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The Lost Chord 
Forum Senior Member
Joined: June 23 2005
Location: United States
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Points: 1907
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 Topic: How do you write music?
Posted: February 06 2006 at 22:34 |
I play instruments all day, i am an avid flute, piano and guitar player and i have been playing piano for my whole life and i know music like i know math!
But i cannot seem to create epic melodies, I can write songs easily, but i am never satisified with what comes out at the end...is there a formula people follow? How is it these people made such great music back in the 70's and 60's, what was it about them!?!
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Bern
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Posted: February 06 2006 at 22:35 |
I guess you just don't have it 
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RIP in bossa nova heaven.
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Bern
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Posted: February 06 2006 at 22:37 |
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OK sorry. I mean... There are people who are incredible songwriters and for whom it is natural to compose songs. For others, it takes a lot of effort.
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RIP in bossa nova heaven.
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Black Mog
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Joined: January 12 2006
Location: Canada
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Points: 67
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Posted: February 06 2006 at 22:41 |
writing music is like drawing.. or painting.. its an Art.. and usually, you have it or not
Its what makes the difference between good music(prog) and bad music(britney spears)
By the way, its possible to develop skills 
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2 Rights make 1 Wrong
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WillieThePimp
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Joined: May 02 2005
Location: Bryan, Texas
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Points: 421
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Posted: February 06 2006 at 22:43 |
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Play what you like to hear. One thing that has really helped me out,
and especially being a bass player, is playing with others, even if it
is another bass.
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You can't possibly hear the last movement of Beethoven's Seventh and go slow. ~Oscar Levant, explaining his way out of a speeding ticket
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alterpower
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Joined: December 13 2005
Location: United States
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Points: 36
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Posted: February 06 2006 at 23:18 |
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and if practice doesnt work you can always try some drugs...haha.
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Oh I don't know [incert activity] but I did listen to a prog album last night.
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ChadFromCanada
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Joined: November 12 2005
Location: Canada
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Points: 293
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Posted: February 06 2006 at 23:23 |
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I don't write songs per se, but I do write down interesting chords if I
play something randomly on the guitar. If you're experimental,
try hitting random keys on the keyboard or making up random chords on
the piano and guitar. Eventually you'll get something cool and
you can try to build around it.
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Man With Hat
Collaborator
Jazz-Rock/Fusion/Canterbury Team
Joined: March 12 2005
Location: Neurotica
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Points: 166178
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Posted: February 06 2006 at 23:33 |
 ChadFromCanada wrote:
I don't write songs per se, but I do write down interesting chords if I play something randomly on the guitar. If you're experimental, try hitting random keys on the keyboard or making up random chords on the piano and guitar. Eventually you'll get something cool and you can try to build around it. |
Amen to that 
I've done that quite well. And its really one of the best way to come up with something (at least i think so). Play around awhile and usually something of some noteworthyness (excuse the pun) will come out.
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Dig me...But don't...Bury me
I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive
Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect.
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goose
Forum Senior Member
Joined: June 20 2004
Location: United Kingdom
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Points: 4097
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Posted: February 07 2006 at 05:44 |
The Lost Chord wrote:
formula |
?!  .
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Man Erg
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: August 26 2004
Location: Isle of Lucy
Status: Offline
Points: 7456
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Posted: February 07 2006 at 06:15 |
I find it easier using a portastudio. I record an initial idea onto one track and then replay it repeatedly until I have an accompanyment and then add that to the next empty track transposing the parts onto sheet music as I go. Then,more often than not,rip it all up and begin again. 
Edited by Man Erg
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Do 'The Stanley' otherwise I'll thrash you with some rhubarb.
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Manunkind
Forum Senior Member
Joined: February 02 2005
Location: Poland
Status: Offline
Points: 2373
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Posted: February 07 2006 at 06:15 |
The Lost Chord wrote:
i know music like i know math!
Pretty bold statement here... I'm sure even Iannis Xenakis wouldn't have said he knew music or math... and he was a revolutionary composer as well as an architect and mathematician...
But i cannot seem to create epic melodies, I can write songs easily, but i am never satisified with what comes out at the end...is there a formula people follow?
I can only second Goose's reaction here. ?? There is and can be no formula for the kind of stuff you want to write - it's simply not formulaic. People who stick to formulas end up with music that can be and often is pleasant, but not very progressive. Maybe the cause of your failure lies in your first statement - you see music as some (low level) maths and try to apply almost mathematical rules to it...
How is it these people made such great music back in the 70's and 60's, what was it about them!?!
There was a lot of uncharted territory in music then, but you basically could see it from your bedroom window... there are still universes of uncharted territory in music, but nowadays this uncharted territory starts in another galaxy. And if you want to get to another galaxy you need some pretty wicked drive. I can give you no direct advice how to get this drive, but check out some interviews with people like Wayne Krantz (who stresses the need of finding something of your own and building upon it), Cecil Taylor, the aformentioned Iannis Xenakis, John Cage, Anthony Braxton, Allan Holdsworth... the interviews won't provide you with a finished score, but they can give you some advice on the right mindset for creating innovative and interesting music.
That said, I'm pretty certain even the greatest of the greatest are frustrated with (almost) all of their music, since it couldn't really express what they felt.
That last sentence was meant to encourage you
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Edited by Manunkind
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"In war there is no time to teach or learn Zen. Carry a strong stick. Bash your attackers." - Zen Master Ikkyu Sojun
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Lindsay Lohan
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 25 2005
Location: Norway
Status: Offline
Points: 3254
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Posted: February 07 2006 at 06:24 |
I hear the music inside my head and then i try to play it on a instrument 
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Zweck
Forum Senior Member
Joined: November 20 2005
Status: Offline
Points: 234
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Posted: February 07 2006 at 08:43 |
Well, I've two bands which have different appeoaches; a noise/improv-band in which we generally just take out all the instruments, sit down and just play, looping, using sequencers, treating the guitars, screaming, which will also involve some theatrics when applied to the stage.
The other is somewhat of an avant-garde metal, thing. Which is more straight up composing, though with the wretch'd MIDI-sounds of guitarpro, as none of us look kindly upon the concept of long busrides with (In my case) amp, guitar, pedalboard, and possibly some other sh*t, just so the two of us can play our beautiful music on guitar and synth only(You don't expect us to be more than two, do you?). As far as formula goes, there is none. Just think about where you wanna go, think of some intervals, then write, tends to be nice.
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Zarquino
Forum Newbie
Joined: August 24 2005
Location: Spain
Status: Offline
Points: 33
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Posted: February 07 2006 at 08:50 |
The random chords method is the best if inspiration doenst com.
Normally inspiration comes to me when I dont have a recorder with me,
so I try to remember later. Drugs are great method, I've used once and
me and a friend wrote about 5 songs in a night, from hard rock to hip
hop (This last one I dont understand how appeared at my friends head)
Bye guys
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There's nothing left to loose
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A'swepe
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 08 2005
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 590
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Posted: February 07 2006 at 10:00 |
I seem to posess the ability to just lay my fingers on the piano keyboard & come up with something interesting (at least to myself). I took lessons for a few months, many years ago, & consider myself musically illiterate. I can't play anything start to finish. But, I can hear the notes in my head & I (instinctively) understand what melody & harmony are.
I'll record something interesting & set it to repeat until I figure out the next parts. Thank god for computers & virtual instruments. It's the only way I can make music, other than simple stuff I can play on the guitar or piano.
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David - Never doubt in the dark that which you believe to be true in the light.
http://www.myspace.com/aardvarktxusa - Instrumental rock
http://www.soundclick.com/aardvarktxusa
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lunaticviolist
Forum Senior Member
Joined: January 17 2005
Status: Offline
Points: 478
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Posted: February 07 2006 at 10:21 |
The Lost Chord wrote:
is there a formula people follow?
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The reason music was so good in the '60s and '70s is that artists did
not follow a formula! That's the problem with most music today
(and why you don't like much modern prog) -- artists in general are
just following formulas. Keep writing, and play your stuff to an
objective audience. See what they think.
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My recent purchases:
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Ofur
Forum Senior Member
Joined: September 17 2005
Status: Offline
Points: 139
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Posted: February 07 2006 at 13:02 |
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Oh come on, in the 60s you could make an album of fart noises and pass it off as art, Zappa did it all the time Lumpy Gravy, The Chrome Plated Megphone of Destiny etc.
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Publius84
Forum Senior Member
Joined: November 11 2005
Location: Poland
Status: Offline
Points: 1043
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Posted: February 07 2006 at 13:16 |
Man With Hat wrote:
ChadFromCanada wrote:
I don't write songs per se, but I do write down interesting chords if I play something randomly on the guitar. If you're experimental, try hitting random keys on the keyboard or making up random chords on the piano and guitar. Eventually you'll get something cool and you can try to build around it. |
Amen to that
I've done that quite well. And its really one of the best way to come up with something (at least i think so). Play around awhile and usually something of some noteworthyness (excuse the pun) will come out. |
Well said. Both of you. This is my method to. Simply guitar (or other instrument) improvisation is the best way to get something interesting.
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I know what I like and I like what I know...
Prog is in my heart, in my mind, in my soul...
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Starette
Prog Reviewer
Joined: June 14 2005
Location: New Zealand
Status: Offline
Points: 502
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Posted: February 07 2006 at 19:03 |
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50 tonne angel falls to the earth...
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FragileDT
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Joined: June 20 2005
Location: United States
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Points: 1485
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Posted: February 07 2006 at 19:41 |
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It's all about creativity and not following a specific formula.
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One likes to believe
In the freedom of music
But glittering prizes
And endless Compromises
Shatter the illusion
Of integrity
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How do you write music?
