Obviously you don't work the way the guys in Nashville do. We're talking a
lot of "work" on writing songs.

Mostly I believe it should be a muse driven event, and during the 1 1/2
years I was writing all the time I'd like to think a muse stuck with me for
a while, but the downside is that once you write so many songs you come to
the realization that just because you could write the songs doesn't mean
that you should have recorded them! g And that leads to whether you
should have wasted the time to write songs that were a waste of time. And
there's the possible problem of whether, indeed, you even recognize that the
songs were a waste of time.

I'm still hoping that the muse decides to sit on my shoulders again and
allow me to have a period of time of writing new material, but I'm beginning
to think not. All the keys on the piano represent songs already played.
All the sounds I can get from the guitar are all used, and new toys are no
longer inspiring.

I'm just glad I spend most of my music time recording good bands.

--


Roger W. Norman
SirMusic Studio
"Is our children learning yet?" George W. Bush
http://blogs.salon.com/0004478/


"rickymix" wrote in message
oups.com...
To me songwriting, like surfing or sex, is a joy and a compulsion, not
work. Every now and then, when a wonderful idea somehow pops up in my
head, I get all excited and have no choice but to flesh it out into a
complete song. The wheels spin in my head of their own accord, night
and day, whatever else I'm doing at the time, until the song forms
itself. It's almost like I'm an audience member listening to the song
creating itself out of the ether.
Once the lyrics and melody are moderately well sketched in, at
least a verse and chorus worth, THEN I'll go to an instrument and
figure out the chords. I mean, the chords already exist in the melody,
I just haven't learned them yet. As I figure out what the chords are,
there are usually countermelodies and musical hooks and fills and
groove that suggest themselves. I just have to be vigilant and catch
them as they pop up. It's strenuous, like surfing or sex, but I
wouldn't call it work; it's too delightful hearing these songs for the
first time! Pure joy.
I can and do write the other way, sitting at an instrument and
finding some chords or musical hooks that work for the intended purpose
of the music, usually for a movie scene where the director wants
something specific. Once I've figured out how the music should go,
then I have to piece together a song to go with it. It's also fun and
challenging to do it that way, but yeah, that's more like work I guess.
Cheers, Rick.