Getting it all to fit together...

[Blue Strat]

Ok, so I can play guitar and drums and a little bit on my bass. I've written a few lyrics too. I'm learning my basic chords on a keyboard. How do I get a song to come together? I can't seem to get it all together.

[skipclone 1]

There`s any number of ways for a song to happen.

But a basic approach is, take one thing-a lyric, a rhythm, a bass line-and work from there. Put the other stuff away until you have at least one other element to match with your starting point. A progression for the bass line, a lyric for the rhythm. Keep adding the elements until you have all the basic parts, season to taste, bake for anywhere from one week to a year and there you are.

[shikawkee]

Ryhthm and meter. Try maybe to get a groove or a riff going. Then 'scat', or try to make up words and patterns, mainly just sounds. Over and over again. Maybe then those sounds start to become lyrics to a meter and melody.

 

Just a thought....

[Blue Strat]

I think I can get the verses to go together, but then there's the transition into the chorus, the solo part, stuff like that. How do I handle that stuff? Do I work them like they're seperate songs and then come up with a way to link them together?

[noneverstuck]

Originally posted by bluestrat:

Do I work them like they're seperate songs and then come up with a way to link them together?

Well, the Beatles often sewed two songs together to make one.

 

For me, sometimes I don't know what the chorus will be and I just start to transition out of a verse, not knowing where I'll end up. I've had many choruses erupt out of an experimental, off-the-wall transition.

 

Other times, I'll have a verse and chorus I like but the transition becomes a sticking point. I've occasionally split the verse and chorus out to different songs. Or...

 

Change the chords/rhythm/melody of the last line of the verse so any musical tension created is resolved by the first line of the chorus;

 

If your song is melodic, try a rhythmic transition; if your song is primarily rhythmic, try a melodic one. This gives a "break" between verse and chorus that sort of suspends your listener before you punch back into the groove.

 

If you need to add a tweener section, think about its function: get from here to there as quickly as mood and rhythm allow--you usually don't want it to become another theme within the song (a catchy break, yes, but if your transition is sixteen bars, you've decided to write another song in the middle of the current one--not that that hasn't worked for some songs).

 

Riffize (restate funkily) a piece of the main melody (maybe echo the last line of the verse or pre-state the first line of the chorus);

 

Steal from a different genre. Pop a bar of Dreadlock Holiday into Your Cheatin' Heart. Or Verdi does Fats Domino.

 

Mostly, don't try to write the bestest, cleverest transition ever. Hundreds of great songs get from verse to chorus (and back) in identical ways.

 

Deef

[shikawkee]

Originally posted by bluestrat:

I think I can get the verses to go together, but then there's the transition into the chorus, the solo part, stuff like that. How do I handle that stuff? Do I work them like they're seperate songs and then come up with a way to link them together?

A verse generally becomes a repeated pattern in a song so once you have one 8 or 16 bar pattern it can repeat. The chorus is your most important assest in a song. It should be the first or at least the most important thing you write for a song. Once you have a killin' hook see if it works with the verses. Connecting them should then be logical and you can go right from the verse to the chorus flawlessly without missing a beat or you can use a signature riff to identify that you're about to go into the chorus. Play around with it and listen to how your favorite songs do the transition. There is no wrong answer if it works.