How many others here feel 'they' don't ever write music, but rather it just happens?

[Cryo114]

Like it's not something you think of, but something that comes to you?

I have a hard time thinking of myself as a writer because of that. Music comes to me, I don't bring it about.

Anybody else like that?

 

[drew_drummer]

Hmm. It's my fingers doing the work.

 

[botus99]

All the time. I'm the drummer of my band, but I write around 40% of our riffs. About once a month I'll be "struck" by something and write the makeup of 1-3 songs or just a ton of riffs.

If I TRY to go out of my way to write, and FORCE out something... nothing. That way just doesn't work for me

 

[Cryo114]

Hmm. It's my fingers doing the work.

But unless your consciously telling yourself to play every note, is it you writing the riff?

Not trying to be hippy/spiritual about it, but i honestly dont feel music that i write has much to do with me. I just kinda happens.

 

[Cryo114]

f I TRY to go out of my way to write

As a zen (real zen, not that "Chill out and feel the resonance of the reality, Man") practitioner, I can see why it doesn't work.

Write what your gonna write. Just let it be what you write. Record it and drop it if you don't like later, no worries. But give yourself a holiday away from your preferences.

 

[Chryst Krispies]

This happens to me.

I don't try and write anything. If I do then it comes out shite. I just sit down and once I hit the strings something occurs or it doesn't.
When I track leads I RARELY think it out. 90% of my lead shit is on the spot.

 

[AllanD]

Usually a riff just happens, then I organize it into a song, usually making up the rest of the parts as I go along.

 

[Gnash]

When I try to force a riff, it's always shit. Yeah, riffs just happen. We are merely vessels for the riff God, and Tony Iommi is his favorite.

 

[JayB]

All the time. I'm the drummer of my band, but I write around 40% of our riffs. About once a month I'll be "struck" by something and write the makeup of 1-3 songs or just a ton of riffs.

If I TRY to go out of my way to write, and FORCE out something... nothing. That way just doesn't work for me

Absolutely. It comes out of nowhere and if you're not around recording equipment you could miss out on the greatest dong you would ever write
if you force it you will just frustrate yourself to no end

 

[botus99]

you could miss out on the greatest dong...
if you force it you will just frustrate yourself to no end

Duely noted

Seriously though, agreed.

 

[egan.]

I think this is the natural course of things but one of the hallmarks of an experienced composer is the ability to write on demand. You can certainly develop this skill by setting a time everyday to write -- even if it's crap -- and eventually you'll improve. It is an imperative for film/game/tv composers and certainly helps anyone who's writing music as part of a living.

 

[Skinny Viking]

you could miss out on the greatest dong

I'm sorry but that was just great

 

[iHate]

I think this is the natural course of things but one of the hallmarks of an experienced composer is the ability to write on demand. You can certainly develop this skill by setting a time everyday to write -- even if it's crap -- and eventually you'll improve. It is an imperative for film/game/tv composers and certainly helps anyone who's writing music as part of a living.

+1

Writing good songs at anytime is the trait of an experienced songwriter, but the really special songs still come out of nowhere or in moments least expected.

 

[Jind]

Inspiration can hit me at any time, but most of my writing is a process of development over time. I come up with very few off the cuff ideas that flesh themselves out quickly, for me I tend to record most of my practice sessions and I also tend to sing new ideas into my cell phone and save the files to my PC to be sketched out in another future practice session - it's these ideas that I then develop over time, some more so than others, but I also go back and listen to older ideas to see if something jumps out again at a later date.

I do however appreciate that it is a skill that can be developed over time, the ability to write off the cuff that is. Thank God I'm under no pressure to create an albums worth of music in a few months however, because if I was, I'd be screwed Hell I'm still perfecting material from over 12 years ago in one case - it's just one of those things that does not come easy but it's fun to work at. Oh how many unfinished songs I have in my head. Even the ones I've finished tend to get re-examined at a later date anyways.

 

[ParsonsMatt]

I just turned what I wanted to be a 3-4 minute death metal song into a 9 minute epic, so, yeah, it just happens sometimes

 

[drew_drummer]

But unless your consciously telling yourself to play every note, is it you writing the riff?

Not trying to be hippy/spiritual about it, but i honestly dont feel music that i write has much to do with me. I just kinda happens.

Well... I think it's more a case that the brain accesses a certain part of itself... so in effect, it's still me. But most of my stuff gets written in a few hours. The stuff that takes longer, rarely gets finished.

I sit down with a riff. And before I know it, I've got a whole song. It's like.... my adult side turns off, and I just regress back to a child playing with paint whilst mother does the ironing.

 

[ParsonsMatt]

But unless your consciously telling yourself to play every note, is it you writing the riff?

Not trying to be hippy/spiritual about it, but i honestly dont feel music that i write has much to do with me. I just kinda happens.

Well its certainly not someone ELSE playing the music!

 

[Terminus]

Like it's not something you think of, but something that comes to you?

I have a hard time thinking of myself as a writer because of that. Music comes to me, I don't bring it about.

Anybody else like that?

Well that's good because when you start telling yourself "I'm going to make a death metal song." or whatever it is, you restrict yourself to a genre/class/etc..when you let your creativity fly free it doesnt feel like work or writing.

 

[aortizjr]

Writing when it comes to you or when you are inspired I think is the best way to write. And you can hear it, even from pros. You see it with artists too.

But to make a living, you have to be able to produce and write while perhaps being uninspired. For this I learned from an artist to work on something totally out of your element. I do mostly metal, but working on a jazz tune, or pop song, or avant-garde or techno even can really be fun and super inspiring in general. The artist I know normally worked on southwest impressionistic landscapes...but he would do victorian paintings, trains, photography, something way different.

Along those lines, he would do renditions of paintings as well. In music I wouldn't say learn a cover, but maybe work on a song in the realm or of the same vibe or structure but put your own unrecognizable spin on it. It is especially good practice when writing for others, when you get the whole, "we want something like Ted Nugent meets Lady Gaga but more country" you have a better chance of getting there.

 

[Aaron Smith]

There have been a few times where I'll be doing something unrelated to music, and I will literally imagine a cool song, and I will "hear" a drum part or some kind of music in my head and then go figure it out on the guitar (or hum it into my cell phone if I can't get to a guitar right away ). Most of the time though, I just sit down with the guitar with the purpose of writing in mind, and start messing around until something catches my ear. Sometimes it can take an hour, but 90% of the time when I sit down to try to write something, I end up creating something cool, and that initial idea just sparks the next, and that the next...etc. The hardest thing for me is structuring a song and convincing myself that the structure doesn't suck. I have no formula going into it, but it has to flow, yet be creatively constructed. I absolutely hate it when music is too predictable (most of the time). And more so recently, I've been much pickier with myself about doing creative things with key changes, and really taking the music in different chordal directions...which can make structuring even more challenging.