When I ask other songwriters how they approach the craft of songwriting, I get a lot of answers. Many
get inspiration, write the lyrics and then add the melody.
My wife Jilda and I begin with the melody. I have a recorder app on my iPhone and often in the mornings during coffee, I'll pull out my guitar and play melodies. Some of them stick, and some don't. When I get something that has interesting pieces, I'll record it and save it for later.
Then when we sit down to do a songwriting session (which isn't often enough), I pull out the iPhone and listen to the melodies I've saved.
More often than not, when I play the piece over and over, I'll begin to sing non-sense words to the melody.
Then one of us will say, "This feels like this." We'll come up with a hook phrase and start cobbling together verses, a chorus, and sometimes a bridge.
Several months ago we did a session with our friends Fred Miller, Jonathan and Diana Mayhall. We used the process described above and within an hour, we'd written a song called Tattoo'd Soul.
Here's a link to the song on our website.
Tattoo'd Soul
get inspiration, write the lyrics and then add the melody.
My wife Jilda and I begin with the melody. I have a recorder app on my iPhone and often in the mornings during coffee, I'll pull out my guitar and play melodies. Some of them stick, and some don't. When I get something that has interesting pieces, I'll record it and save it for later.
Then when we sit down to do a songwriting session (which isn't often enough), I pull out the iPhone and listen to the melodies I've saved.
More often than not, when I play the piece over and over, I'll begin to sing non-sense words to the melody.
Then one of us will say, "This feels like this." We'll come up with a hook phrase and start cobbling together verses, a chorus, and sometimes a bridge.
Several months ago we did a session with our friends Fred Miller, Jonathan and Diana Mayhall. We used the process described above and within an hour, we'd written a song called Tattoo'd Soul.
Here's a link to the song on our website.
Tattoo'd Soul