Instrumental songwriting help

[satchmo72]

For those that write their instrumental stuff, I am hoping you can give me some insight to your writing process.

I have a horrible time transitioning from the "verse" to the "chorus" if you will. If I have done it successfully in the past, it has been an accident. My thinking to an instrumental song though is that it is set up much like a vocal song intro,verse, bridge,chorus,etc... Maybe I am thinking wrong.

I guess my trouble would be the bridge, getting from the melody into the chorus.

Any thoughts? I have so many cool parts of songs that never get finished as whole songs because of this.

[dccomputersa]

Just remember one thing dude, the transition can be whatever you want it to be. It doesn't have to be traditional or how everyone else does it.

[satchmo72]

Thanks man, I'm too analytical sometimes I guess.

[therightjem]

You mentioned something about going from verse to chorus. Sometimes a key change works nicely. That's something nice about instrumental music in that one isn't restrained by a singer's ability. Be careful though, not all key changes sound great. Try going from major to minor. For example, C major to C minor. One could also think of it as C major to Eb major.

[satchmo72]

Originally Posted by therightjem

You mentioned something about going from verse to chorus. Sometimes a key change works nicely. That's something nice about instrumental music in that one isn't restrained by a singer's ability. Be careful though, not all key changes sound great. Try going from major to minor. For example, C major to C minor. One could also think of it as C major to Eb major.

Good thought, I dont think I have ever sat down and thought about the song harmonically beyond knowing what key I started writing the melody in and what rhythm I want behind the melody. I need to branch out, think about this differently. I have always stayed in the same key.

[rastachild]

first you can check out a couple of my instrumentals on this page...see if this is the type of song development you are trying to achieve:

www.soundcloud.com/rastachild (hat trick and fact of the matter)

if this is the type of instrumental stuff you are trying to write, i can at least give you an idea of how i do it.

to me, writing instrumental tunes is almost identical to writing songs for vocals. i honestly don't think of making the structure any differently. but i like progressive rock/metal in general, so a vocal tune can have a lot of changes and that's alright with me. as far as how to come up with transitions...my method is just to jam the tune over and over and then when i get to that part that i'm trying to write, i'll stop and see where i 'hear' the section going. it has helped me immensely to mentally visualize and run sections through my head.

one thing you should never do is force sections together or settle on something you aren't 100% in love with. it's ok to have half finished songs and put them away if they aren't coming together. no need to beat your head against the wall...might be a good time to put it on the backburner and work on a partial tune that you haven't jammed on in awhile.

hope that helps!

[Ibateur]

An alternative can also be to think of a drum fill/change in tempo type of thing, or other "break" in the music.

I have similar problems or worse, as I can barely call myself a musician. I have to consciously look at the chords/notes I have used up until that point and consciously say "ok, transition time ... what next?"

[silverctr]

Originally Posted by therightjem

You mentioned something about going from verse to chorus. Sometimes a key change works nicely. That's something nice about instrumental music in that one isn't restrained by a singer's ability. Be careful though, not all key changes sound great. Try going from major to minor. For example, C major to C minor. One could also think of it as C major to Eb major.

"Always With Me, Always With You" is a great example of this.

[satch_jr]

On my side I do not have a specific approach for the song's structure.

It just comes as I play/feel it at the moment I found the idea. It can be just another chord progression in the same scale, a mode change by staying with the same root note, or a total different feeling or sometimes a direct switch from verse to chorus or vice versa.

I do not approach the song as a vocal song as rastachild does, but this is a personal feeling. Every person has its own approach (which is great), which is part of every personality.

I went through a bunch of questionings in the past as you are into now, but try not to focus too much on these questions, I can tell by experience that asking yourself too much questions might create a loss of focus about the inspiration and about where you want to go.

As an example I’m in the process of finishing (have to record the final solo and will be done) a composition I started in last October, but I’m still not finished with songs I started writing more than 5 years ago, songs I wanted as prog epics. But I’m still struggling to find correct structures, transitions, soloing back riffs, etc. I guess I’m finding difficulties where they not are and don’t know…

[satchmo72]

Hey all, great suggestions from everyone.

Rasta, I listened to Hat and Fact and I hear what you are saying, the transitions are fluid (or not fluid when the aren't meant to be) I have always thought of them as vocal song structure also. I might need to branch out and veer away from that.

IBA, I think that if you are capable of writing music, your a musician and what your feeling about "what chords" is natural to how a song is written, I have heard Satch talk about where he heard the song going and what he wants the feeling to be. Each chord has it's own personality, finding the right chords isn't something to be ashamed of.

Satch, sometimes the transition just flows and sometimes I just hit a wall. I have created 3 songs from one session because what I think should be the next progression ends up being a better song unto itself. Although I never quite finish those either. Good luck on the solo. When I have come back to previous starts, the magic I had that day is gone. That one take that had a flaw or two and got deleted, should have been the "one"

I have been trying to use drums to transition more and the key has been that I finally learned to program my own MIDI drum parts, something that has helped immensely.

Thanks guys. Been gear shopping the last couple of days but will be working on it more this week.

Jeff

[satch_jr]

The loss of the magic of inspiration is a pain in the a.. which happens all the time, I remember once having imagined in my mind a whole song before falling asleep one night, just like Steve Vai describes he dreamed about a song, playing it in my mind many many times and don't even remember a clue of it in the next morning...
The only thing I remember is that I used to have a whole song in my mind...but that's all...

On the other hand, I'm also loosing focus on the original ideas of a song if I insist too much finding a variation or progression of it. This happens many times to me. But now with all the recordings tools we have, I try to record my finding before it blows itself away...
And this keeps the initial -inspiration/idea/mood/whatever it is- pretty much intact. And I'm absolutely happy with that.

[Megalon]

My take on this subject is that if you are writing instrumental music-then listen to the masters of the genre that you are trying to compose in and steal their ideas. Every genre of music has it's cliches and 'chestnuts' so to speak but they are there for a reason,you have to see what worked in the past and has stood the test of time. Certain chord progressions have been in use for hundreds of years because they are practical and pleasing to the ear.(Bach)
If you are having trouble connecting song structures,perhaps you need to simplify.

(Stealing ideas) Is a tried and true method. If you are writing blues instrumentals,you would study 'Hideaway''The Stumble' and borrow turnarounds/licks because those are established classics of the genre. If you want to write classical music for guitar well, you would study something like Bouree,Instrumental shred,borrow from Satch,Vai Gilbert,Malmsteen... if you write jazz fusion listen to Weather Report etc. etc.

My point is that once you in a given style,half the work is already done,you just have to put your original spin on it. If what you're writing doesn't HAVE an identifiable style then that is something that needs to be addressed. My 2 cents.