Songwriting process
When you write a song, do you typically:
- Use the composition checklist (Improvising Study 7) from the beginning, and make a "blueprint," then write choruses to match the pattern you've selected?
- Start with a lick you like or made up, build a chorus around it, then try to think of another lick for the next chorus (based on the checklist?)?
- Work on one chorus at a time until you're happy with it, then work on another one (vs. improvising the whole thing first, then manipulating each chorus to fit the "blueprint")?
- Improvise "randomly" to a jam track, record it, then pick out the parts you like and build around them?
- After finishing one chorus, "force" yourself to make the next one different (chorus form, focus note, texture, etc.)?
- Write choruses that "just feel right" or that come out in improvisation, then use the checklist and manipulate them to the chorus form you "need," or to center around the focus note you want to use?
- Use another process altogether?
I know that there are probably an infinite number of ways to compose, but I'm curious about your personal method(s). My own unproductive method seems to have been to try to come up with a lick that I've never heard before (to be "original"), then try to make it sound cooler (usually by adding unnecessary notes), obsess about that idea until I get sick of it, then throw it out and repeat. Every time I use a "tried and true" (stolen) lick, I get sick of it even more quickly! I'm now trying to use the composition checklist, randomly deciding on chorus forms, focus notes, rhythms and textures for each chorus (to avoid too much of any one), then trying to "write to the plan." It feels kind of artificial, but more focused.
I think you left out the "magic" part, but thanks for the insight!
Ah, magic!... no magic... just messin' around ;-) I forgot to mention, most the time I don't work out anything but the head... the most important chorus. Sometimes great licks come to mind and I end up writing a lot more, but I try not to... leaving the solos to be more inspired in the moment of performance is better. When I write study songs for you, of course I need to work them out.
By the way, the more songs you study of great players, the easier this process becomes.
I come accross a cool lick (either one I make up or from another player that grabs my attention) and then using chorus forms I create a chorus that I feel sounds good. I then jam (to a jam track or one in my mind) and play until another cool lick comes to me. I then take that lick and do the same process I did with the first chorus. I continue this process, generally keeping track of what range and textures I've already used, until I have enough choruses to fill the song.
When I'm in the mood for writing a song, I commonly think about writing something to a groove that I don't currently have in my set of material. Sometimes I think of a skill set that I want to develop (high end playing, a position I haven't explored, etc). I'll commonly put a jam track on and go at it until something comes out that I like.
Some songs come quickly and some songs takes years to "simmer" until ready for stage.