[jamesoc_36]

is it best to write the lyrics to a song and then make the music fit or the other way around? i want to start writing my own songs, but not sure what is easier/better.

[Kirk Lorange]

I've always found the other way 'round to work best for me ... come up with a good strong chord progression, fiddle around with potential melody and then work on lyrics that match the music. I think that's because I consider myself a musician first, poet second.

Try both! See what works for you.

[Lcjones]

tip ....

there is no easier way. one is the product of the other. you might make a cracker of a beat by a series of words at intervals that dictate what the music is going to sound like. on the other hand, you may have a chord progression that lends itself to words.

there is no right or wrong way. neither is better than the other and it becomes a personal thing. lyricists are not neccessarily musicians and likewise musicians are not neccessarily lyricists. you'll find that one time the lyrics come first and then the melody and the next ..... it's the music that "coins" a phrase.

if you're just starting out, don't fret, so to speak, over what comes first. you'll find your groove and it will just happen.

my personal experience is both at the same time!

les

[Stephen]

I've done it both ways but I tend to write the lyric first and then find a melody that will fit. For me, it seems easier to have the established rhythm of the words to build the melody on. Perhaps it's because, unlike Kirk, I'm a writer first and a musician second.

But occasionally I have started with a melody and then written the lyric around that. As lcjones says, there is no hard and fast rule. There is a long tradition of writing new words to old songs, so obviously many people find it easier to start with a melody.

Of the great songwriting teams, many seem to have begun with the lyric writer supplying the words and the musician then writing the tune. Gilbert and Sullivan, Rogers and Hart (and his other partner Hammerstein), Bernie Taupin and Elton John.

Even less often for me, the melody and words come both together. I just hear the whole thing complete in my head. Once this happened while I was on the beach and I had to remember the whole song, going over and over it until I got home and found the chord progression to harmonise it.

[jamesoc_36]

ok thanks

[Ultimate Garage Band]

Sometimes they just pop into my head at the same time. I can think of a couple of songs that did that; a basic lyric or hook and melody and then I had to sit down with the guitar and figure out what chords supported that melody. For the most part though, I keep a book of lyrics that I pen when it strikes me. When I'm messing around on guitar and I stumble upon a riff I like, I grab my lyric book and see if anything fits the riff. When the magic happens, it's there!

[gravitas]

If you're looking at this from a musician rather than singer/writer's point of view (or alternate between the two), I've found that it's often easiest on everyone to come up with the music first. There's nothing worse than languishing in the jails of the dictator songwriter (well, maybe burning alive. But nothing else ).

Not to say that this is always the case, though. Some of the bands I've been in were very cohesive, but the thing about them is that our writers had much broader ideas about the direction of the song than I normally would have expected- they didn't protest much when we took it upon ourselves to change in the original structure, or argued semantics. With those, we almost always started with the rhythm, though we did have one occasion when Geoff (the bassist) had been strumming his accoustic on vacation and brought back this slinky add6 progression that was just to sweet to change.

Thinking back, a lot of these songs had a very distinct jammy feel to them. The songs I remember most fondly were much more compact. They were also turds that took ages to squeeze out.

For example, the band I'm in right now has been writing the same song for a year and a half, and I think we've only just scratched the tits of the iceberg, to use that old cliché. Whenever I write songs and bring the words to the table, I get very defensive about any changements. That once lead to me getting the boot... But only once.

[bone1205]

Originally Posted by Kirk

I've always found the other way 'round to work best for me ... come up with a good strong chord progression, fiddle around with potential melody and then work on lyrics that match the music. I think that's because I consider myself a musician first, poet second.

Try both! See what works for you.

Im with you on that..

[mcknett]

I was listening to a bit of John Prine's Library of Congress performance today...he says that the best ones come to him all together (better have a pencil) He wrote "Souveniers" on his way to a show - tune and lyrics together...thought he had several of those "jazz" chords (anything involving more than 3 fingers) in it...turned out he had the same three chords he always plays in it.

[Lcjones]

righteous, Scott,

and just mentioning John Prine gets you extra points!

amen, Brother John. Of all the singer/songwriters in this world, two are outstanding and heads above the crowd. John Prine and Gordon Lightfoot. Dylan & Young are a very close 2nd .... very, very close!

though i don't always do as i say, i almost always do lyric and melody together. one or the other sets the mood.

chap .....
Ocean City Rocks Battle Kites
*************************

[mcknett]

Funny you should mention that...when asked who he listens to, John Prine lists Dylan, Van Morrison, and Gordon Lightfoot - he also gives quite a nod to Kris Kristoferson, but as it was Kristoferson who gave him his break...

If you haven't seen the Library of Congress performance, you can see it at:

http://www.loc.gov/poetry/kooser-prine.html

Worth checking out!

[Rockerbob]

Songwriter approach this many different ways. I almost always start with music. After all, it's a song, right? THere are times when a lyrical idea will happen before the chords are finalized. Then the words might change the chords, but usually when the words come I just have to adjust the arrangement to fit the chords I have to the words. My lyrics tend to be pretty simple for the most part. Although I love some meaningful lyrics, most of mine are just silly. Silly is good!

[guitar:babe]

i have found that if i just fiddle about with a few chords/notes n i get a good rhythm that lyrics just come to me so i usually do it bit by bit and tweak it together when im done its depends how you feel more comfortable and what you thinks easiest for you.