How Do You Start a Writing Project?
Hi everyone,
Today, I’d like to get a little feedback as to how one gets started with a writing assignment. Lets assume that the gig and subsequent contract, if there is one, has been signed and the first installment of our fee has safely cleared the bank (or PayPal at least!). Now the real work begins! How do we get started? Being originally a performer (bass & trombone), I know that before beginning a performance I would warm up to get my fingers and lips loose. Playing scales or bits of melodies seemed to work fine for this.
This is writing music though. How do we play scales or play bits of melodies as a writer? My thinking is that us writers just force ourselves to sit down and “hope” something pops out of our head and onto the paper (or into the computer) that we like or can use in some way. Any thoughts on this?
Have a great week!
Jerry
Hmmm… I’ve never had to write under contract before, so I’ll have to make an assumption, which is that the contract specifies the kind of tune required: rock, ballad, etc, emotional content, blah, blah, blah. Having worked in the ad industry for years, the assignment would become my creative brief, and in addition to my notepad, I’d grab my writing guitar, an old Maton from the 50s that was rescued from a garbage can and has been rebuilt twice. Then I’d get comfortable, and start letting the assignment drive my brainstorming — both musical and verbal. Something would coalesce, it always does. Once I had the essential building blocks — verse, chorus, theme (which I write out as in “this song is about…) — I’d probably move on to the computer and start programming beats. From there, I’d just start to build, going from the computer to my guitar to my note pad. In time, I’d have a gold record, right? Hah. Oh, and always a big bottle of fizzy water nearby. Don’t know why, but it helps.
Jeff
http://www.cerebellumblues.com
How do I start? Frankly: on impulse! A sentence in a book, an image, a look in my beloved’s eyes. Or better: “A Kiss For A Meal”! And then… themes & motives DO collide in my head. SO, there must be some order somewhere! At that point comes in the “ratio”! Themes & motives are “sequenced” somehow. But please: don’t misunderstand: music is all about emotions, feelings, rational messages to convey and … I stick to my convictions & plan. Because when I start a project, my ideas are (more or less so: adjustments have always to be made!!) precise. When I started “Inner Voyage”, I was deeply (and still am!!) in love. The piece was concieved in total communion with “her”! That also is a way to start a writing project.
A funny one: the impulse for “A Kiss for a Meal” was when my wife kissed me after we had a meal in a restaurant. Very common! But the kiss conveyed a strong message of love. So I felt. And it triggered a complete process of writing!
What about the thechnics of writing? Well, Jerry has a whole lot of approaches to offer. And I USE them!
They give me the opportunity to face the blank sheet. Mind & Heart guide my hand.
Definitely: How do I START a project?
Emotions, deep feelings, love, anxiety! (yes!), a lot of thinking, mathematics(?! why not?).
Above all: A VISCERAL NEED TO CREATE!!
My very best regards,
Jean-Marc (J2M)
Dear sir.
Good question.
I will hopefully finish the last of three courses
to get a diploma after new year.
I have played bass since I was 13 years old.
I almost never made any melodies exept bass frases
untill I started playing piano again after 30 years.
Now I find a right hand simple melody and decide bpm to fit 2.5-4 minutes.
Then I add left hand and record for making lyrics.
A raw idea.
Then I put it on ice.
I know from my earlier courses with Berklee that you want us to finish the songs.
In my view, if you are not John Lennon,you will get the best result by combinining songs.
Not like Loo Reed ,only 3, when Andy Warhall asked him how many songs he made that day.
I am also liking more and more the Phil Spector wall off sound producing and recording teck.
Thank you.
I think that you can begin to think about the form you are going to use : AABA, ABAC, sonata-allegro, rondo, etc… Then you can choose harmonic progressions for each part of your song. After that, you can write the main melody for the whole piece. Next, you can do some adjustments, and perhaps add a few counter-melodies or background lines. Finally you can orchestrate your work, still ready to adapt it if necessary. To sum up, I think it can be useful to work with a broad vision, and progressively fill in the details. This is similar to a painter who begins with a sketch, and gradually work the details of its painting.
Hi,
Sometimes original creative ideas can hit you I suggest by doing research in regards to your brief. Let’s assume you’d be contracted to write a pop tune for an ad campaign… An idea would be to go on to youtube and check various ad campaigns, focus on the music and the action on screen. Hopefully, at the end you will get an idea for what it is expected to sound like. Maybe this is a way to get inspired?
Great comments guys!
We all have a different way to approach a given project. Everyone has a way to get the ideas flowing. For me, I need a “cup” of inspiration, also known as coffee – seriously! Next, I think about what kind of melody I need – dramatic, melancholy, sad, adventurous, mysterious, heavily chromatic etc. Then I start working on melodic fragments that will give me whichever of those feelings/emotions I need (this goes back to my earlier posts regarding melodic shape). The actual pitches aren’t as important as the shape of the melody.
I typically work on a big sheet of blank staffs first (you can work inside of notation software this way too). Here, I write down different ideas, usually as small fragments or short melodies. Usually I’ll work out an initial harmonic scheme this way as well. When I feel I have explored enough ideas I’ll go to either a fresh piece of paper to put together the initial sketch or directly into a software notation program (Finale or Sibelius) and start putting the ideas into a more “horizontal” form.
Hope this helps!
Jerry
good site!
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