This is great! I love this topic on the forum!

I'm no professional, but I've been writing songs since I was about 8 or 9. At that age I had no knowledge of music theory, but just a budding interest in writing poems and "making up songs". That is how most of my relatives and friends described what I did... I just "made up stuff". Kind of like lying, but with a little more finesse!

As for a technique for writing a song... to me it almost always starts with a lyric. Usually a snippet of a thought about someone or something close to me. Then I play around with it and guessimate a basic tune on the guitar. After a lot of tweaking of the lyrics and melody, then I'll usually input it into BIAB and search for a suitable "feel". Almost without exception, Band In A Box will take me in a completely different direction! Sometimes a simple acoustic guitar and vocal song becomes a monster of 20 odd Realtracks!

Of course, there are also times where the song just appears - almost like magic - melody and lyrics together. That's pretty cool. Some of my favorite songs that I've written were conceived in minutes. Others I've worked on for weeks or months and still haven't finished.

All this hyperbole on my part is simply to agree with others who've said that there is no "one way" to write a song. ANY and EVERY way that results in a song are good methods. And as you (we, I) continue to grow in our musical knowledge, those songs we create will show greater craftsmanship. BUT... not necessarily greater inspiration than before, nor greater acceptance by others. That, my friends, is up to the Muses.

Jim "g33zrj1m"

BIAB 2020 with Reaper 6, on an AMD 8 core CPU, 16GB RAM, 240 GB SSD and 1 TB HD. Retired and trying to make some serious music, before Arthur Ritis spoils the fun.