Hey Everyone,
Seems like things are getting off to a good start. The Viking Village forum and Facebook have been sending me quite a bit of traffic, so I'm happy about that. I wanted to write today about how I usually write songs.
First, it's probably important to consider my style. I tend to play a lot of acoustic music featuring acoustic guitar and solo lead vocals. I've written a few recent songs that feature a full band, but for the most part, I play alone. Keeping in mind my style, I have two instruments to work with: a guitar and my voice. These are going to limit me and set the bounds for what I will be writing and how I will be writing it. Lets get into how I think about songs as they're being written and the process of a typical song from start to finish.
Most songs are born on a couch or an office chair. I'm usually playing around with my guitar playing songs I like, or improvising. In the midst of my playing, a certain tune or chord progression will catch my ear. If I have the time, I'll usually spend about an hour to an hour and a half sitting where I am and fine tuning that particular riff. Once I have that riff down, I'll spend even more time playing it. Repetition gets me into the groove of the song, getting a feel for it and becoming more comfortable with the mechanics of it.
After I'm thoroughly comfortable with what I've been doing, I'll begin to find other parts that are in the same key and connect to the particular riff I had played previously. At this point, I begin thinking about song structure. A few questions I ask myself are, "What is the general feel or tone of this song so far? Is it in a minor or major key and how does that influence the mood? What is the current energy level of the parts I've written so far? Are they all kind of low key? Do I need to pick up the energy at some point to make the song more interesting?" The list of question goes on and I'll probably end up writing a post about song structure and dynamics at a later point.
Once I've gotten most or all of the guitar riffs written, I start putting them in order. I try to follow a theme or at least the flow of how a story would go. Introductions are usually not very complex or heavy and the song tries to crescendo at some point (a climax). The music eventually resolves itself into a conclusion. When I have finished with the song structure, the song is usually a complete piece instrumentation wise. The entirety of the song could be played on the guitar and be a complete song, although it might be a little dull without any lyrics.
Writing lyrics is probably one of the more aggravating parts for me. Over the years, I've been using a different approach than I used to. First, I will play the piece all the way through and focus intently on the feelings and imagery that are conjured up within me. Based on these feelings and images, I try to come up with a theme for the song, an idea I want to express.
Once I have my theme, I start playing and singing. I sing whatever comes to mind whether or not it's a bad lyric or melody. If I hear something I particularly like, I'll write it down. If I hear something I don't like at all, I'm really careful not to do it again. The trick here is to allow yourself to make a mistake. There was a lecture given by Sir Ken Robinson and in it he said something along the lines of "We do know that if you're not willing to make a mistake, you'll never be creative." I love this line because you really have to allow yourself to make mistakes in order to be original and create something that is of value to yourself.
I plod on along through this system of singing until I have at least one part that I like. This part usually determines the rest of the melodies and tone of the song and lyrics (especially if it's a chorus). From this point I write lyrics and melodies that fit with the general mood of the song.
Once I have everything written down, I play the song through a few times. Once I've done that, I walk away. This part is very important for my process because I can be very hypercritical of my own work. Leaving the song alone and going and doing something else gives me a chance to get it out of my mind, and when I come back to it, I will be able to take a fresh perspective.
After I've walked away from the song, I come back and play it through again. While I'm playing, I take note of things I don't like, or that could be stronger, and parts that I really do like and would like to capitalize on. Then I begin the actual revision process. Changing things I don't like and hearing how they sound by themselves and in the context of the entire song.
My revision process usually takes a while. I find myself changing parts of songs while performing or messing around and they end up being permanent changes. These little changes aggregate into a substantial change through the entirety of the song. Most of my changes are lyrical or melody changes, the guitar doesn't change very much. If I do end up changing something with the guitar, it's usually an addition of a second part to add more depth to the song.
If you want some examples of songs I've written, you can check out www.myspace.com/spencermister. If you have any more questions about my writing process feel free to post a comment.
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