# What way do you start making a song ?



## jumanji79 (Aug 17, 2021)

dont matter what genre
do you start with chords 
lyrics ? , humming a melody , a beat , draw something in the piano roll , a loop etc 

just interested in everyones methods 

i always start with chords 
first at the moment


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## mybadmemory (Aug 17, 2021)

Sometimes I get a melody in my head. In that case I harmonize it with chords afterwards. Other times I simply sit down at the piano without any idea and those times I usually start with harmony/chords, often in the form of repeating riffs, that I then wrote a melody on top of.


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## Mr Greg G (Aug 18, 2021)

There is no rule, just go where your imagination takes you. I personally like to load up a patch (strings, brass, synth, whatever) and start wandering. I also sketch while playing the piano, or edit an idea in the piano roll.

I also sometime like to start with the melody and build around it. My composition are most of the time led by a melodic idea rather than chords. I try to avoid like the plague the 4/4 4 chords progressions you can hear in tons of tracks which is too predictable and boring (trailer music, reggaeton etc) but I sometime fall in this trap


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## purplehamster (Aug 26, 2021)

When I'm listening to music I would try to hum a counter-melody to it and I would use that as a starting point for a song. 

I'll sketch out the idea quickly but sometimes the idea starts to dictate how it wants to evolve. This happens to me a lot and you could potentially have 2 starting points for 2 different songs.

Another idea, grab a loop (any loop - percussions, vocal phrases, pad) and sketch something around it. Take out/replace the loop.


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## bill5 (Sep 2, 2021)

Lyrics first almost always, then melody, then all that other crap I have to figure out that's harder for me  instrumentation can be a bear because I love all diff kinds of instruments and sounds.

Occasionally I'll fiddle with a patch and something pops out - in fact, sometimes I'm just going through a synth and trying out patches I haven't tried just to see how they sound and am not trying to play anything but something appears anyway. Lyrics are mostly stream of consciousness thing, they get there when they get there. I almost never "try" to write a song, at least not the initial idea and words, but I do usually have to work at finishing out a song once that initial part is there. I do it when I feel like it.


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## MaxOctane (Sep 2, 2021)

As someone who has zero ability to write lyrics (apart from, "I'm sad, that doesn't make me glad, makes me feel bad, my P6 is good for pads") I always find it fascinating how words can flow for some people.

Me: I'm a noodler, though I've been in a rut for a long time with developing ideas into a full track. I'm not too bad at writing a convincing intro to a legit orchestral piece, or a decent climatic section... but writing the other 95% of a piece still escapes me. I can lie in bed and hear new music, flow-y and detailed and and well-developed, but not in front of my DAW. And yes, I've spent a lot of time transcribing by ear, etc. Maybe just need to do more.

The one way I've had good success, is by beginning with rhythm: playing around with some rhythmic presets in Omnisphere, Signal, or the loops that come as extra content with a lot of libs, and then developing chords and melody around that, into a full track. Somehow, that works for me.

(_so I guess I should do more of what works for me, to get out of my rut!_ )


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## marcus3 (Sep 2, 2021)

I start with improvising a melody, maybe a 2 bar or 4 bar subject. Then decide what kind of tune I want, Sonata, Fugue, Zhok, Diona and work my way to full piece.


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## Pier (Sep 23, 2021)

Anything that grabs my attention.

Sometimes it's a couple of chords on the piano. Sometimes it's a patch on a synth and a couple of notes. Other times I just start writing some drums or play some on my electronic drumkit.


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## studiostuff (Sep 23, 2021)

1) Wake up a little
2) Write down enough of it to recall later
3) Go back to sleep


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## rgames (Sep 23, 2021)

I suspect most songs start with the lyrics or at least an idea for the lyric. I think a hook or sequence of hooks follow next.

Adding a lyric to chords or a melody seems less likely to yield a good song (whatever that means). But I'm sure it's been done, especially for songs where the lyrics are really odd (Bohemian Rhapsody?).

rgames


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## bill5 (Sep 23, 2021)

Actually that varies a lot. Some start with lyrics, some with music.


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