Writing songs with acoustic guitar and vocals

clare_bear

Hi All,

Having just handed in my Masters degree assignments for this year, I have a little extra time (all I have to do now is work, look after a 3 year old and learn about photography!).  I have a load of half written lyrics lying around and want to write some songs with just my acoustic guitar and me - I don't have enough time for a full production!

So, how do I write decent acoustic songs that are not too dull?  I can sometimes come up with chord progressions, but I'm not great at singing anything interesting over the top of them.  How can I pep up my chord progressions and sing interesting melodies?  Are there any tried and trusted methods?  I'm a big KT Tunstall fan, so her stuff provides inspiration but I have no idea how to translate that to my songs.  Any tips, links, resources, words of encouragement

Cheers

Clare

PS. I DO NOT want to write Ed Sheeran type songs

Cirrus

Well, when you're using an acoustic and singing the acoustic has to do two jobs really. It's got to provide the chords/ riffs etc, but it's also got to provide the rhythm - so even when you're just strumming chords, particularly for KT-style upbeat stuff, you've got to really feel the strumming pattern and use it to push the song forward with some energy.

Once you can feel the groove in your playing, you'll probably also start to groove with your singing. Again, the beat of your vocals matters. Good rappers are masters of this - the way they land their consonants is like beat boxing with words. That's a lesson that applies to all genres.

As for how to write songs, that's got to be a personal journey really. Pick up the guitar, relax, don't be afraid of being shit just play and see what comes out!

clare_bear

Thanks, Cirrus.  That's not something I've thought of before, the importance of both guitar AND vocals as the rhythm.

I've written a few songs before, some of which I really like, but doing it without the benefit of drums, bass and a few guitar parts seem daunting.  

How do I go about improving both chord progressions and strum patterns to give me that groove?  Play other people's songs and hope they rub off?  Time, and the fact that I'm a bit rubbish on the guitar after so little playing over the last few years are going to make this a struggle

Would you say that a simple, standard chord progression with a dynamic strum pattern would work as well as, say, slightly more interesting chords and a basic strum pattern?

DavidRees

welcome back Clare_Bear ...

clare_bear

DavidRees said:

welcome back Clare_Bear ...

Thank you. I think I may have been invoked.....

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/47695/absent-friends#latest

Phil_aka_Pip

Suggestions

Try a chord progression you found somewhere else, and like, but tweak it. Elongate or shorten the number of beats on one chord and do the opposite on another. Substitute chords. Muck about with key changes.

Hopefully if you read your lyrics out loud they will suggest some kind of rhythm. Match the phrasing of your harmonic movements  to the phrasing of your lyrical statements. Find notes for the syllables of your lyrical statements which mainly come from the chords you're playing, experiment with suspensions & passing notes.

congrats on finishing the Masters

clare_bear

Phil_aka_Pip said:

Suggestions

Try a chord progression you found somewhere else, and like, but tweak it. Elongate or shorten the number of beats on one chord and do the opposite on another. Substitute chords. Muck about with key changes.

Hopefully if you read your lyrics out loud they will suggest some kind of rhythm. Match the phrasing of your harmonic movements  to the phrasing of your lyrical statements. Find notes for the syllables of your lyrical statements which mainly come from the chords you're playing, experiment with suspensions & passing notes.

congrats on finishing the Masters

Thanks, Phil, that's really helpful - breaks it down nicely, ta.

And I haven't finished the Masters just yet, but I have finished for this year.....well, until October! (exam results tomorrow, so keep your fingers crossed!)

mellowsun

There's a great book by Rikky Rooksby on writing songs on guitar, it may help to provide inspiration.

Something else that may help is to get a small audio recorder. Get a really simple one that just records audio. I use a a Tascam. When either a vocal or guitar idea comes into your head, record it so you don't forget it. Later, go back over recorded ideas and see if anything can be used as a springboard to develop a song.

Phil_aka_Pip

If the Rikky Rooksby book contains any of the wisdom that was in his column in Guitarist, buy it

Fretwired

The best thing to do IMHO is to check out some songs you like and learn how to play them - the internet is a good source. Read interviews from the likes of Bob Dylan, John Martyn, Cat Stevens (sorry I'm ancient) and co and they started out learning traditional and popular songs . As Phil says above you can take what you learn and make it your own by changing the rhythm, the odd chord and so forth.

Start here .. ;-)

clare_bear

Thanks very much, chaps, great tips.  I'll check out the Rikky Rooksby book too.

This morning, the chorus melody/lyrics for the song I'm trying to right popped into my head and I thought I'd cracked it.  I didn't have time to record it into my phone as I was giving the boy his breakfast....safe in the knowledge I wouldn't forget in the next 15 minutes......yeah, I forgot it.  Bugger!

Hoping it'll come back.

Roland

Nice to see you back Clare

Rox

One thing I used to do is just start a tape recording, and just play around for a while.  (This is probably even easier these days using a smartphone!) Then I'd go back and listen and pick out things I liked and developed ideas from there - so take inspiration from your own musings.

In doing this, don't try to create a song, just twiddle about and see what happens.  Then you can listen back and pick and choose things you like the sound of.  I used to find this would inspire many more songs and ideas.

clare_bear

Thanks for all the help, guys.  I think I may have the rough outline of my song  Just talking about it with you all has provided inspiration.  I have guitar and vocals roughly recorded on my phone, just need to spend some time practicing it and recording it a bit better.

I've also ordered a cheap digital sound recorder to capture ideas in the future - well, what sort of forum return would be complete without some GAS

Drew_TNBD

Study acoustic Nirvana songs. Some gems in there you can really learn from.

thecolourbox

Try playing/composing a bassline for your chord sequences and singing over that rather than over strumming or finger picking or whatever. First you're only having to play one note at a time not remembering whole chord shapes so that frees up a bit of mental cpu for the tune improvising. Second you're more likely to come up with a bit of contrasting melody to go against the bassline - I enjoy counterpoint a lot, it can sound good as a basis for your tune to go up when your bassline goes down, and vice versa

Lastly, it'll probably lead you to not writing songs with a boring strummy rhythm like many people end up doing, which is better also in my book!

Sibelius

Don't think about it too much, try to empathise with the emotional content of the lyric. Just try to trance out a little and 'feel' the chords and listen, see if any melodies pop out of them. It's amazing how different the same chord can sound when projecting an emotion on to it through the lyric.

Don't get too precious about it and 'write for the bin'  Most of the best songs were written really quickly.

BenSirAmos

My top tip is not just to sing.

You should focus on delivery: 

whisper, howl, cry, speak, shout, moan and groan, sing, repeat a few words, repeat a few words, repeat a few words until you get it right, get it right, ask the Lord for mercy, tell us what happened when you got up this morning, pray, beseech, complain, holler, st-st-st-stutter and stammer, breathe in breathe out, do it staccato, do it smooooth, laugh, play, cough, huff and puff, ask a question, wail, sing like a little girl, sing like Lee Marvin, smile, embrace, encompass, add a rhyme, add some rhythm.

If they are still listening to your boring guitar line after all that, you are doing it wrong so go back and add harmonies. 

steamabacus

A really good tool for developing your rhythmic abilities (without even picking up a guitar) is to get a percussion 'egg shaker' and, any free moment you get, pick it up, practice getting a groove happening, sing over it, etc. Shakers are very sensitive to any stiffness and rigidity in your timing - you really have to relax and 'feel' the rhythm - and will really help to develop a relaxed rhythmic base for both playing guitar and singing over it.

Also, three-year-olds love 'em!

clare_bear

I love all of these suggestions, they're brilliant and creative, and new to me.  Thank you, guys.

And we have a few egg shakers as three year olds do indeed love them