how do you write?

drummingman

Gold Member
i dont play guitar and have only messed around with the keyboard. what do you guys use for writing things like guitar lines and things like that for taking ideas to your bands for songs?
i do have a keyboard but i have not played it in a long time. im thinking about getting up on the keyboard for writing ideas. for those of you that dont play any other instruments other then drums how do you write things like guitar lines and things like that?
 
Can't... resist... this... joke....

What's the last thing a drummer says in a band?
"Hey guys, why don't we try one of my songs?"

In all seriousness, getting up on your piano skills and musical theory would be a great asset. With some exceptions, most ideas can be translated from piano to guitar - it can be a simple as a melody over a chord progression that turns into a lead / rhythm part. I've recently started using the garageband program to record ideas for band mates, super easy to get what's in my head into a format they can listen to. I'm not quite that proficient at keys to be able to perform my ideas live, but with just about any recording software you can edit your work and touch up and tweak to get something that you are happy with.

I've also found that developing a musical "language" with band mates is essential, so when we work on something new, I'm able to contribute in the jam space by talking about the song or riffs in a way that others will understand. Singing or humming a tune even works sometimes.

As much as it's great to be able to contribute, don't loose focus on what your job is in the band... see above joke.
 
I only play drums, and I'll sit down with my friend ( the guitarist) and we'll write.
I'll describe to him what I want and he'll play it.
It's good that we're friends cause if not he'd get frustrated.
I usually sound out the notes I want him to play, luckily I can hit a note haha.
It usually all works out.
 
I play guitar and bass, so I can pretty much write a whole song.
I write about 90% of my bands music, but I also use Guitar Pro & PowerTab.
 
Can't... resist... this... joke....

What's the last thing a drummer says in a band?
"Hey guys, why don't we try one of my songs?"

In all seriousness, getting up on your piano skills and musical theory would be a great asset. With some exceptions, most ideas can be translated from piano to guitar - it can be a simple as a melody over a chord progression that turns into a lead / rhythm part. I've recently started using the garageband program to record ideas for band mates, super easy to get what's in my head into a format they can listen to. I'm not quite that proficient at keys to be able to perform my ideas live, but with just about any recording software you can edit your work and touch up and tweak to get something that you are happy with.

I've also found that developing a musical "language" with band mates is essential, so when we work on something new, I'm able to contribute in the jam space by talking about the song or riffs in a way that others will understand. Singing or humming a tune even works sometimes.

As much as it's great to be able to contribute, don't loose focus on what your job is in the band... see above joke.

can garageband be used on a pc or is it just for mac? if it cant be used on a pc is ther something like it that can be used on a pc that is just as good as garageband? it really looks like a cool thing but i only have a pc.
 
Normally our band will have a song idea based on lyrics or an idea. Sometimes its music, but only about 20% of the time. When I write a drum part, I try to focus on lyrics along with groove, but with emphasis on what the song/story is about. If there is a part of the song that Lee sings to and says that is important, I will try to back it up with drums. Such as this line....Living in their beautiful life...will come off on drums as a tom sort of fill/speak...hard to explain actually.
 
I've written and recorded 3 c.d's of my own music and I cant play anything but drums either. I know I should learn piano or guitar but Time restraints at the moment prevent it.

What I end up doing Is singing the song over and over in my head the way I hear it. Then I bring it too either parker or Rich, or whoever I may be playing with at the time and sing it over and over or record me singing it with a basic drum part and they figure out the chords as close as they can and we build it from there.
 
can garageband be used on a pc or is it just for mac? if it cant be used on a pc is ther something like it that can be used on a pc that is just as good as garageband? it really looks like a cool thing but i only have a pc.

I'm not as up on PC software as others on the forum will be, Cakewalk is the closest I can think of. Although I know nothing about it, "Mixcraft" seems to look quite similar to garageband.
 
i dont play guitar and have only messed around with the keyboard. what do you guys use for writing things like guitar lines and things like that for taking ideas to your bands for songs?
i do have a keyboard but i have not played it in a long time. im thinking about getting up on the keyboard for writing ideas. for those of you that dont play any other instruments other then drums how do you write things like guitar lines and things like that?

I like powertab because it's free. a little music theory goes a long way, learn some scales and work up from there, the more you write the better you get.
 
I'm not as up on PC software as others on the forum will be, Cakewalk is the closest I can think of. Although I know nothing about it, "Mixcraft" seems to look quite similar to garageband.

Garageband is a Mac-only application. It's a stripped-down version of Logic Express, which is in turn a stripped-down version of Logic Studio 8 (what I use). It's actually rather good and excellent for songwriting, when you don't want too many options to distract.
 
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