The Steel Guitar Forum

From time to time I make attempts at songwriting. Not looking to turn out anything commercial, just for my own accomplishment, and maybe something to work with when jamming with friends.

I'm encountering a problem when it comes to the music. I'll have a concept, and as the lyrics start coming together, I'll find some well-known song will lend itself to them. It helps a lot in constructing the right flow, or pattern, or whatever the proper name for poetry or song lyrics is.

The problem is, once I use a popular song to build the lyrics on, that song gets ingrained in my head and it's very difficult to think of a different tune for those words. My mind just "hears" the song it was built on. My lyrics may be totally different, but I sure can't just duplicate the music.

I can't be the only one who has experienced this. WWHHD? What would Harlan Howard do? How do any of you take a given set of lyrics and invent the music that fits the lyrics yet doesn't copy something else? We have whole threads (and lawsuits) about who took their music from whom. I'd be interested in opinions and suggestions from those who have a knack for this stuff.

Most of what i write starts as a riff or chord progression.
Often i might only have one line of lyrics to start with.
There has been a couple of times,i will realize" hey,this sounds kinda like( fill in the blank)"
If i cant figure out a way to change it musically,i will trash it,and if i have any lyrics,save them for something else.

Michael, it seems by doing lyrics first I'm going about it bass ackwards. The story of my life!

I know there's no set "way to do it", it's whatever pops into your head. I DO find just hacking around can lead to ideas for the music, it just seems difficult sometimes to get the old "framework" melody out of my head.

But I guess the challenge is what makes it fun.

Woody Guthrie's position was to change a few words, change the melody and rhythm a little, and you have a new song. Very common in folk and early country music. Bob Dylan also "borrowed" melodies and structure in his early work, as many folkies did. There was a post here on the forum a while back about how much of modern country music is written using the same basic formula. In much of popular music there is very little distance between being inspired by a song, and writing an original. It takes time and perseverance. Originality will come. I have a handfull of originals. The ones that others think are good took a lot of time, lots of revisions. Don't give up. It's a skill that has to be developed.

Convert the chords into nashville numbers. Disassociate it from the song and look at it as a progression. Change the key from what you normally play it in. Take the first 8 bars on a loop in IrealPro or Band n a box. Improvise over top of the changes. when you find something you like go on to the next 8 bars. Repeat.

Then, substitute some chord changes. If you a dom7 chord, make it minor7 instead. Swap out a minor chord for a major chord. Add some 2 5 1 changes where you now have a major chord.

Improvise over the new chords. Now you have a completely different song with a different melody.

Here is a song I wrote by ripping off Happy Trails. https://youtu.be/82qK7sbLf9E

I see songwriting as a craft, the more I work at it the better my skills become. Don't worry about "borrowing" music from other songs, I've found that is an easy way to cram prose into a melody. Write out the words without any notation, or indication of melody, file it away for a while (I try to clear out my hook files on my phone after 2 or 3 months) and when you revisit the work and you may find that it will lend itself to a different structure. Changing tempo can help break away from previous song associations also!

YMMV, keep writing and you'll find your way out of your current dilemma.

Good Luck!

Some great advice there guys, thank you! That will be a help moving forward with it!

Learn how to experiment and “play” with song melodies. Take a waltz, like Tennessee Waltz, and redo it as a 4/4 song. Substitute the words of one song into another. Take a 4/4 song like Way To Survive, and play it as a 3/4 waltz. Take a simple song like Please Release Me, or Touch My Heart, and play the melody backwards (harder than it sounds). Play a fast song really slow, or a slow song really fast. Do anything you can to make a song you already know sound different, with chord substitutions or embellishments. And after a while, you’ll be more comfortable with out-of-the-box variations, piecing together new melodies from old ones, and coming up with something new and different.

It’s basically re-training your mind and the way you think, and breaking out of old habits and patterns. And don’t feel bad when you get stuck, even experienced songwriters sometimes have trouble doing it!

That makes sense, Donny! This stuff will keep me busy for sure, but I think what's been offered is very helpful.