of commercial success with the pursuit. For now I'm content with occasionally having a request at the jam to do a song somebody remembered from weeks past. I listen intently to feedback from others to improve a song. After all, nobody but me knows what was in my mind when I wrote it and what I might be assuming everybody knows about the meaning. I find this approach keeps me growing with the pursuit.
That is really great, good for you. I'm waiting to be discovered at the local soda pop counter, lol.
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  #30  
Old 04-16-2019, 09:45 PM
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That is really great, good for you. I'm waiting to be discovered at the local soda pop counter, lol.
That's funny Barry!!
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