How often do you compose?

[Katastrophe]

I'm interested in how often y'all create your own music...

Discuss!

[deeaa*]

Good question!

Um, I usually compose when need arises. When some band or project needs a song, I'll just make a handful. Always found it the easiest aspect of playing to be make songs. That would mean maybe once a month or less. Sometimes I just ask the guys to shout out random chord names and make them work as a song, usually works just as well as anything else.

However, I'd say maybe ~six times a year I kind of spontaneously come up with a song that is a bit more complex or thought out, you know, home alone at night and watch TV and play the guitar, most situations like that a song just comes from somewhere, usually 2-3 parts for one at least, and then I figure out how does the rest of it go. I record it on my cell phone for later use...I have a bunch of those awaiting on my cell even now. In case I need a song somewhere.

When I get a song from like some dude without any vocal melody, i.e. just the base and am asked to make a vocal melody, I just hit record and sing whatever comes to mind. Maybe have to take a few stabs at it, but often the very first spontaneous melodies work the best.

With my Internet band, P-43, I take a lot longer with the melodies, used to actually compose them on a midi keyboard which no longer works, sadly...but with P-43 these days I'll first play the chorus over and over again and test different approaches, then verses, and then sing a demo of it which I may or may not send for approval by others, and then when I'm happy with the melody, the final take. Which kind of is a problem due to having so little time to do that stuff these days. But I have to spend the time because I don't want to make just regular heavy melody stuff - especially after three albums I feel I just have to find a little different approaches than just follow the normal scales over the chords.

I guess making vocal melodies is composing as well, so, maybe I then all together compose some 30 or so tunes per year, i.e. a couple each month. A little over one third of them end up on some demo I guess, the rest go to desk drawer or are simply forgotten later.

[duhvoodooman***]

At my age, I'm more worried about de-composing....

[progrmr]

Just playing for fun, I've spent almost zero time actually writing something. It's been a real weakness in my development as even a pseudo-musician.

I've focused so much on the academics of music and learning some songs in between that I've never challenged myself that way.

After having read "Effortless Mastery" I have sat down a couple of times, with a fresh blues scale, and put together a few short lines. And you know what? I had a blast! I'm sure it's not the best, and for the amount of time I spent working on the stuff it's very short - but when I kinda put the academics aside and forgot about playing something I already knew I had FUN and I played for longer than I normally would have.

Great exercise to create music but very different for those of us that don't play in a band or have other careers to put food on the table. I wish I had more time to dedicate to it.

[deeaa*]

At my age, I'm more worried about de-composing....

Heheh...the trick is to enjoy liberal amounts of preservative agents internally.
I recommend Jägermeister ;-)

[Rockermann]

I go through spurts... Normally, I'll just be sitting down playing the guitar and I'll fall on to a riff and say, "Hey, that'd make a good song..." and start working on it from there. I'd say I probably do that three or for times a month. Sometimes more if I'm really trying to come up with stuff, instead of letting it come to me.

[Eric***]

I've meant to compose songs for 3-6 months now, but I never actually sit down and write out the chords or record anything. I basically bumble onto some minor-key riff that I like, loop it, and play over it for awhile, then forget it. I probably do that once a week.

As for entire songs with lyrics and stuff, nope. Made up a few chord progressions and solos for songs, melody lines and lyrics other people had made once or twice, but that's as close as I've come.

[markb]

The last time I wrote or co-wrote a song was in 1981. I've got a few ideas on the go at present, so that'd be about every 30 years.

[Jimi75]

I compose very regular, due to the fact that I am the main composer in our bluesband and my second profession became studio recording and composing for promotions, companies, artists etc...So I am in a current process of composing music.

I think there is also something like uncincious composing. Well, sometimes you play a riff and some weeks later you start a song on that riff as it comes back to your mind. That's also some kind of composing process.