Hey i just have been frustrated lately, im confident with guitar and singing, im a rythm player and sing as well but i feel my songs are less than great because of the way im singing words, the vocal rythm, i wonder for you guys out their how you go about coming up with vocal rythms or know any tips. I always wonder how people like Chris Martin and Thom Yorke do it but i know their is no set formula, any help would be greatly appreciated! thanks alot

I always record myself and just come up with a zillion different ideas as to what would sound better, and just use the best ones ;)

Me too, I just record or write down any thing that pops into my head, and throw so much of it away. I think that the key is in not being embarrassed about creating something that really makes no sense whatsoever.

:cry:

That's one thing I never had any trouble with, so I can't really help you there. Melodies and harmonies have always just kind of presented themselves in my head. :confused:

 

But yeah, the other advice is good no matter what you're trying to do. "If at first you don't succeed..." ;)

Always glad to help out when it comes to music.

 

- Record whatever you come up with and pick out what you like and what you dont like. A lot of artists take a bunch of parts that they like and "recycle" them in other songs if they like the part, but not the rest of the song. And yes, you're definitely right about the fact that you dont need a formula. Formulas can be predictable. Infact, you could even use a formula, and then change a few note to surprise the listener and lead somewhere unexpected.

 

- Find as much music that inspires you as possible.

 

- perform at open mics as often as you can. Showcase your material to others. See if anything stands out to them. Ask for critiques. Make sure that they know what they're talking about. They need to be educated, not opinionated.

 

- if you're writing lyrics first and then trying to come up with a vocal melody for them, try reversing it. Try coming up with a vocal melody first, so that you can be free with the music. find the pattern that works for you.

Everyone has their way of re-doing, re-cycling, and re-cording, and their all fine methods but sometimes they just dont work. Music is weird, and odd, you cant just write a great song by trying harder than before, you either get it or you dont, simply enough. And as somebody wrote, try and try again.

 

When you keep re-doing everything you might find yourself gonig around in circles, which is twice as frustrating. So, do what I do for most of my songs, start fresh, clean plate, re-discover the chords you've played and what they mean to you, what the song is saying without any words. Then, sing whatever comes to you.

 

It may still be crap, but then again you might get somewhere.

 

About 90% of the songs that I've written, the melody is made up on the spot, its usually something different and fairly original. I also like getting it straight off the bat, nice to know my song isnt a load of leftovers put together from other songs.