So I know theres a few of you around so lets talk.

A few things to talk about to get the ball rolling

What do you think of Modes? Any ones you like to use the most? I use Phygian a fair bit.

Which scale/mode has a natural 3rd with a minor 6th and 7th? I found this the other day and think it sounds pretty cool

How do you like to write songs?

Discuss!!

I usualy put my fingers to the bass and let feel take me the way. When i compose other instruments i usualy take a pretty standard, my bassline is in A so the song must be in A. I never realy understood why we need modes and cannot just use another scale but i am not that experienced.

Aeolian mode (I think that's the correct spelling), although, again, I love minor modes.
I like to whack in some random chords that I think will sound good, and improvise to them. Eventually, when I come across some pure gold, I'll write it down.

As you've probably guessed, I'm a guitarist, but I also do this with the vocal parts as well. I write words and then try and fit the song around it, or sometimes the other way round.

However my true passion lies with creating weird, avant-garde artsy electro-rock-folk whateveryoucallit music. Just weird music basically. I've created many a conventional rock tune in my time, don't get me wrong, but it's the weird stuff that really captures my imagination. Things like Radiohead's "Fitter Happier".

I once wrote a song with some sad, melancholic chords playing on acoustic in the background (I forget exactly which ones), with samples from Martin Luthers King's "I Have a Dream" speech and some Medieval monks singing in Latin (you know what I mean) playing over the top. It's one of my best works, I think, and also more avant garde than my other work.

I don't play anything but the cello (and piano, and my lips for whistling), but my very favorite mode of all time is the Dorian mode.......Incredibly reminiscent of minor music of the British Isles, and really haunting when it comes to melodies.....

...Too bad there's so little music of said Isles for the cello.....

galletea:
I like the Aeolian, but minor modes are always a winner for me.
Writing wise, I tend to start with a tune I've sung to myself and then work on it from there, so I tend to do more improv then actuall composing.
I just got a new keyboard now though, so I'm hoping to start doing more with my computer.

The Dorian beats the Aeolian hands down! Though during solos I usually use the mixolydian for fast runs.

I'm rather new to songwriting, as such I pretty much stay within altered Blues.

I do not play an instrument but I am a great vocalist. Especially when covering Beatles songs.

I'm a Guitarist.
Scales are evil.
Modes even more so.
Songwriting is hard.

But one thing I have to say is that playing the riff from Daytripper never gets old.

I'm a bassist and I'm clueless about modes and scales :)

I've never had formal training, I just picked up the school bass one day in the music room and started fiddling with it. Now I tend to play by ear or if I can't figure it out myself, look up tabs (Assuming I'm trying to play someone else's song).

When it comes to song writing I just experiment until I find something that sounds good and try to build on it. Unless I'm playing with others, in which case I tend to let them start and then just follow.

oh god, modes

i'm currently re learning them so i can write some better shit. I feel the urge to play again since i have my new amp (vox AC30!) and i feel that i gott write some good stuff

i like the mixolydian mode personally

What if you're a musician, but your instrument is FL Studio?

TheGhostOfSin:

But one thing I have to say is that playing the riff from Daytripper never gets old.

Best riff ever.

What Would Bowie Do

roblikestoskate:
What Would Bowie Do

Get old and disappear?

TheGhostOfSin:

roblikestoskate:
What Would Bowie Do

Get old and disappear?

he hasn't done either

I'm not a big user of modes, if only because I have to write basslines to go under people who don't know jack about music theory (ah, rock, why must you be so irreverent?). I do use the mixolydian mode from time to time when I just compose things for myself though.

As for writing songs, I always start by going up and down all the major and minor scales. This serves a twofold purpose:
1. It gets me warmed up.
2. It lets me hear all the tones I can make. While they're all going into my ears, I might find something I like.

I also like to "bassify" catchy guitar riffs. Often I'll stray from the sonic pattern of the riff, but end up with something that sounds even cooler. I ended up doing this with some stuff from Metallica's latest album.

The other thing I like to do is pick a tonic, then play a third (usually a minor) and fifth above and below it. I'll take these five notes and play them in a random order at a gradually increasing tempo. This will often give me a sound pattern that sounds cool, or almost right. If it's almost right, then I'll explore beyond thirds and fifths.

Simple almost to the point of crudeness, but I've found great stuff doing this.

TheGhostOfSin:

roblikestoskate:
What Would Bowie Do

Get old and disappear?

WWJD is more what you should be asking. Not jesus though. John as in Lenon.

I'm not being pretentious, but I actually put effort into learning scales and modes, classic basslines, cliches of modern bass playing and so forth in order to intentionally dodge such predictable styles.
Whenever I feel a tune I'm writing begins to bend into a standard for the instrument, I think of ways to challenge what I have written.
On one hand, it is constricting, in that overly simplistic "been there, done that" concepts I try to stray as far from as possible, yet this causes me to be creative. I'm never satisfied with anything I write if I feel it is just "ok."
Not that I don't take to being simple occasionally; it's practically a necessity with the bass in order to achieve coherency at times,
I just like to challenge myself, and I find knowing what has been done is a good way to craft what can be done.

ive always had ideas for compositions. but theyve always turned out to be fragments of a whole. as i learn more and get better at skills, i get closer to a piece. this only regards piano.

I'll be confessin'
that I never took a lesson
All my notes are matter o' guessin'
Playin' and-a hopin' that they'll come out a way that'll make-a that yakkety sound

In all seriousness though, I don't really know a lot about music theory - if only I paid more attention in school. That's the first time I've used that phrase non-sarcastically, damn.

I tend to prefer the pentatonic scale, though, from what I've gathered. It sounds restrictive but it becomes pretty versatile once you figure out a few licks - great for improv. (I'm a guitarist.)

And I really do like improvisation - in fact, sometimes I come up with something that just sounds so good I feel like writing a song. Which is something I've been messing around with, though I've lately come to terms with the fact that I can't write lyrics that are worth a damn. I guess I'm just not authentic enough.
I really would like to compose some guitar-only compositions some day, though. Between the three guitars that I have - a classical guitar, an acoustic steel-string and an '86 Fender Strat - a wealth of sounds can be made, and I really think this fact hasn't been exploited nearly enough.

So the moment I'm able to cough up $1000 for decent recording equipment, my solo project will make musical history.

Yes... some day...

I like just picking up the guitar find three cords that flow together and play (How most Bob Dylan songs are started)

i can't play drums with shoes on, that's about it. after that let's jam.

When messing around on my guitar i usually just start with a simple riff then slowly add on more and more. I know its sounds weird but i write best when im sad. Thats when i can play with the most feeling and those are the songs i like playing the most. Heavy stuff is fine and good but playing with true feeling sounds so much better at times.

galletea:
I like the Aeolian, but minor modes are always a winner for me.
Writing wise, I tend to start with a tune I've sung to myself and then work on it from there, so I tend to do more improv then actuall composing.
I just got a new keyboard now though, so I'm hoping to start doing more with my computer.

LUUUCCCCKKKYYYY ive always wanted a keyboard lol gotta save up some money for a good one =/

101194:
I like just picking up the guitar find three cords that flow together and play (How most Bob Dylan songs are started)

E - A - E - A - B(7) - A - E

congratulations. You can now play Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and the rhythm section for 90% of blues songs.

haveyouseen_mywallet:
i can't play drums with shoes on, that's about it. after that let's jam.

Toejam?

HAH

JBarracudaL:
I'm not being pretentious, but I actually put effort into learning scales and modes, classic basslines, cliches of modern bass playing and so forth in order to intentionally dodge such predictable styles.
Whenever I feel a tune I'm writing begins to bend into a standard for the instrument, I think of ways to challenge what I have written.
On one hand, it is constricting, in that overly simplistic "been there, done that" concepts I try to stray as far from as possible, yet this causes me to be creative. I'm never satisfied with anything I write if I feel it is just "ok."
Not that I don't take to being simple occasionally; it's practically a necessity with the bass in order to achieve coherency at times,
I just like to challenge myself, and I find knowing what has been done is a good way to craft what can be done.

yeah, i would like to be like this, but i'm not talented enough and i dont really have the time to sit down. I write in a Sonic Youth style. if it sounds good, use it

Lol you got my Sarcasim or your being an ass :D

TheGhostOfSin:
I'm a Guitarist.
Scales are evil.
Modes even more so.
Songwriting is hard.

But one thing I have to say is that playing the riff from Daytripper never gets old.

I could imagine chromatics being extremely easy, though.

I don't like modes, they sicken me. I can play all the modes deriving from C major on a keyboard or piano, hehehe.

curlycrouton:

TheGhostOfSin:

But one thing I have to say is that playing the riff from Daytripper never gets old.

Best riff ever.

I'd agree and add that Rain and Paperback Writer are up there with it.

jim_doki:
I feel the urge to play again since i have my new amp (vox AC30!)

Can we post pictures of ourselves with our equipment or just our equipment in spoilers? I want to see this AC30.

EDIT: Can we say our band names too? I'm asking because I don't want to derail topic.

im not a guitarist and know nothing about scales and modes but im in a band.. my guitarist does that but we write songs together, we usually compose songs by brainstorming first about the subject of the song then its either the words come first or the rhythm.. well our ong were just plain and simple but i like listening to them...

perfectimo:

Can we post pictures of ourselves with our equipment or just our equipment in spoilers? I want to see this AC30.

EDIT: Can we say our band names too? I'm asking because I don't want to derail topic.

just for you perfectimo!