Not to sound pretentious, but have a look at my many lessons under "songwriting" from the main page, until the book comes out later this month. A lot of helpful advice: I started at 15, it becomes easier over time.
A-J
hi there
I am 41 and I still can't write a song that I would be proud of but it don't stop me from trying , to steal a line from a song " Catch a fallen star and put it in your pocket save it for a rainy day"
translated for your circumstance would be " get an idea and play around with it " it might a word or two words or a sentence that someone may say to you like , " The second half obviously is how to do it," quote from Omega ."
you may want to add a second line to that like
the first half is how I blew it
then just play around with it
hope I have helped :D
Aghhhh
Not only am I a senior citizen
I'm now a bloody senior member
Are you people trying to tell me I'm old or what ?
over 700 posts ( I really do need to get out more )
I think the amazing thing about music is its art, but you can change it. Once a picture is finished, its hard to paint over it, but music you can play differently every single time. I personally find it impossible to listen to my own songs; nobody is perfect, and we could all do better another time. Which is a good thing.
Added to that, 'cheesy' is a negative way to look at your songs... keep playing and changing them until they feel right to you, and what does anything else matter? :)
Somnium Dulcis.
Some people have a natural knack for song writing some dont. Those that dont have to work harder.. Dont give up, you are only 14, once you cross a hurdle of what sounds cheesy to what sounds ok you are half way there. It is an art form dont expect to pick up and guitar and write the next teen spirit... dont happen that way. I have about 25 songs i am really pleased with and about 200 i am not.......
Amen with the art form statement. This also means that whatever we right is going to sound dreadful to somebody else anyway, so theres no point in fretting about whether it sounds terrible or not, if its nice to your ears, then its great.
Somnium Dulcis.
I'm really frustrated, I'm 14 and all I ever want to do is play guitar / sing / write songs..I'm not the best singer but I try, but I can't songwrite at all. I mean I can try and write stuff but it ends up coming off so cheesy..I mean I have ideas for stuff but I just can't seem to get it out in a song form. And it's really annoying me because I'm like "well, if I want to do this for a career or at least play some coffee shops when i get a little older i'm going to have to start writing some stuff" i mean i know you can play covers and all that, but I really want to write my own stuff. So any advice or whatever is appreciated.[/quote
you know what that is exactly what happens to me im 13 and all i want to do is be a singer. so here is the advise part this is what i do, put on some music that you like but make sure it is to an low volume get out that guitar notebook and pencil and if you cant think of just starting to put it all together write down your thoughts ( make sure there on the same thing) and then put it all together into a song. SIMPLE! if you really need to consitrate then turn off the music. well thats all see ya miranda :P
-MIRANDA BROOKS-
what you should do is keep a diary and write in it when i first started songwriting when i was 10 i would keep a diary and write in it and almost all of my songs come from my diary its not dumb its accually were a lot of singers and bands started write back to tell me if it works!
:D miranda
-MIRANDA BROOKS-
I have no idea how many songs i have written most of them cheese
or atleast thats what i think
a good thing to do is write down every lyric that comes into your head (this is hard to do)I find myself carring a song writters bible (note pad)and pen most places I go. if u forget it any scrap paper will work. keep these and put in your song writters bible of unfinished lyrics.
good luck with your songs
mystic
You've probably received all the advice you need, but I'll throw in my two cents. I think it's essential that you are honest about your subject matter and who you are. One of my favorite genres is hair metal, but it just sounds ridiculous if I try to write about drugs and strip clubs because that's not what my life is about...I'm a 34 year old married guy in the suburbs. When I pick up my guitar, country/folk wants to come out...I never even liked country until I started playing guitar. But I've learned that it feels natural to write country songs and those are the ones that turn out the best. I guess what I'm saying is just be open to what feels "right" even it doesn't sound like your "influences".
i'm only 14 also, i've written over 120 songs though... what i suggest is not to force things out let it just flow out of you. Write from real life experiences, for instance this song.. my first ever and i'm pretty proud of it. yeah so thats my only suggestions.
Have you ever had a friend that lied to you?
Did they stab you in the back?
You never really know,
How deceitful they can be,
I don't understand it... Why can't they see...
Don't ever lie to me,
Don't ever stab me in the back,
No matter what you say,
I'll never forget,
What you did,
All the things that you said,
I'll never forgive you,
For what you did…
My two cents. I started writing songs a few months ago and I think I'm great. I have no fear and I have one trick to not writing cheesy stuff. Just dont write it. For example, say I want to write about a mean girlfriend (this is totally off the top of my head).
I can say 'baby you took my heart and bruised it and now I wish upon a star for this love to end.' Cheese alert! Man, that's cheesy. Just don't write it.
Rather, compare her to, say, an F-15. 'She strapped me in, hit mach two, now I'm reaching for the ejector seat.' Much more visual. Hits you in the gut. And it's not cheesy. Use metaphors to cut the cheese.
Trick two. Don't fall in love with your work. If it starts sounding cheesy, trash it cause you're wasting your time. The next song you write could be a number one hit. Even if you spent 3 hours working on something crappy, just cut your losses and start over. And don't ever pull it out of the trash.
Trick three. Listen to your song. It's trying to tell you what it's about but you're not listening. For example, I wrote a song called 'What doesn't happen in Vegas, stays in Vegas.' And for two hours I kept trying to make it a love song about a guy who loses his girl friend in Vegas. Cheese alerts were going up everywhere. Then it occured to me. This is a simple song. It's about the things that don't happen in Vegas but everyone thinks does. So I trashed it all except the main line and wrote verses like:
Tried to cruise the streets, but I didn't speed.
Searched for free buffets, but I didn't eat.
Tried to catch a show that was all sold out.
I was being a saint in the city of sin.
Thank god I trashed the girlfriend thing. Now I love the song and feel it's ready for music. It's got a natural rhythm.
Trick four. Don't be tempted to post a song right after you write it. Put it away for a few hours then read it again. Chances are you'll make a lot of changes for the better. Once you post it, it's hard to back peddle.
My opinion.
hey! I'm 15 and I just started writing songs last year when i was still 14. You( and me for all that) are still young. We dont have alot of experience in life yet. Sure sometimes I write about really deep stuff but thats rare. Its hard for me to think about big things. Most of the songs I listen to are about love and all and since I havnt truely experienced love I cant truely write about it. Do you get what I'm saying? Just give yourself time and stuff will come to you the more experienced you become. :D
My two cents. I started writing songs a few months ago and I think I'm great. I have no fear and I have one trick to not writing cheesy stuff. Just dont write it. For example, say I want to write about a mean girlfriend (this is totally off the top of my head).
I can say 'baby you took my heart and bruised it and now I wish upon a star for this love to end.' Cheese alert! Man, that's cheesy. Just don't write it.
Rather, compare her to, say, an F-15. 'She strapped me in, hit mach two, now I'm reaching for the ejector seat.' Much more visual. Hits you in the gut. And it's not cheesy. Use metaphors to cut the cheese.
Trick two. Don't fall in love with your work. If it starts sounding cheesy, trash it cause you're wasting your time. The next song you write could be a number one hit. Even if you spent 3 hours working on something crappy, just cut your losses and start over. And don't ever pull it out of the trash.
Trick three. Listen to your song. It's trying to tell you what it's about but you're not listening. For example, I wrote a song called 'What doesn't happen in Vegas, stays in Vegas.' And for two hours I kept trying to make it a love song about a guy who loses his girl friend in Vegas. Cheese alerts were going up everywhere. Then it occured to me. This is a simple song. It's about the things that don't happen in Vegas but everyone thinks does. So I trashed it all except the main line and wrote verses like:
Tried to cruise the streets, but I didn't speed.
Searched for free buffets, but I didn't eat.
Tried to catch a show that was all sold out.
I was being a saint in the city of sin.
Thank god I trashed the girlfriend thing. Now I love the song and feel it's ready for music. It's got a natural rhythm.
Trick four. Don't be tempted to post a song right after you write it. Put it away for a few hours then read it again. Chances are you'll make a lot of changes for the better. Once you post it, it's hard to back peddle.
My opinion.
I don't believe the lyrics are always the source of cheese. Change the melody of "yellow sumarine" to something you think is serious and see if it changes anything. :wink:
I think being proud of your work is a bad thing. Because if you're not or atleast not completely pleased then you will continue to write and write until you are proud of something. Sh*t, I had more but I forgot. Well, I guess being proud of work can both be bad and good. The good part was what I forgot.
There's a saying about practising an instrument that goes something like:
"Practice should always sound bad. If it doesn't then you're doing it wrong."
The message is that you should be pushing yourself into new territory some of the time and not just sticking to what you can already do OK.
It probably applies to songwriting too. In other words expect to write a lot of mediocre stuff on the way to learning the craft properly.
Good luck. The mere fact that we can say "Geez, that one was rubbish" means we're developing an all-important critical ability.
(And don't forget that, on the basis of the available evidence, there's a huge market for complete cr*p too! :twisted: )
