Tips for writing riffs/solos/songs?

[Luka Kartvelishvili]

I want to write some songs to put on a demo CD but I have no idea how to write a song, everything that comes out is generic power chord riffs. Please help.

 

[Luka Kartvelishvili]

And yes I’ve tried noodling around

 

[Luka Kartvelishvili]

Seems like a7x and Metallica wrote all the good riffs

 

[idssdi]

To be honest if noodling around does not work it all comes down to what yu hear in your head and writing that down.

 

[Markus Nick]

Listen too music you like. Ive got a lot of my riffs from there. They are just in my head
It starts with a melody for the chorus and one by one I add more parts that fit. Its an ongoing process for me. You add, delete, change parts as long until you are happy with it.
Btw I use TuxGuitar. Software can help you.

 

[D K]

I don’t have any experience with writing songs but I saw this video of Steve Vai a while ago where he explains how he came up with “for the love of god”. It might be helpful to create your own music. Now, whenever I accidently come up with a riff/lick/whatever that sounds good I record. Maybe someday I’ll have enough material to make song.

 

[Markus Nick]

Oh yes thats right. When I have a cool riff or melody in my head I record it with my smartphone. And as D K says, whenever you come up with some more you can listen to that recording.

 

[Luka Kartvelishvili]

Im coming up with ideas but when I play them it’s like I’ve already heard then before because everything im coming up with is just generic powerchord riffs

 

[idssdi]

You could try to use augmented 5ths and stuff like that. Basically use less generic chords to get out of the generic powerchord stuff

 

[Luka Kartvelishvili]

Thanks

 

[Jak Angelescu]

You know what’s funny, I used to be stuck in that same rut. But here is what I had to learn. I would shut myself down before I would even let the song bloom. You have to start with just a simple chord progression and because I’m the only guitarist that writes the music in my band, it can be really hard to hear a song coming from a chord progression. But if you take Burn it Down by Avenged Sevenfold for example, that is the most typical pop-punk progression known to mankind in the beginning. It’s also a very typical rhythm part on the open D string during the verse. The point of this is, is that Melody and the rest of the band such as the drums will make the song sound different than everything else. Look how many songs Blink 182 wrote with nearly the same exact chord progression. Allow yourself to sound cliche at 1st and the more you play it, the more ideas will come to your head that will really make the song bloom. I would try using your phone recording a sound file with just the voice recording feature, if you have it, and record a simple chord progression and try to write a cool Melody over it. Either lead guitar or vocals. I have a song that has been in the works for 10 years because the more I learn the better and more cooler it becomes. You have to allow the song to get out first before you beat it down and shut it off. It will suck and sound cliche in the beginning but let it grow the more time you put into it it’ll grow and sound really cool in no time.

 

[Luka Kartvelishvili]

Thanks that was actually really helpful

 

[Syn Gates]

I listen to a lot of classical music and try to imitate the rhythm first and then add notes to it later. John Williams music is brilliant and very rhythm oriented. Stravinsky also had brilliant rhythmic themes.

 

[idssdi]

Yeah classical music is awesome! I personally really like vivaldi and paganini stuff. I just don’t know how to do the whole rhythm thing Syn is talking about(maybe that is because my mind is a bit more focused on melody) any help on that?

 

[Daniel Sobota]

Speaking of classical, anybody a fan of Richard Wagner? He was metal before metal, absolutely love his stuff. The orchestral bridge in The Wicked End reminds me of something he’d compose.

 

[idssdi]

My granddad really likes Wagner. I myself am not that familiar with his work.
I am also gonna see an orchestra play Requiem by Verdi this saturday.

 

[Luka Kartvelishvili]

Thanks for the tip syn!

 

[Daniel Sobota]

A question for Syn: when you write riffs, what’s the first thing you do? Do you just hit a “random” chord and start building a riff around it? Because in my personal exploring, I just hit some chord and try to do connect other chords that sound cool with it.
This question may be dumb for advanced players, but I have to ask if I want to create my own thing one day lol.

 

[idssdi]

@daniel I usually just noodle around and come up with the start in that way then from there I really start focusing on which scales and which chord go well with those scales and also key changes and stuff like that. Hooe this helps

 

[Richard O'connor]

What’s wrong with the generic power chords? Even a few of the a7x songs are based around the D C Bb C D chord progressions, which is a really common chord progression. I can relate to what jak said. I am also the soul writer of a band so when I’m writing riffs on my own it’s difficult to envision what a song will sound like with drums, rhythm and vocals. You can turn into your own worst enemy because everything you write you think will suck. I would suggest saving every riff you write even if it’s just on the microphone that’s built into your phone. What sounds like a sucky riff now may work for you in a few months/years from now. If you like mastodon new album, their are riffs on there that have been in the works for years. Plus other people’s input to your ideas always helps.