Songwriting - does anyone start with instrumental melody first?

[lppier]

I was wondering about this - suppose your intention is to write a song with vocals.
How often is it that you start off with an instrument on the melody line, instead of straight vocals/ humming ?

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by lppier

I was wondering about this - suppose your intention is to write a song with vocals.
How often is it that you start off with an instrument on the melody line, instead of straight vocals/ humming ?

Some people do it music first, some do it lyrics first, I do it in what I believe to be the least common way in that I do both simultaneously.

[lppier]

Originally Posted by jim1960

Some people do it music first, some do it lyrics first, I do it in what I believe to be the least common way in that I do both simultaneously.

Hmm what I mean is - instead of singing the melody, do folks just use a lead instrument , then hand it off to someone to write the lyrics and sing it ?

[Acousticado]

I’ve had the opportunity to create decent music and vocal melodies to existing lyrics written by someone else, but when writing solely on my own, 95% of the time I tend to first stumble on musical ideas while noodling on guitar that I nurture into complete arrangements. The music then seems to naturally inspire a vocal melody to which I begin mouthing nonsensical words to create a lyrical flow. Then, I consider a theme based on what the mood invokes in me, then develop the lyric based on the initial flow. I have many more snippets of musical guitar ideas than I do lyrics, perhaps because my songs aren’t that musically complicated, mostly within the folk rock genre. I find lyrics much harder to develop.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by lppier

Hmm what I mean is - instead of singing the melody, do folks just use a lead instrument , then hand it off to someone to write the lyrics and sing it ?

Songwriting teams have done it similarly for decades and decades.

[Gordon Currie]

Every time I've started with a instrumental melody, it quickly becomes an instrumental.
I tend to want to make it more complex, which works against it ever turning into a vocal melody with interesting prosody.

The only thing that works for me is to start singing a melody early in the process, to open the door to adding lyrics well before I fall in love with clever melodic bits.

[lppier]

So a side question - which instrument do u think emulates the human voice best ?

[Denandannie]

Originally Posted by lppier

So a side question - which instrument do u think emulates the human voice best ?

Cello mimics the male voice

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by lppier

So a side question - which instrument do u think emulates the human voice best ?

If you mean range, guitar is perfect, because the E 6th string is the bottom of classical bass tregister, while the top of soprano is the C on 20th fret of the 1st string. You could say it's better designed than any other instrument for vocal accompaniment!

If you mean timbre, it probably needs to be a wind instrument, especially a reed instrument like clarinet, sax or oboe - because the human vocal cords work like a reed. But the flute can also sound voice-like because of its breathy sound (like a child's voice, or falsetto). And of course brass instruments (trumpet or trombone) can use mutes to get very voice-like qualities.

Bowed string instruments can also emulate the way the voice swoops up or down to pitch. (Wind instruments also can, but not as easily - except for slide trombone of course!) Cello is similar to guitar in range, reaching to male contrabass C.

[lppier]

Originally Posted by JonPR

If you mean range, guitar is perfect, because the E 6th string is the bottom of classical bass tregister, while the top of soprano is the C on 20th fret of the 1st string. You could say it's better designed than any other instrument for vocal accompaniment!



If you mean timbre, it probably needs to be a wind instrument, especially a reed instrument like clarinet, sax or oboe - because the human vocal cords work like a reed. But the flute can also sound voice-like because of its breathy sound (like a child's voice, or falsetto). And of course brass instruments (trumpet or trombone) can use mutes to get very voice-like qualities.



Bowed string instruments can also emulate the way the voice swoops up or down to pitch. (Wind instruments also can, but not as easily - except for slide trombone of course!) Cello is similar to guitar in range, reaching to male contrabass C.

Thanks, [emoji120]
I meant timbre more .. there’s certain qualities in human voices. Without much thought, I would say saxophone [emoji449]

[Mr. Jelly]

The only real rule to song writing is that there are no rules.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Originally Posted by lppier

I was wondering about this - suppose your intention is to write a song with vocals.

My only intention is to write a song. Usually there are words and music. Sometimes there's just music. The shape it takes is up to the song.

Originally Posted by lppier

How often is it that you start off with an instrument on the melody line, instead of straight vocals/humming?

Sometimes. I have no idea how often. I like to mix it up. Anything goes. Except humming. I never hum.

Why do you ask? Are you wondering whether it's okay to do? All's fair in love and songwriting.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Originally Posted by lppier

Hmm what I mean is - instead of singing the melody, do folks just use a lead instrument , then hand it off to someone to write the lyrics and sing it ?

Oh! That's different.

That's not usually what happens. If a composer works with a lyricist, the lyricist isn't likely to also be the singer. The one exception I can think of is the Rolling Stones. For most of their songs, Keith comes up with the tune and gets the lyrics started. Then Mick fleshes out the lyrics and sings them.

Often, the composer is the singer (like Jerry Garcia and Elton John and Eric Clapton in his Cream days). But more typically, the singer is a third person. Think of the music Gershwins, Rogers and Hammerstein, and Leiber and Stoller. I don't think any of us have heard their voices.

There are also songs written by a committee for an established singer or band. That's a common Nashville approach.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Originally Posted by lppier

So a side question - which instrument do u think emulates the human voice best ?

Guitar. For one thing, the notes bend easily, like a voice.

For another, there's the old blues tradition. In blues, the guitar part is typically either a conversation between a man and a woman or a speech a man or woman is making to a partner. Guitars laugh and cry, shout and whisper, tease and threaten, caress and cajole — all human expressions.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Originally Posted by lppier

. . . I would say saxophone [emoji449]

Yup, that's another good one.

It's a matter of opinion. Yours is a good as anyone's.