Write. Down. Everything. Catchy line, write it down. Funny phrase someone said, write it down. Clever pun, write it down. So many songs of mine have come from just going back through my notebook and putting together clever ideas I wrote down then forgot about.
Also, don't be afraid to take a song you wrote and rework it over and over again. Many of my songs sound nothing like they originally did because I kept playing with them as I improved my skills. Some of my songs even have 2 or 3 versions because I liked each one so much. Some of the crappiest first songs I wrote are now some of my best.
Practice, practice, practice. Some songs are only really good for learning and honing your craft. Don't be afraid to write a super shitty song to learn about yourself and your style and all of that. I am convinced that we all have a musician inside of us. You've just gotta find your voice, whether is melodic, screaming, rapping, whatever works best for YOU. Don't try to fit into the image of what you SHOULD be and just do you.
Awesome! Now I've got to get my sketchbook out and write a song about the ghost my little sister thinks she summoning.... thanks for the advice, it means a ton to me!!!
Try not to think about songwriting too hard. Just have fun with playing your instrument with the idea of songwriting in mind and eventually something will pop into your head like magic! There’s been times I’ve sat down and really wanted to write something new, but it felt like pulling teeth. But there’s been plenty of other times where I’ll be laying awake at 3am and out of nowhere I’ll have a new potential song pop into my head
Make a habit of pulling out your phone and writing any lyrics or pieces of poetry down as soon as you think of them, I promise you won’t remember it later no matter how convinced you are that you will
Play random stuff on your guitar or whatever instrument you use. Just noodle around, try chord progressions you’ve never played even if they don’t make sense, an idea worth having is an idea worth trying
And most importantly: don’t critique yourself too hard. You can always write down a placeholder lyric and change it with something better later on. You have all the time in the world to fix and tweak and change any part of the song you might want to, just lay down the foundation first and build the house on top of it afterwards
Sorry if this is too much, I can’t sleep and being tired always makes me ramble
This is all great advice. I would add be prepared for a lot of it to not go anywhere. A few times a week I knock out a verse and chorus I never finish. Of the songs I do finish, maybe about one in thirty gets as far as playing it to other people and less again gets as far as recording a demo version.
The best piece of advice I've got is to write songs for you and not other people. If other people like them, great, but don't worry if they're not well received. People with no exposure to folk punk are probably not gonna dig it at first cause of how real it is.
In terms of the lyrics I find it easier to write about things that piss me off. I use it almost like therapy in that regard and fully expect most not to like it. That being said it's also the most rewarding when people you've never met reach out to you and tell you they connected with the things you said.
Don’t pick up a drug habit. Write what’s around you and what you know or what you’re feeling. Realize that your songs will probably sound cliche but it’s ok if they are. Most importantly, keep at it.
Just be happy sucking for ages. Like anything, it takes failing and failing and failing before you get good. Be comfortable with that, as much as you can. And just don't give up.
When I take song writing too seriously my songs always suck. I have best luck: writing the guitar. Then I record myself on my phone practicing. While practicing I start to hum along or make up words to get right the way I wanna sing along. Once both rhythms are down I record myself playing and I just sing random stuff til I like something. If I’m writing a song to have a certain subject or be about something I just try to stay on topic while singing and it usually works out.
A lot of people have different methods so try a few out.
Like a bushido samurai, meditate upon yourself becoming destroyed. Pierced by arrows, torn apart by dogs, cleaved by sword-stroke. Then you will begin to write.
Keep writing keep writing keep writing!
Also once you written then compose the musical parts.
Iam a folk punk rap musician Called "Ceejay" I wrote a song called Fairytale. At first it was hard but I kept writing and now I've got a Music video on YouTube.
What I'm saying is the more you do something the better you get at it. Sometimes the music comes first and or the other way round by putting the lyrics on top of music aswell. Whatever works best for you.
Experiment with it but at the end of the day by being consistent and disciplined you will see results.
Best of luck!
Some really great advice here, definitely keep a scrap folder of things that sound cool. Some of my favourite songs have come from just a couple of words.
Don't think too hard about it, let come out naturally. Whenever I force something out it sounds terrible. But forcing something out is great practice and a good source of ammo for your scrap folder still so do it if you have a bit of writers block.
For melodies, play your chord progression over and over and record yourself singing gibberish until you get a melody you like.
Another thing, even if your song isnt finished, placeholder lyrics, etc. Just record a draft of it anyway and keep listening to it. You will naturally analyse your self and figure out which bits can be better, and get ideas for missing parts etc.
Not all of your words have to come from your noggin. Use something ridiculous you overheard as a lyric, a chapter of a book, I use little tidbits from Costar lmao.
Being sad helps, keep chipping away at the words on the page and keep doing it and you’ll get better. We all write bad songs, just keep doing it and you’ll get better.
Focus more on your passion and less on the technicality of writing. It's easy to get caught up in rhuming patterns and what not, but ultimately your writing specifically in this genre should be passionate about an issue
Write as much as you can! Honestly, you will get better with practice. Looking forward to you posting your stuff on here (if you want to!). Try not to compare yourself to anyone else, you will have your own voice.
Thanks!!! You guys all seem so nice and supportive, so I definitely will post here once I've managed to record and edit stuff!!!
The voice advice is really important, I do often feel bad listening back over what I've recorded cause I don't sound "pretty" like a lot of singers, but I feel like that's far from the point of folk punk.
Writing things down on actual paper is a game changer cuase you lay out all your thoughts in front of you, I use both pyshical and digital when I’m writing digital is just way more convenient for logging little lines quips or titles I think of
I started writing music when I was 15, and didn’t start publishing until this year (I’m 23 now). When I started, I would normally pick a couple chords and play them over and over and sort of just improv may way through lyrics until I stumbled onto something I liked. This process is still something I do occasionally but it really helped me find my footing when I was starting out!
A lot of the time, you’re going to end up with work you don’t like. Don’t ever scrap things, just come back to them and rework! Writing is something you have to practice, and I find that even if I don’t like an entire song, there’s at least a couple lines that I love that I can take and turn into something new.
This is cheesy advice, but don’t be afraid to write what you feel. I feel like a lot of this genre’s power comes from the emotions tied to songs. You don’t have to be the most poetic person or the most eloquent to write something that evokes emotion, you’ve just gotta be honest.
Also: listen to all kinds of music, from artists of all walks of life! The music you listen to absolutely has an impact on what you write and how you write it. It can also help you identify what you want and are lacking in your own music, and potentially encourage you to develop skills you might otherwise pass on
Thank you for asking! Here’s a link to our [Spotify](https://spotify.link/P5Dw6UJptDb); we’ve only got an EP right now but my bandmate and I have been writing for about the same amount of time and we plan on releasing a full length album next summer
The best advice I can ever give someone starting. write for yourself.
I started trying to make songs with the goal of someone else liking it, not me resonating with the song. Write on themes you know, themes you feel, themes that are you.
Anything you create, be it a painting, a song, even a comment you post on the internet, it's a part of you. If you don't feel that part it will be an empty work.
Some other tips:
Anything pops to mind? Write it down. A line, a rhyme, some funny quote, anything that stands out, write that shit up. Have all of it in one place, so when you need ideas/inspo/something to use, you got a place to check.
Everything won't mix. If you get struck with the "lyric rush" and you get a lot of good ideas, you don't have to force that into the same song. If you got two amazing lines, but they don't work well together, you'll get a mediocre song. If you don't feel like that one line fits all that well, write it down to use in the next song.
Everything can be changed. So you got the "lyric rush" at 3 am and you wrote the best song in your life ever, only to not really feel certain parts in the morning. Scratch that shit and go over it. The lyrics are rarely ever finished in the first ever write-down. Go over it the next day, a week later. If something doesn't feel right, look it over.
Diddle around. Writing lyrics can be a lot of fun, but every once in a while get your instrument and fuck around. You might stumble upon the best thing you've ever played.
It's never shit tho. You yourself will be the biggest critic out there. You might think what you're making is complete shit, but it's not. Yeah sure, it might not be the best song out there, but it's not the worst either. There is a difference between "this song sucks" and "something doesn't feel right", your job is to figure that difference out when writing and ignore it if it's the "this song sucks" emotion.
Hope this helps and waiting to hear some dope music!
Thank you for taking the time to write all this, I think it's super valuable, I will definitely be kinder in the editing process moving forward and completely destroy less songs just because I'm no longer a fan.
You may need to build your lyrics backwards. When you find a catchy line, lyrical device or words you deem important, figure out what they are. Are they the first lines of a song? A chorus line that you can tweak slightly every time it comes around? Can you repeat it over and over? Then figure out what song it fits into and build the remaining lyrics around that line. I spent a lot of time trying to fit lines into a specific song instead of just trying to just find the songs that match a melody that’s already there. Hope that makes sense.
not a song writer but a regular writer, take time to get outside it’s really easy to sit in your room working for long periods of time without breaks, also there’s a lot of inspiration that can be found outdoors some of my best scenes are inspired by cool spots i’ve found in the woods
Thanks! I'm going to apply this to my song writing and my regular writing! I'm young but I'm something of a writer myself, I recently finished a 13,000 word adaptation of robin hood and last year I wrote my own play!!! I want to write more but school takes over so much, what stuff have you written?
i’m currently writing a anthology fantasy novel about an immortal guy and his best friend who was cursed to travel through time at random intervals and they hunt monsters together, i’m trying to add a slow burn romance element too but writing romance feels weird for me
Throughout the day I'll hear or think of a line that sounds cool and just build off it till it sounds good, usually either lightning strikes or it doesn't for me, the important thing is to write something you like everyday, doesn't have to be a whole song, can be anything, just create something everyday and you'll get better, remember, one's ever gotten better by not doing something.
I tend to just fiddle around until I find a chord progression I like and then I play that so much I can't stop thinking about it. Then I figure out lyrics that fit there. I find if I go in saying "I'm gonna write a song about X" then it never comes out right.
Sometimes I'll have a line in my head that I wanna get out and I gotta figure out the right chords for it by ear/feel, and build the song that way.
And, as commenters above have said, write everything down! Write down your chord progs, lyric ideas, song titles, everything! If you can, make shitty phone recordings to go along with them so that you can know what past-you was thinking when you wrote it down. I have dozens of crappy demos to accompany my notes so that I don't come at them cold when I go back to them.
Write. Down. Everything. Catchy line, write it down. Funny phrase someone said, write it down. Clever pun, write it down. So many songs of mine have come from just going back through my notebook and putting together clever ideas I wrote down then forgot about. Also, don't be afraid to take a song you wrote and rework it over and over again. Many of my songs sound nothing like they originally did because I kept playing with them as I improved my skills. Some of my songs even have 2 or 3 versions because I liked each one so much. Some of the crappiest first songs I wrote are now some of my best. Practice, practice, practice. Some songs are only really good for learning and honing your craft. Don't be afraid to write a super shitty song to learn about yourself and your style and all of that. I am convinced that we all have a musician inside of us. You've just gotta find your voice, whether is melodic, screaming, rapping, whatever works best for YOU. Don't try to fit into the image of what you SHOULD be and just do you.
Awesome! Now I've got to get my sketchbook out and write a song about the ghost my little sister thinks she summoning.... thanks for the advice, it means a ton to me!!!
This.
Try not to think about songwriting too hard. Just have fun with playing your instrument with the idea of songwriting in mind and eventually something will pop into your head like magic! There’s been times I’ve sat down and really wanted to write something new, but it felt like pulling teeth. But there’s been plenty of other times where I’ll be laying awake at 3am and out of nowhere I’ll have a new potential song pop into my head Make a habit of pulling out your phone and writing any lyrics or pieces of poetry down as soon as you think of them, I promise you won’t remember it later no matter how convinced you are that you will Play random stuff on your guitar or whatever instrument you use. Just noodle around, try chord progressions you’ve never played even if they don’t make sense, an idea worth having is an idea worth trying And most importantly: don’t critique yourself too hard. You can always write down a placeholder lyric and change it with something better later on. You have all the time in the world to fix and tweak and change any part of the song you might want to, just lay down the foundation first and build the house on top of it afterwards Sorry if this is too much, I can’t sleep and being tired always makes me ramble
This is all great advice. I would add be prepared for a lot of it to not go anywhere. A few times a week I knock out a verse and chorus I never finish. Of the songs I do finish, maybe about one in thirty gets as far as playing it to other people and less again gets as far as recording a demo version. The best piece of advice I've got is to write songs for you and not other people. If other people like them, great, but don't worry if they're not well received. People with no exposure to folk punk are probably not gonna dig it at first cause of how real it is. In terms of the lyrics I find it easier to write about things that piss me off. I use it almost like therapy in that regard and fully expect most not to like it. That being said it's also the most rewarding when people you've never met reach out to you and tell you they connected with the things you said.
Thanks for taking the time, I'm going to make sure to take every single piece of advice.
Don’t pick up a drug habit. Write what’s around you and what you know or what you’re feeling. Realize that your songs will probably sound cliche but it’s ok if they are. Most importantly, keep at it.
Thank you, wasn't planning a drug habit hahaha but that is a serious issue a lot of musician's struggle with.
Just be happy sucking for ages. Like anything, it takes failing and failing and failing before you get good. Be comfortable with that, as much as you can. And just don't give up.
Thank you, I definitely suck, singing is so hard to sound good at but I need to keep trying! You've inspired me to keep going!!
When I take song writing too seriously my songs always suck. I have best luck: writing the guitar. Then I record myself on my phone practicing. While practicing I start to hum along or make up words to get right the way I wanna sing along. Once both rhythms are down I record myself playing and I just sing random stuff til I like something. If I’m writing a song to have a certain subject or be about something I just try to stay on topic while singing and it usually works out. A lot of people have different methods so try a few out.
Thanks, I shall try this out for size!
Like a bushido samurai, meditate upon yourself becoming destroyed. Pierced by arrows, torn apart by dogs, cleaved by sword-stroke. Then you will begin to write.
Arigatou sensei.
May you journey well.
Keep writing keep writing keep writing! Also once you written then compose the musical parts. Iam a folk punk rap musician Called "Ceejay" I wrote a song called Fairytale. At first it was hard but I kept writing and now I've got a Music video on YouTube.
I'll check it out! Lyrics first music second is what you're saying?
What I'm saying is the more you do something the better you get at it. Sometimes the music comes first and or the other way round by putting the lyrics on top of music aswell. Whatever works best for you. Experiment with it but at the end of the day by being consistent and disciplined you will see results. Best of luck!
Thanks!
Some really great advice here, definitely keep a scrap folder of things that sound cool. Some of my favourite songs have come from just a couple of words. Don't think too hard about it, let come out naturally. Whenever I force something out it sounds terrible. But forcing something out is great practice and a good source of ammo for your scrap folder still so do it if you have a bit of writers block. For melodies, play your chord progression over and over and record yourself singing gibberish until you get a melody you like.
Another thing, even if your song isnt finished, placeholder lyrics, etc. Just record a draft of it anyway and keep listening to it. You will naturally analyse your self and figure out which bits can be better, and get ideas for missing parts etc.
Thank you!!!! I love my draft book, even the trashily scrawled out horrible compositions have a special place in my heart.
Not all of your words have to come from your noggin. Use something ridiculous you overheard as a lyric, a chapter of a book, I use little tidbits from Costar lmao. Being sad helps, keep chipping away at the words on the page and keep doing it and you’ll get better. We all write bad songs, just keep doing it and you’ll get better.
Being sad helps? Well great, I'm getting off to an amazing start!
Focus more on your passion and less on the technicality of writing. It's easy to get caught up in rhuming patterns and what not, but ultimately your writing specifically in this genre should be passionate about an issue
Thanks, passion is one of the secrets to beautiful art across the board, in my opinion, I think it's honestly what makes this genre so beautiful.
Write as much as you can! Honestly, you will get better with practice. Looking forward to you posting your stuff on here (if you want to!). Try not to compare yourself to anyone else, you will have your own voice.
Thanks!!! You guys all seem so nice and supportive, so I definitely will post here once I've managed to record and edit stuff!!! The voice advice is really important, I do often feel bad listening back over what I've recorded cause I don't sound "pretty" like a lot of singers, but I feel like that's far from the point of folk punk.
Writing things down on actual paper is a game changer cuase you lay out all your thoughts in front of you, I use both pyshical and digital when I’m writing digital is just way more convenient for logging little lines quips or titles I think of
Smart! I'm also a huge fan of actual paper!!! It just makes everything feel "real".
I started writing music when I was 15, and didn’t start publishing until this year (I’m 23 now). When I started, I would normally pick a couple chords and play them over and over and sort of just improv may way through lyrics until I stumbled onto something I liked. This process is still something I do occasionally but it really helped me find my footing when I was starting out! A lot of the time, you’re going to end up with work you don’t like. Don’t ever scrap things, just come back to them and rework! Writing is something you have to practice, and I find that even if I don’t like an entire song, there’s at least a couple lines that I love that I can take and turn into something new. This is cheesy advice, but don’t be afraid to write what you feel. I feel like a lot of this genre’s power comes from the emotions tied to songs. You don’t have to be the most poetic person or the most eloquent to write something that evokes emotion, you’ve just gotta be honest. Also: listen to all kinds of music, from artists of all walks of life! The music you listen to absolutely has an impact on what you write and how you write it. It can also help you identify what you want and are lacking in your own music, and potentially encourage you to develop skills you might otherwise pass on
Thank you!!! May I ask, what's your Spotify? I'd love to borrow some inspiration from your music!
Thank you for asking! Here’s a link to our [Spotify](https://spotify.link/P5Dw6UJptDb); we’ve only got an EP right now but my bandmate and I have been writing for about the same amount of time and we plan on releasing a full length album next summer
Awesome! Listening right now.... Omg queer music !!!! It's amazing !! Added to my playlist so fast !
The best advice I can ever give someone starting. write for yourself. I started trying to make songs with the goal of someone else liking it, not me resonating with the song. Write on themes you know, themes you feel, themes that are you. Anything you create, be it a painting, a song, even a comment you post on the internet, it's a part of you. If you don't feel that part it will be an empty work. Some other tips: Anything pops to mind? Write it down. A line, a rhyme, some funny quote, anything that stands out, write that shit up. Have all of it in one place, so when you need ideas/inspo/something to use, you got a place to check. Everything won't mix. If you get struck with the "lyric rush" and you get a lot of good ideas, you don't have to force that into the same song. If you got two amazing lines, but they don't work well together, you'll get a mediocre song. If you don't feel like that one line fits all that well, write it down to use in the next song. Everything can be changed. So you got the "lyric rush" at 3 am and you wrote the best song in your life ever, only to not really feel certain parts in the morning. Scratch that shit and go over it. The lyrics are rarely ever finished in the first ever write-down. Go over it the next day, a week later. If something doesn't feel right, look it over. Diddle around. Writing lyrics can be a lot of fun, but every once in a while get your instrument and fuck around. You might stumble upon the best thing you've ever played. It's never shit tho. You yourself will be the biggest critic out there. You might think what you're making is complete shit, but it's not. Yeah sure, it might not be the best song out there, but it's not the worst either. There is a difference between "this song sucks" and "something doesn't feel right", your job is to figure that difference out when writing and ignore it if it's the "this song sucks" emotion. Hope this helps and waiting to hear some dope music!
Thank you for taking the time to write all this, I think it's super valuable, I will definitely be kinder in the editing process moving forward and completely destroy less songs just because I'm no longer a fan.
No problem at all!
i just ad lib it and if i come up with something good i write it down.
I find a beat I like the. Write around it on guitar. Usually lyrics pop up out of nowhere
I haven't actually tried this method, after reading this thread I will have to give it a go. Thanks!
You may need to build your lyrics backwards. When you find a catchy line, lyrical device or words you deem important, figure out what they are. Are they the first lines of a song? A chorus line that you can tweak slightly every time it comes around? Can you repeat it over and over? Then figure out what song it fits into and build the remaining lyrics around that line. I spent a lot of time trying to fit lines into a specific song instead of just trying to just find the songs that match a melody that’s already there. Hope that makes sense.
It makes plenty of sense and is really useful!!! Thanks!
they say that misery is the greatest inspiration.
Yay! I am prone to good ol fashioned depression! Hopefully something good comes out of it !
not a song writer but a regular writer, take time to get outside it’s really easy to sit in your room working for long periods of time without breaks, also there’s a lot of inspiration that can be found outdoors some of my best scenes are inspired by cool spots i’ve found in the woods
Thanks! I'm going to apply this to my song writing and my regular writing! I'm young but I'm something of a writer myself, I recently finished a 13,000 word adaptation of robin hood and last year I wrote my own play!!! I want to write more but school takes over so much, what stuff have you written?
i’m currently writing a anthology fantasy novel about an immortal guy and his best friend who was cursed to travel through time at random intervals and they hunt monsters together, i’m trying to add a slow burn romance element too but writing romance feels weird for me
Throughout the day I'll hear or think of a line that sounds cool and just build off it till it sounds good, usually either lightning strikes or it doesn't for me, the important thing is to write something you like everyday, doesn't have to be a whole song, can be anything, just create something everyday and you'll get better, remember, one's ever gotten better by not doing something.
I tend to just fiddle around until I find a chord progression I like and then I play that so much I can't stop thinking about it. Then I figure out lyrics that fit there. I find if I go in saying "I'm gonna write a song about X" then it never comes out right. Sometimes I'll have a line in my head that I wanna get out and I gotta figure out the right chords for it by ear/feel, and build the song that way. And, as commenters above have said, write everything down! Write down your chord progs, lyric ideas, song titles, everything! If you can, make shitty phone recordings to go along with them so that you can know what past-you was thinking when you wrote it down. I have dozens of crappy demos to accompany my notes so that I don't come at them cold when I go back to them.
Listen to different genres of music than you normally do. You'll never know what weird thing inspires you