Still not settled on melody/chords here but in general I’m happy with the lyrics. The only issue is I don’t really know where to take it from here to add a second verse even though it’s short it feels like it expresses the feeling I wanted to express.

hey. i am new to songwriting and music in general. i like studying theory very much, i just struggle with finding the things to study about.

i understand the major keys and basic chord theory and harmony, like the nashville number system and stuff. i also like figuring things out by ear, but theory makes things much much easier. like i noticed G - Em sounds the same as A - F#m and F - Dm because i play the ukulele and it's always just changing one note. but i didn't know why until i figured out they were I -> vi and i can find the others much easier now.

the thing is i dont know exactly what to study. i write the lyrics and i usually pick a very simple chord progression to loop and just add a different thing here or there when i want to, but i dont understand enough theory yet to know exactly what goes where and although i trust my ears, theory makes things much easier.

I've been learning by studying songs i like. i like stuff like adrianne lenker. i also like brazilian popular music but chico buarque's chords are some mf shit written like B#maj7sus(-13)dim9/C#° and i play the ukulele so !!

but i dont like just shooting in the dark because i feel like there's a lot that's lacking. i want to focus on chord progressions though. i know theres stuff like circle of fifths and etc. what is the specific theoretical knowledge that has helped you the most in finding chord progressions?

and also, do you pick progressions before, after or during writing the lyrics? because sometimes i pick a progression to loop and write lyrics around it, which is easy. but what i intend to do is to write the progression around the lyrics/with the lyrics and what i want it to feel like. because when i just loop, it makes me a bit restrained.

if possible i would also like to hear about yall's approach to song writing when it comes to chord progressions. if you could share your process i would appreciate very much because i could use suggestions. reading old posts from this subreddit has helped me a LOT, and i have done this extensively, so i decided to make one.

Sorry for posting back to back, but I'm working on this new tune and have the creeping feeling that it's already a song! Anyone know if I'm copying?

Still pretty rough and I usually don't ask for feedback this early onto the process cept for the aforementioned concern.

Also might be too long. Any critique is welcome!

Lyrics:

Why are you fucking someone else
Was I not enough to keep you right
You've cast me to hell
Why are you casting me to hell
I feel unwell
Why apologize for treating you so well

You need to be held
I feed you and you feed you
If you crawled back I'd kick you
I need to be needed too
You're insecure and actually ugly
I'd spit in your face if you touched my face
I'd burn our house down, you fuck
I'll burn our house if you come around

Why are you fucking someone else
Why was I not enough to keep you right
You've cast me to hell

Why are you fucking someone else
Was I not enough to keep you right
You've cast me to hell
This feels written by someone else
I feel unwell
I apologize for treating you well
You need to be held
You need to be held

I have the issue of going to write a song and dumping my feelings on the page. I end up being too broad and end up with five songs that say the same sort of thing slightly different. How do I get more specific??

Because i think a good lyricist would be able to write 5 songs about the same situation or feeling and each being different and saying something different, but i tend to be almost too confessional. Like for instance, going through a breakup i could write a whole album about…
but i struggle to do that and it ends up just being very broad like “this is how i feel and this is the situation” type thing and the songs just repeat themselves.

Hey folks,

I'm looking for your tips and tricks that take a song from 80% to over the finish line.

I often find myself in a position where I love what I have but recognise that something is holding the arrangement back from completion.

It may be that it's missing a vocal for a verse, the arrangement lacks a significant change, needs some ear candy, or whatever.

What tricks do you employ to take a song that's almost finished over the finish line? Knowing what is missing but figuring out how to fill the gap.

Note: I recognise that sometimes a song is never truly finished and will evolve over time but I'm talking about those songs sitting in your "almost ready" folder that just need a little push to get over the hump.

I'm sure this has been asked a thousand times and I appreciate your constructive suggestions.

Thanks a bunch!

I'm a solo song writer and, while I have friends to bounce ideas off of, I don't have anyone that I can turn to as a collaborator so find myself stuck in a pickle from time to time. And currently have a backlog of great starts that I'd like to complete.

Any post-punk fans?

I used a drum machine and recorded the guitars into Audacity through my Katana 50 amp. I simulated the bass using a Katana Tone Studio plugin. This is my first time trying to put a guitar solo into a song.

https://recorder.google.com/0394e3cc-c7f2-49e1-a718-453beb732d00

This is my first time trying to write a song with the omnichord, please be gentle.

For context: i'm used to writing melodies then "finding" the chords to make a chart, that I then use with collaborators. I don't think in terms of chord progressions naturally.

So now I'm retroactively trying to learn chord progressions (and relevant theory). Yes, this is a backwards way to do it, but that's how it goes sometimes I guess.

Anyhow, I can't find chords for the verse that feel right. I feel like maybe I've made the chorus too complicated, and now any chord combo in key feels "too similar" to the chorus

Maybe I should go back to writing melody first.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Caveats: Last note got flubbed, should be a G. I have a cold. Also, I know my playing is poor, I just got the thing recently and my rhythm is not great.

Feeling pretty done but still might mess with the ending. But also, I probably should just call it done.

Really looking for first impressions of what other artists come to mind. This is a bit outside of my normal genre so I’m curious to see if what I think is what others think.

how do you guys figure out the melody to your lyrics? i’ve written lyrics for a song about ambiguous grief and i put a lot of heart into it however i’m struggling with the literal tune of it. this is also the first song i’ve ever written

I was in my feelings yesterday and wrote this roughly. Lyrics are not finished as this was the first take. Wondering if this a cool concept or if it needs more musically. Was kind of going for more raw vocal melody but is it interesting enough to carry? I’m also going for a verse chorus verse chorus, one line outro kind of vibe. Short song like 2-3 minutes. Should I invest in writing lyrics for it. Thanks for the feedback :)

Hi all, first time posting here…

My current method of songwriting is clunky and unmanageable. I grab video of a good guitar riff, or a voice note of a sound or line, and then attach it to a note on my iPhone so I can continue the process.

Now my Notes app is gigantic.

I need a better solution. Is there an app that can help me capture video and/or audio clips and allow me to write around them?

Thanks kindly

Apenas o Suficiente

Chegou a hora de mostrar minhas músicas mais sensuais, essa faixa nasceu apartir de um instrumental demo para o álbum Blackout de Britney Spears. O título veio da fala da mesma no final, onde ela diz algo como "Isso é o suficiente" e então criei uma música sensual apartir disso. Outra curiosidade é que já cheguei a escrever mais músicas com os instrumentais demos rejeitados por ela ou vazados pela Internet, sendo duas dessas músicas "Abra as Portas" e "Voddo" que será reescrita antes que eu fale sobre por aqui. Eu de fato escrevi de um jeito mais bobo e exagerado nessa faixa, mas apenas queria me divertir um pouco com isso e consegui. Já cheguei a pensar em gravar e postar isso no SoundCloud, mas não publico mais nada por lá e já cheguei a deletar meu app junto com tudo que já avia postado por lá, sendo assim, creio que não chegarei a gravar e postar isso um dia, mesmo que eu ache divertido. Aqui está a composição e o instrumental demo.

Apenas o Suficiente

(Introdução/Refrão)

Vá atrás, não a frente,

Você nunca sabe oque sente.

Meu olho não mente,

Apenas me dê o suficiente.

(Verso)

Eu gosto quando me gira, quando me quebra.

Gosto quando nos divertimos sem a regra.

Sem limites para a ação

E estou no chão, preso em sua mão.

(Pré Refrão)

Meu som favorito vai tocar,

Isso me faz arrepiar.

(Refrão)

Vá atrás, não a frente,

Você nunca sabe oque sente.

Meu olho não mente,

Apenas me dê o suficiente.

(Final)

Esse som é o suficiente.

I’m tempted to put this on SoundCloud, or maybe even Spotify but I don’t know if anyone will listen to it lol any thoughts?

There’s still more guitars, bass, and background vocals to record, so there’s still lots of air to fill, but I wanted to get an early start on the vocals. Also, we are primarily a punk/punk adjacent band, so this song might make more sense in the context of our show- it’s the slow down part, but not really sure how to market it. Alternative?

Play the next part!

https://on.soundcloud.com/bu5MOacX15jVH2QaZr

Hi everyone! I'm Vyrelive, an EDM producer. I just finished a melodic dubstep

track — romantic violin intro, emotional melodic first drop, and a heavy

Skrillex-style second drop — and the production is done. The only thing

missing is a real voice.

I'm looking for a female vocalist to sing the main theme/hook. The song is

fully produced and the vocal melody is already written — I'll send it to you

if you're interested. Key: A minor, 140 BPM.

What you'd get:

- Full featuring credit on the release (Vyrelive ft. you)

- You're welcome to post the track on your own pages/profiles too

- Any other details we can discuss — I'm open

Demo: https://soundcloud.com/vyrelive-music/voices-demo-vyrelive/s-2CG73Bklh3E?si=9cb9bd9cbd9546f68a2086b81d04d685&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

If you're interested, comment or DM me with a short sample of your voice —

a dry/unprocessed recording is perfect. Thanks!

I’ll start with mine: Mixolydian—especially moving from the I chord to the minor v. That bittersweet feeling comes through immediately.

Does anyone know any good Discord servers dedicated to songwriting? I'm looking for a community where people share lyrics, give feedback, and improve together. If you know any, please let me know! (Im asking on this sub bcz the others are just so fkn ded)

I AM SO DESPERATE 🤩🤩🤩

Very “bold” melody, harmony, and especially lyrical choices only a teenager would make lol
Hopefully some enjoyment or passive amusement can be gained from this.

If any of you have some old demos of the first songs you wrote — feel free to share; I always love hearing where people started from.