[StormX]

Yeah, I know, you're thinking, another 101 thread. Well, I've seen so many questions pop up here over the past few months about writing songs and putting them together that I figured I'd make this thread.

Intro
It's inevitable. Your in a band, and the band needs to write songs. (unless you're in a cover band.) But where to start?

I've been in a few bands myself, and we faced this problem, as I'm sure everyone does. Everyone decides to write a song, then you all just stare at each other, or the person that you all want to write the song. Normally everyone expects the lead singer to provide the lyrics and the lead guitarist to provide the music. I'm not saying that you're not allowed to do it that way, but you know, other people besides the singer can write good lyrics. In a lot of cases, better than the singer. And all the musicians should have a say in the music.

In this first lesson, I'm going to discuss how to start the process of writing the lyrics for the song. Keep in mind, I don't have experience in all kinds of music, so this advice may not fit you.

Lyrics

You don't have to write lyrics first. In fact, you can write lyrics last. Both ways work. If you write the lyrics first, then you have two choices: make up the melody of how they are sung, and write the music, or, write the music and then sing the lyrics in a melody that fits the music. Writing the music to a melody that you made for the vocals to be sung works much better, because a lot of times, you can't get lryics X to fit with music X. If you do it that way and it works, props. But most of the time it won't. If you choose to make a melody for the singing then add music, you need to think of a few things. First, the melody needs to work musically, you can't have every line be just randomly sung at different speeds in different keys. It's also a good idea, if you have another person singing backing vocals, since most likely they are a musician, figure out that melody too, so they can make their music something they can play and be able to sing what they need to.

As for the actual lyrics, you aren't really confined by anything. But there are some things I want to say, that should help you:

Content
A few different things here. First off, think about what kind of audience will be hearing your music. Don't write music about cutting peoples balls with razors if you're marketing your music to little kids. And the other way around, if you're going to be playing in biker bars, don't write about candy canes and lollipops...unless the bikers around you dig that kinda stuff. And also, unless your a metal band, or something like that, make your lyrics kind of tell a story. But if you are metal band, I'd stay away from the story-telling. Metal lyrics are better when they are just pure emotion, espically if thats anger or hate. But that's my opinion, you can write whatever you want.

Rhyming
You don't have to rhyme. Some songs sound better with rhymes, while others don't. If you can't get a rhyme, don't force it, that sounds bad. Just write something that flows. The worst thing you can do it write a song so it doesn't flow. Anyone, even people that know nothing about music, will notice when the lyrics don't flow. If you can't get it to flow, move on to another idea and come back later.

Alright, that wraps up the first lesson. I know it seems like it would fit better on the songwriting and lyrics board, but it will be important here. For the next lessons, I'll finish up about writing lryics, start on writing the guitar parts, and have some more general info. I'm hoping someone liked this, or at least it helped someone.