# How to write instrumental music???



## Brett89 (Feb 4, 2007)

Well, in the future, when I get comfortable with my playing, I would like to play instrumental music... becouse, for me, the music is more improtent then the vocals or the lyrics, and I don't want to say anything with my music... so there's no need for it... 

So I would like to play, something strange, unique, music... mainly with metal influences bowdown: MORBID ANGEL )

So I would like to know what do you think about instrumental music? Do you like them? 

And the other thing, what I realy want to know... how to write GOOD, I mean, I think its harder to write becouse without the vocal, if you repet something to offten it could get boring... but I don't like if the whole song a big solo, and the other instruments (drum, bass, other guitar) plays the main rhytem stuff like that...

That's all, thanks in advance!


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## DelfinoPie (Feb 4, 2007)

Having wrote a few instrumental pieces before (although their quality is debatable) I sort of know my own workflow and what works for me.

I'm assuming that you listen to instrumental music and the best way to really get into the structure of it, and by structure I mean how, say, someone like Satriani, Friedman, Johnson etc...is to sit down and really LISTEN to the music and take note of how they make it interesting without repeating so much that it becomes boring. Sometimes when I put a CD on I HEAR the music but it doesn't necessarily mean I am LISTENING to it, if that makes sense.

I'm by no means an expert on the matter but I find that coming up with a key phrase and then working around that, modifying it slightly in parts and working from that and then eventually building upto a solo can be a good method. Also, you can still write meaningful instrumental music, the lack of lyrics doesn't make it any less meaningful. An example of this would be Satriani's song "Rubina" or "Z.Z's Song" the first written for his wife, the latter for his son. Basically the songs can mean whatever you want them to mean.

Another thing to keep in mind is not to get too caught up in the lead guitar parts; the rhythm playing is equally as important.

One thing I cannot advise you on is metal-influenced stuff as a lot of my instrumental stuff (if not all of it) is inspired by electronica but has a more predominant guitar part. I'm sure some of the other guys here can shed more like on the subject than I can, I am by no means an expert in song writing but I'm sure someone else's insight into the process couldn't hurt.

Just another angle but everyone has their own approach to it.

Hope that helps


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## Durero (Feb 4, 2007)

For composition, I think the best way to learn is to just try it. Personally I never worry about wether anyone else will like my music, it's already hard enough just to compose stuff that I like for myself. 

You don't have to wait until you've reached some kind of 'high level' with your technique before you start writing you're own music. I've very often written music which is beyond my current technical ability, then I have to practice like mad to be able to play it. But I think there's nothing more satisfying than meeting your own challenge.

From your post it seems that you're already very aware of the issues of how to balance the activity between all the instruments in a instrumental piece, because there are no vocals to follow. I'm sure you'll find your own solutions as you create your pieces.

best of luck


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## distressed_romeo (Feb 4, 2007)

I'm not a great composer, but I'm pretty sure Durero is right, and that there's no one solution. Instrumental music covers such a huge variety of stuff, from simple pop songs to freakishly complex avant-garde works that there isn't likely to be one method that suits everything.


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## Mastodon (Feb 4, 2007)

Think of a story or scenario.

Then try your best to write music that will make the listener feel like they are living that scenario.

For example, Der Erlkonig. http://www.carolinaclassical.com/articles/erlking.html

Even though I don't speak German the first time I listened to it I invisioned a scenario almost identical to what the song is actually about.


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## sakeido (Feb 5, 2007)

A key for any guitar-driven instrumental song is lots of delay  

And you can get away with a lot of repetition if you still are mixing it up a lot and doing slight variations on what you were doing. A lot of Jimi Hendrix songs, for instance, are borderline instrumentals. He anchors the whole thing in a riff that stays the same for most of the song, but then keeps going off and do other things in between to keep the song fresh. Voodoo Child is the best example of this I can think of, or if you can find it on Limewire there is a Jimi Hendrix version of House of the Rising Sun that is totally an instrumental and an absolute joy to listen to.

Joe Satriani also has some video lessons I managed to find on video google where is talking about the way he had to change his thinking when he started doing his instrumental stuff. Those would be pretty interesting for you as well. 

Just whatever you do, stay away from that Opeth thing where nothing is changing while you are repeating yourself. It gets real boring.


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## Naren (Feb 5, 2007)

There is no proper or wrong way to do it, but here's what I think.

When you do instrumental music, you no longer have vocals holding the melody and it can oftentimes be boring if you're just flying all over the fretboard the whole song for every song. The lead guitar has to take over the role the vocals would have taken up. So, you should have a memorable melody that repeats enough and in frequent places. Take a listen to Vince Lupone's songs (desertdweller on the forum) at his website or on the member jukebox to see a great example of a guitar taking over a vocal's role in instrumental music.

My


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## Makelele (Feb 5, 2007)

Here's another great instrumental to listen to: http://utopian-dream.fackelmeer.de/countdl.php?did=6

It's by a German called Utopian Dream. I found it on the Petrucciforum a long time ago, and was really impressed, and even now a couple of years later I still like it a lot.

I'd say one of the most important things is guitar/keyboard melodies, and not just solos, because solos become boring quite fast. Also listen to In Flames instrumentals like "Dialogue with the Stars" or "Man Made God".


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## Alpo (Feb 5, 2007)

You'll want to have a great melody that soars like an eagle and reaches new heights Something that'll make people go "Whoa! Awesomage!"

And always have interesting riffs.


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## Brett89 (Feb 6, 2007)

Thank you for the posts! 

Well, first of all... how do you start writeing a song?

I don't know how to say it but I want to write more " knowingly " . . . hope I use the right word, I mean not that "I sit down and play something and put it together". . . 

Something like, "well I start with this riff, I use this key, and then that chord, then this scale, the mix them, then play again this part" . . . you know, approach it from a more music theory way... but still keep it simple for me


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## Metal Ken (Feb 6, 2007)

You could do what i do -- model it after video game music.


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## Drew (Feb 6, 2007)

Or what I do, which I picked up from Satriani - model them after either vocal songs (verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus type structures) or jazz standards (a melody that you gradually "explore" into a solo"). 

Really, there's no right or wrong way - you just need a good melodic hook to suck the listener in, and then an arrangement that takes you somewhere as a listener.


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## Vince (Feb 7, 2007)

Drew said:


> Or what I do, which I picked up from Satriani - model them after either vocal songs (verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus type structures)



yes. That's exactly how I write instrumentals too. Sometimes I'll even go so far as to make lyrics & vocal melodies, record them, and then learn them on guitar. Then I'll go back & record the melodies on guitar.

Case in point, my song _Nothing True_ off my solo album was actually a vocal song with a friend of mine on vocals. It was really good with him on vocals, but when I went to record the album, I wanted it mainly instrumental, so I sung one verse myself on the disc, and the other verse along with both choruses became lead guitar lines.

Funny how that works out sometimes  Good to see you and I work fairly alike, Drew


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## Drew (Feb 7, 2007)

desertdweller said:


> Good to see you and I work fairly alike, Drew



What, you drink a lot and end up surfing the net for porn rather than recording an album, too???!! 


All joking aside, that vocal melody bit is a great suggestion, Vince. I'll have to try that - I've got a fairly cool chord progression I came up with last night that just isn't suggesting anything yet has some pretty cool modulations (and sounds great in 11/8) so I want to do something with it, and maybe if I try singing over it I'll get somewhere...


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## YYZ2112 (Feb 7, 2007)

Drew said:


> Or what I do, which I picked up from Satriani - model them after either vocal songs (verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus type structures) or jazz standards (a melody that you gradually "explore" into a solo").
> 
> Really, there's no right or wrong way - you just need a good melodic hook to suck the listener in, and then an arrangement that takes you somewhere as a listener.



That's how I "try" and do it too for the most part. The funny thing is I have no singing ability at all and I even have a hard time coming up with vocal melodies, but it seems to come out on the guitar the way I want... sometimes.


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## Drew (Feb 7, 2007)

Oh, ditto here, dude - I sound like a cross between Kurt Cobain with a head cold and Tom Waits when I try to sing.


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## All_¥our_Bass (Feb 9, 2007)

Try listening to some orchestral stuff. Classical/Romantic/Barouque music are very good things to look into.


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## Drew (Feb 9, 2007)

Tell you what, Brett - I've been toying with a cool set of changes lately, and if I get it to come together into a "song" this weekend (I'm halfway there, I think), I'll post up a detailed explanation of my thought process for the composition. 

If it doesn't come together, then you're shit out of luck though, I'm afraid.


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## Vince (Mar 11, 2007)

You know what is an interesting exercise?

Take a very melodic song written by some band & re-do the song instrumentally. There's a lot of Emo music out there that would actually sound really damn cool if you took out the vocalist and replaced him with a guitar.

I'm considering doing a StratoVarius cover or two in the near future with this same idea. I'm not a big fan of Strato's singer, but recently I've realized he phrases a lot of his vocal lines similiarly to a guitarist. So, hey, I've gotta try it


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