Writing songs.

[similar.squirrel]

I've started playing a lot of guitar lately, and have been invited to join a band that may or may not become an actual thing as opposed to a nebulous plan.
I can play covers decently enough, but when it comes to writing anything, I'm usually stumped. I know exactly what sound I'm aiming for [sometimes I can even imagine segments], but when it comes to sitting down and playing the damn thing, nothing goes as planned.

This doesn't apply to lyrics, just bass and guitar lines. I'm going for a heavy post-rock/noise/shoegaze sound. Points of reference could be A Place To Bury Strangers, Mogwai, Slowdive and Muse's heavier [Origin of Symmetry era] stuff.

Is there any concrete method of putting together the building blocks of a good song? I know my scales and chords.

 

[PleaseDele]

Writing songs is difficult. There really is one guideline and thats just keep doing it. Know you chord progressions or riffs and keep building on. Whatever you do is keep writing. And keeping adding parts to whatever you have. I started out with software like FL Studio because you can write songs all by yourself or with someone else without actually recording anything.

You'll probably end up with tracks that are like ten minutes. The hard part is where you have to say: this part isn't as good as the rest.When you reach that part there is two things you must do:

1) Analyse why it's not as good as the rest of your stuff
2) Play around with it till it's better or simply throw it away

Also, don't forget about the power of checking out other artists. How they do write those awesome sections? Why does it fit there? Also check out the bands you don't like. Why is that?

By doing this kind of research (which can also broaden your horizon) you'll find you'll develop your own style over time. And that's my final point. Patience. And lot's of it. You're not going to be a solid songwriter in one year. Just give yourself some time to learn this stuff. Your songs will get more and more solid over time. That is, if you actually use the time to write some stuff

Hope this helps.

 

[icame]

To quote someone from OCremix

"A remix can take anywhere from a couple hours to a week. Original stuff can take from a week to forever."

Its hard business making music and me not being a musician myself I don't really know how to help.

 

[kek13]

What I normally do when trying to come up with songs is to just jam a bit with my instrument of choice (Guitar) and pick out parts that I like.
most importantly once you stumble onto something you like, write it down so you don't forget it!
If your a bit weak in your ear training however you could always use a guitar tuner to find the notes you're playing.

Lemme know if this helps, best of luck to you!

 

[LittleJP]

Do you know your harmonies, progressions, suspensions and whatnot?

 

[Terminal Blue]

Assuming you don't have a lot of training in music theory and can write songs in a compositional style, I'd really just sit around and play and write stuff down. Don't focus on what you hear in your head for now, focus on what sounds good when you play it and build from that. Experiment with effects and sound design and make sure you write down how you've set up your equipment as well so you can recreate the same sound later. Listen to other people's music, particularly in the style you want to create. Think about the technical things which define that style and think about how you might apply those things to your own scribblings.

It's a little like improvisation. If you practice it, you will get better at it.

 

[philzibit]

Being someone who has been in and out of bands for a few years, my advice is join the band and have a few jam sessions. If you can flow with the rest of them, everything will be smoothy smooth and the songs will come naturally.