Comments, Complaints, Concerns, etc.,

oh, that's where all of you are :-D

And we were trying to hide

:) :)

CitiZenNoir came up with an interesting sub-plot for week 33 - he's suggested a particular artist for me, and I've picked one for him. (Actually we gave each other a couple of alternatives....) His thinking was if we picked an artist with whom we're fairly familiar, we're still writing in the comfort zone, so to speak....whereas if a couple of people pick artists for each other, it's a fresh challenge.

I like the idea, anyway - I'm working on the bridge for my song at the moment. Funny thing is, it isn't really the lyrics that are stretching me, although writing in a completely different style is hard enough - it's the music!

:D :D :D

Vic

That's a great idea and maybe we can work that into a future assignment. Could be a lot of fun.

I'm having the opposite problem this week - decided to write something in the style of bands like Blink-182, Green Day, Sum 41, etc. No trouble at all coming up with the music (although I have to admit I've never even tried doing nothing but power chords before) but the lyrics are driving me nuts. I keep ending up with the same "nobody understands me" or "I'm all alone in this world" cliche that sells so well...

If I continue to go nowhere with it, I may just post the music and let someone else (or several someone elses) have a go with the lyrics...

Good luck, sir!

Peace

That's a good method, Vic!
Anyone got an idea which artist I could choose? (also thought of something within Grunge, but I guess it still is in my comfort zone :D )
If so, I'd be very happy about a pm :D

Thanks!
Cheers,
straycat.

Anyone got an idea which artist I could choose? (also thought of something within Grunge, but I guess it still is in my comfort zone :D )
If so, I'd be very happy about a pm :D

OK, I PMed you.
You got my suggestion/request.
Good luck with it.

Yeah,
Vic came up with a good one for me: An early Beatles 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' type song.
I thought - WOW, that's exactly what I need.... way outside the box for me, yet something that I like.

Short, innocuous (innocent) lyrical content anchored by the strength of the 'jingle factor' of the chorus.
Something poppy.... even if it is slightly dated :D

I think that would be a great exercise for me that hopefully might meld into my usual style a bit
and round things off for me.

Unfortunately, I havn't even started on it yet.
Things are picking up at work and that really put the zap on my writing.
A shame really, as I have really been in a writing mood lately.... right up to last Sunday.

Hopefully my mind will settle into a comfort zone soon, and then I will probably be coming up with lyrics at work!

I plan on putting on some early Beatles this weekend to inspire my sub-thought process!
So keep an eye out for my Week 33 contribution :wink:

Ken

Comments, Complaints, Concerns, etc......

Well, I'm becoming a little concerned. Everything I've written lately has been in the style of someone else - this week the Kinks, last week a Hendrix ballad - and it doesn't end there. Far from it! The last SSG song I wrote before that was very much a Rolling Stones-style open G rocker - and I put music to a song that Kathy wrote that was soooo early Beatles, and put music to one of David's songs that was almost pure Clash. The one and only song I've written for ages that wasn't an SSG topic - "Under Open Skies" - uses exactly the same chord voicings as the start of the Allman Brothers' "Melissa" although thankfully the rest of the song is nothing like Melissa. Although I did find those chord voicings myself, through experimentation, and didn't just lift them from anywhere - honest!

So - Beatles, Stones, Hendrix, Kinks, Clash, Allman Brothers - I'm getting paranoid now! I'm beginning to wonder if I'm ever going to write a song again that DOESN'T sound like I'm ripping someone else off - or is there enough of me in there to get away with it? I'm beginning to wonder what MY style is? I haven't really written as much as I used to - life's complicated at the moment - and a glance at my SSG output will confirm that.

First song was Y2, WK 32 - I managed 12 songs in 20 weeks that year.

Year 3, 23 songs - almost a song every two weeks.

Year 4, 31 songs - including 7 in the very first week!

Year 5, tailed off a bit - 21 songs, but some good songs (at least IMO!) in there....

Year 6, just 8 so far (plus putting music to Kath's and David's songs) in 34 weeks - although I'm pleased with the quality, so far. Oh and a couple of unfinished songs from week 23 I may just stick together....

So I seem to be in a bit of a slump - though all this year's songs bar one seem to be keepers. I seem to be running out of things to write about - good job David's coming up with some good topics, or I'd be lost!

:D :D :D

Vic

Hey Vic,
I certainly wouldn't condemn any of your song output.
I think you've written some pretty great songs lately.

It sounds like you may be at a crossroads though.

I know that when I was writing (stories), that I always seemed to write in one of my favorite authors styles.
Then I finally found my own voice.... Wrote a paper in my very own style!
It took me TEN hours to write one page; and I thought my brain had melted when I was done....
I did it though! :mrgreen:

As far as my songwriting goes, I think I have my own style; even though I frequently borrow devices used by my songwriting/poerty heroes.
Actually.... I have quite the opposite concern that you do:
I can't seem to find any trace of my major musical influences in my songs, and that has worried me a bit.

I mean - Ten Years After and Alvin Lee are probably responsible for getting me into guitar playing.

Free and James Gang styles were my goal when I started....
Couldn't be furthur away from that sound now!

I was heavy into the blues.... don't really have that in my music much.

Though, admitedly.... I don't actually try to write like them, or sound like them.

I follow my own ears when it comes to tone.

And I follow the voice in my head and heart and soul when it comes to lyrics.

My songs may not be all that marketable.... writing them makes me happy though :wink:

I don't know if this will work for you.... My method of 'learning' how to do things is not to keep adding to my style the things that I like most;
rather it's to find out what I DIDN'T like about what I just did and to make sure that I never do that again.
So I sort of chop all the things I don't like out of my artistic process, until I'm left with only things that I do :)

As far as slumps go.... not to worry;
We all go through those.
In fact, I'm in a constant state of slump!

Anyway....
Keep at it!
Looking forward to reading/hearing your next effort! 8)

Ken

Funny you should mention Free....

From the very first time (as a thirteen year old) I heard "All Right Now" I absolutely loved that band - Rodger's voice, Koss's guitar, Andy's basslines and Si's drums - now, I thought to my thirteen-year-old self, that's what a rock band SHOULD sound like!

Fast forward thirty-odd years, and Vic joins Guitarnoise - and some bloke called Wes posts a tab for All Right Now. I try it, it's too hard, i put it away till....later. Whenever later may be. Then a few weeks later, I go to a party - there are guitars circulating. I try to play All Right Now, it sounds OK - but not RIGHT, if you know what I mean. So I dig Wes's tab out again. That G chord (actually a G6 chord) that he's tabbed out is a royal pain the haemhorrhoids for a while - but slowly, and surely, I get the hang of it.

fast forward another couple of years - I'm at a pub jam and some guy picks up a guitar and starts alternating A and D chords. Then starts singing....."There she stood, in the st..."

That was as far as he got. I hate to say it, but I was in real play-it-properly-or-don't-effin-bother mode by then - I knew lots of chords by now. "Whoa, whoa, they're NOT the right chords!" (Who said a little knowledge is a dangerous thing?) But instead of a thump in the face, I got, OK, Smartass, so show me....." - so I did, and that was the start of a good friendship that's lasted to this day. We do that song PROPERLY now, when we get together.....I even play a fairly recognisable solo....

Fast forward to NOW. I'm happy - more than happy - with my progress on guitar in the last four years. From three chords, to about 33 - and alternate voicings, too! But I'm ecstatic when I look at my songwriting - from utter crud to, well, I think I can write a decent song every now and then, given a good subject....

And that's exactly what I need. A good subject, and a kick up the backside to get my LAZY bum in gear - I wouldn't ever get anything done if I wasn't pushed. And that's what the SSG (long may it prosper!) has done for me. Given me that kick, that impetus, and most of all, that encouragement and feedback from the other songwriting folks in here, so thank you all again, you SSG regulars, for the umpteenth time - for that.

There's only one thing I'm afraid of - and that's someone telling me one week, "man, who told you you could write? Your songs SUCK!" - well maybe the early ones did, but I'd like to think I've improved by now....

Wow, too much saturday night beer, again! Hmmm - maybe that'd make a good title......

:D :D :D

Vic

I don't know if this will work for you.... My method of 'learning' how to do things is not to keep adding to my style the things that I like most;
rather it's to find out what I DIDN'T like about what I just did and to make sure that I never do that again.
So I sort of chop all the things I don't like out of my artistic process, until I'm left with only things that I do

That reminds me of the sculptor who was asked how he created such magnificent statues; "I just get a hammer and chisel," said the sculptor, "and bash away all the bits that shouldn't be there....."

:D :D :D

Vic

Re week 35....And I have to go on record by stating that sometimes the psychic abilities of the SSG forum astounds me...

I just KNEW he was going to say that!

https://www.guitarnoise.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=10526

Sometimes I even astound myself.........

:D :D :D

Vic

Vic, as Ken already said, don't worry too much. Just look at your last mp3 to "The Art of Conversation". Lyrically and musically, this song belongs to your very best. And I do think you have your own style! Looking forward to see where your pen leads you next :D

Also, I think it's only natural to look for inspiration in other people's works, even if you don't do it consciously you (at least I) can't quite escape the influence of something that touched you. After all, we're supposed to be in Postmodernism, aren't we :lol:

But sometimes I am a little concerned myself.. if it weren't for SSG, I wouldn't have written much (or at least tried to finish something) if anything in quite a while. So I whole-heartedly join your thanks for, how did you phrase it, that kick, that impetus, and most of all, that encouragement and feedback :D

Cheers,
straycat.

After all, we're supposed to be in Postmodernism, aren't we

Actually, I think my style of songwriting woulkd be better defined as Livinginthepastism, or perhaps Stuckinthesixtiesism! I took a look back at the last few songs I'd written for the SSG....and who they were influenced by....Ican see Ray Davies, Stones, Hendrix, early Beatles, Dylan (in another new song I wrote this week) etc etc....

I haven't even got up to modern yet, never mind postmodern!

:D :D :D

Vic

Actually, I think my style of songwriting woulkd be better defined as Livinginthepastism, or perhaps Stuckinthesixtiesism! I took a look back at the last few songs I'd written for the SSG....and who they were influenced by....Ican see Ray Davies, Stones, Hendrix, early Beatles, Dylan (in another new song I wrote this week) etc etc....

So, you are working with the best materials. Anyone else is already at a handicap. Pity them.

I'm back! :P or maybe :shock: