The Way I Write Music

The way people write music fascinates me. There seems to be many ways to go about it and everyone has a little different spin on it. The way that I do it is that I will pick up the guitar and play around until something catches my ear. At that point it can go a couple of ways. Sometimes the chords and the song follow immediately. Sometimes I just get that small part and I have to shelve it for use later. I’ve tried writing everyday and what I’ve discovered is that the ideas are either there or they are not. If it is going to happen, it happens relatively quickly after I pick up the guitar. If I try to force it, or continue to play longer and longer with the hope of getting something, it becomes torturous. And in the end it’s counterproductive. I’ve learned to try everyday but not to push too hard. As I gather little parts I start to hear ways that they may fit together with other ideas I’ve shelved. And I try to start fitting these pieces together in ways that sound interesting to my ear.

I liken it to a painter. These initial pieces that get created and shelved are like the painter selecting the colors to go on his palette. The roughly drawn sketch on the canvas is equivalent to the piecing together of the tonal parts that I’ve collected; which chord fits where in relation to the others. Then the actual application of color to canvas, painting in the shapes, is to me like the rhythmic selections that I make to reign in the chords and make distinction, like the lines on a canvas. Parts, assembly, trimming the rhythms – that’s how it works for me.