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Originally Posted by The Magic Hoof  Here's where I'm at personally, all production and recording aside. Maybe others can relate.
I'm very good at writing 'pieces' here and there. Something for a chorus, verse etc. I've got tons of those little ideas sitting around waiting to be constructed into an entire song. The biggest problem that I have though is actually doing that, as in the building a house thing. You start with a simple idea which is the foundation and then build your house (song) from that. I'm talking about the transitions of going from an intro to a verse, to a chorus, then a break and etc. You've got to add some sort of contrast when transitioning between parts of your song as well as add tension and release, have some kind of buildup.
Everything I just said seems like a piece of cake when saying it, but doing it is a completely different thing. I get stuck badly after completing a section of a song and don't know where to go from there, how to build it and transition, etc. I wouldn't call this writer's block since I can write pieces here and there just fine.
It's the art of songwriting and arrangement that I get stuck on  . Anyone else experience this? |
What you just described is what writers block is.It's about not putting the ideas together not ...not having ideas.(that's writers blockitis)
The only way I know to break through a WB is DARE TO SUCK....put those ideas together and don't worry about what they sound like or that everything isn't planned out from start to finish.When composing usually one idea begets many ideas.It's the choices you make not the ideas.Ideas are plentiful...making choices is how you learnto make choices
Same thing with lyrics.For me the concept(the nut..what the lyric is about ) is KING.Titles and lines are just picture frames.Personally I can't write very much of the lyric without hearing the music.New country music seems most of it is written without thinking of the music til later.....the music is the frame (the least important part).
Many times all of theses things come rushing at me at once.Its my job to sort them out.Try a little from column A-Z if necessary.If it doesn't all come together oh well..more ideas are waiting..I can always glean old ideas or permutate them into new ones.
IMO the most important thing is to just do it.Thinking about it doesn't help much..it usually makes it worse.The thinking should have been done LONG ago when learning the basics.
and finally don't be so hard on yourself(unless you need to be!).IMO there's no magic to this stuff. Its all in th e doing then doing it again and again....
BP