[TheMasterplan]

I swore to myself when I bought my seven that it wasn't going to go to waste and that when I had adjusted fully to the seventh string and was comfortable with my technique and style that I would begin composing. It seemed like a reasonable promise, but I knew that composing wasn't easy, but I didn't know it would be this hard.

I guess what I'm asking is how to start? I'm kind of not good at improv and jamming, which I assume stems from a lack of knowledge of theory, which is essentially the backbone of compostion [correct me if I'm wrong]. I've written a few decent riffs and whathaveyou, but I'm having trouble making one composition that flows nicely. I try not to make thing terribly complicated, but I don't want to write stuff that's boring. I'm just really stuck on where to start. I know there are infinite ways on how people do it, hell, some people have formulas and patterns that they use [more of what I don't know how to do] How do you guys go about it?

[OzzyC]

I'm interested in this topic aswell, I tend to have a hard time with this area as well.

[Durero]

I've found in my teaching that many folks write riffs very well but then get stuck on how to take the next step - which I would say is arranging them into a piece or song, or in other words creating the form.

I haven't found any magic formulas or quick tricks that satisfy me, but as a simple way to start I usually suggest making sure you have a method and place to collect all your raw material - riffs, melodies, rhythms, chord progressions, etc. So a simple computer recording setup is great (GarageBand is ideal on a mac, and I'm sure there's tons of stuff for Windows and stuff for Linux as well) but anything will do - tape recorder, writing stuff down on paper in notation or tab (make sure to notate the rhythm as well.)

From there I would basically do as much experimentation as possible. Try not to get too frustrated if your awesome riffs don't quickly form themselves into brilliant prog-math-metal epics right away, or whatever else you envision. Just try listening to as many combinations & orderings and/or layerings (combining parts to be played together simultaneously) as you can and sift the results for the ones you like.

Then continue to build until you are happy with the finished product. To me this just involves a lot of work and perseverance. Sometimes I find that the most difficult point comes when a composition is about 80% arranged into it's final form and just needs a perfect finishing touch - which can take as much work to find as the entire 80% did in the first place.


From another angle, I recently came across a very interesting comment by Frank Gambale on composition and arranging - he said finishing a song is never difficult for him because he just decides the form right away when he starts, and then fills in the materials to finish it.

He's working in a jazz context so he does stuff like 'ok I want an 8 bar head, 16 bar chorus, another 16 bar chorus, then back to the head and done.' Obviously this type of form may not be desired in every musical context, but the point remains: try deciding on the form first, then placing your materials into it to complete the piece.

I've yet to complete this process myself, but I've outlined a few forms I intend to try. Experiment, experiment, experiment...

[Gilbucci]

Coming up with riffs that sound good is an absolute BITCH for me. I really need help in that deparment.

[Rayder]

when i started trying to come up with my own stuff, it was difficult. trying to come up with something that you hadn't already heard from another band. but as i started making up more and more riffs, i eventually got better and better at it. now when i play guitar, i mostly play my own stuff, and make up stuff on the spot (mind you im still not very good at it yet) . a starter point: just play anything. ANYTHING! you will eventually find something that sounds good. you may even modify riffs you had made in the past so sound better. so the best way to start would be to just start doing it.

[HamBungler]

I find it easy to collaborate with another person. I can compose alright, coming up with riffs is a bitch though. The lead guitar player in my band is a riff machine, so I just take what he plays and modify them to sound 10x cooler, then we come up with a good composition that works for what we do, basically a thrash/progressive/power metal sorta thing. Our songs tend to be reaaally long though. Our most basic song is over 6 minutes long So I'd go for the "Short and Sweet" approach at first just to get the hang of things.

[SchecterShredder9109]

Power Tab, I write my riffs, then put them on power tab to add hamronized parts and what not, then I can fix spots that I think is weak in the song. Also, Knowing scales and modes really helped me out a lot. Basically, just keep coming up with anything you can, no madder how stupid it sounds, then in time, you will start making more brutal riffs. You could also look at some of your favorite guitarist and see some techniques they use, then put them in your own music, trying not to make it sound like there music. I go back and look at old riffs I made, then I slap myself, haha.

[Naren]

I've never had trouble with composition. I could just sit down and write a pretty good 4-5 minute long song right now (if we're just talking guitars. The other instruments, vocals, and lyrics will take more time). The other guitarist in my band oftentimes comes up with tons and tons of riffs, but has no idea how to put them together. So, I help him piece them together and connect them into the song. If you compare songs that I wrote (mostly or completely by myself) and songs that he wrote (mostly by himself), my songs are very well organized with progressions that are very logical through music theory (although sometimes not the most common, for example. I start out in the key of E and change to the key of C# in one of songs). The other guitarist is a lot more skilled than me at guitar technically (he can shred, solo, tap and sweep pick like crazy. And the solos he comes up with are really really cool in my opinion), but he lacks knowledge of music theory and is not very good at musical structure, which are both things that I'm somewhat strong in. When I'm writing songs, oftentimes I'll hear both guitars in my head the way I want it to be. For example, one guitar playing these certain arpeggios and the other guitar playing this particular lead guitar over it. Some people lack the ability to visualize the part they're trying to make.

I oftentimes do decide the entire structure of the song from the beginning when I only have one arpeggio or riff or lead part, but it oftentimes changes considerably when I find the many different ways I could direct the song (In one song, I originally planned on having it around 130 bpm throughout the whole song, but then I changed it to being 130 bpm for the first 2:30 and then suddenly it jumps up to about 160 bpm, but in a smooth transition).

In my opinion, theory might help you out best. If you're working with someone else, that could help out a lot too. Like they say, two heads are better than one.

[Seedawakener]

Guitar pro or powertab... I tell you, its the best tool you'll ever have for songwriting... Without it I wouldnt have been able to write all the songs Ive done... Its just such a simple way to experiment and try different riffs together. I used to have this problem of putting together songs in the beginning too but now it just comes to me whenever I have the right inspiration. Keep on trying and as soon as you have one song down it gets a lot easier!