I have heard Kurt Cobain say that his method was "music first, lyrics after". He was basically saying that he comes up with the music first before anything else. When he get's that to something that sounds listenable he starts adding lyrics to the existing music.
After hearing that tip I started considering and using this method. I would sit with my guitar and come up with a chord pattern. I would play that again and again many different ways to see what seemed the most catchy. Fast, slow, different rhythms.
Then I could often put the guitar down because I had basically memorized the music from playing it so long. The pattern was often simple so I would have the music in my head and it would simply linger around in there.
I could then finish the songs later at the bar, coffee shop, living room, work office. I already had the music. I would simply start writing lyrics and a melody that went along with the music I already had in my head.
This method helped me churn out many songs in a relatively short period of time. If I was a decent guitar player (Im a drummer) I could certainly work out a lot more.
You can absolutely use this method with a band situation too. Put some music together first. Get the parts down together and play it over and over. Then site down or play a bit at a time and write the lyrics. Or the singer can write an "goof" around on the mic while the band throws these chord patterns together.
This style of song writing may not work for everyone but it has done good things for me. I don't write a whole lot of music these because I am always typing on this keyboard. But if and when I do go on another song writing spree most of the songs will probably be created this way.
Well I'm off to the next blog to write some other free music jargon. Check it later!
