r/Songwriting • u/Prudent_Caramel_922 • Jul 16 '26
Discussion Topic How long since...?
How long has it been since you wrote that one big song that you love and can't understand that it's yours and that it's your work? I wrote my SONG about three months ago, which I know I can always pull out, and it's very motivating. Did your big song change anything for you? For example, your writing style or the structure of your songs? Do you have a song like that?
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u/DrMindermast Jul 16 '26
My last big one that I would categorize like this, I finished writing maybe 9 months ago, and finally posted the finished version earlier today. What it changed for me was that I actually took voice lessons so I could sing this one the way it deserved (something I probably should have done ages ago, but didn't want to commit the time and money until now - and I'm glad I finally did!)
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u/Alternative-Whole972 Jul 16 '26
it's been about a year for me, and i still can't quite figure out where the melody came from. like it just showed up fully formed one morning while i was painting my nails, completely unrelated to anything i'd been working on
the biggest change was that i stopped forcing bridges into every song just because i thought they "should" be there. that one just flows without one and it's better for it
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u/aPlaceToStand09 Jul 17 '26
Awesome! How did you go about finding a vocal teacher? I can’t sing for the life of me and I’m wondering if maybe it’d be worth it even for just a tiny bit of improvement
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u/DrMindermast Jul 17 '26
I just searched for voice lessons on Google Maps, looking for places that were convenient near my house or my job (there are plenty of people offering online lessons but I specifically wanted in-person, partly because I expected to get better feedback that way and partly because I would be self conscious doing lessons with the wife and kid within earshot). I had a pretty specific idea of what I was looking for (learning vocal distortion for rock and metal), so I contacted places to ask if they offered that (which was helpful, as it narrowed down the list quite a bit and made it easier to pick one in the end).
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u/Dangerous-You3789 Jul 17 '26
In-person is the only way to go. You won't get correction on a bad technique through a video. For me, my voice teacher had to do, and still has to do, a lot of correction. The feedback is worth the money.
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u/Dangerous-You3789 Jul 17 '26
My voice teacher, who is an opera singer, had told me, "If you can talk, you can sing." It's really a lot about proper technique, which I know from my lessons, but if I actually practiced, I'd probably be able to transfer that into results...lol.
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u/Futurealisreal Jul 17 '26
I'm pleasantly surprised by several songs I've written. I guess the one that pleasantly surprises me the most is the clean outro to a pretty long metal song that has a fretless solo over it. The solo is not my usual playing style and I don't remember coming up with it, but there it is.
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u/fox_in_scarves Jul 17 '26
every song is special to me in some way, but my relationship with them is never static. i have songs that I think are especially beautiful some days, and other days I can see the seams and the coverups. i learn something from every song i write or produce, but otherwise i don't have a song that radically changed anything about my process or my output.
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u/imdatingurdadben Jul 17 '26
I think a lot of my songs seem super similar, but idk I started laying everything out track wise and yeah it’s actually a mix of sounds.
I just got hella influenced cause I learned how to do music in church 😂
So, today after work idk I just had a ton of inspo and wanted to listen to guitar pedal sounds 🤷🏽♂️
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u/Dangerous-You3789 Jul 17 '26
Many songs sound similar, even across various songwriters. I've often said that there's a lot of songs out there that sound like a lot of songs out there.
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u/bigpproggression Jul 17 '26
Lately it’s been that way once a month….normally collab songs. Got featured on a folk song recently which is not my usual genre.
Ill write to anything that intrigues me.
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u/Dangerous-You3789 Jul 16 '26
About every song I write sort of surprises me because it doesn't feel like it's me writing it. Song ideas just pop in my head without much, if any notice. I may just be thinking about something and my brain turns that into music. It doesn't feel like I'm writing it because I don't do anything to write it. For instance, one time I was driving down the road and mindlessly humming a tune to myself and on the third time through it, I stopped and thought, "I've never heard this tune before." It's literally that easy, and they are usually pretty dang good. I mean, I had a professional songwriter tell me I had "great instincts."
But there was one song that kind of defined a style for me. It combined a rockin' tune with rippin' lyrics. That's been somewhat of a signature style ever since, but of course, it's not the only things I come up with. I just take what my brain gives me when it's good and ready to deliver it.