I play guitar and I'm not that good, I can also kind of sing and that's about it. I have minimal music theory knowledge and don't know any songwriting algorithms.
Every time I try and come up with my own chord sequence or whatever I fucking give up just as I start. I feel like it's all been done before and that everything I could ever imagine is derivative and done before, I feel like any attempt at original artistic expression will ultimately come off as cheesy, tryhard or just laughable.
I envy artists who could just write great songs off the cuff, just them and their guitar or whatever like Dylan.
Are some people just born with genuine musical songwriting talent and others aren't?
>>66168772
What kind of music are you playing?
Also just shut up. Sounds like you're just making excuses for yourself. People put a lot of work into songs. It can take years. Forget your self loathing and just work at it or you'll never get the results you want. That's life.
Oasis were one of the biggest band of the 1990s.
Remember that when you think something being done before will hinder you.
>>66168772
if conventional songwriting isn't your thing, try doing it another way! do you ever feel inspired in any way at all? if you do, try to focus that energy into noises.
>>66168772
become part of the live show for some sufjan stevens or beck type singer-songwriter project/one man recording artist
>tfw write and record songs with sick full band arrangements but no musicians friends or money to hire backing band for live shows
>>66168815
At the moment I usually try to make a folk acoustic guitar song like Elliott Smith, or something low-fi like that, I sometimes delve into electric guitar rock/punk stuff, or just 12 bar blues.
And yeah that's a really good point
>>66168772
>songwriting algorithms
not sure what you mean by this.
Get really fucking drunk/high/whatever recreational substance you enjoy taken to the nth degree and try writing then
It's a cliche but anything good I've ever written has come during or immediately after an acid trip
>>66168825
I get inspired when listening to good music and watching live performances, but I have literally no idea how to channel inspiration into creativity
>>66168870
My friend is taking some songwriting course thing and says that their is proven set methods for effective songwriting
>>66168879
Don't you cringe at the music you make when high/drunk or whatever the day after? I feel like I would
Nobody is born a good artist, anon. It's a lot of trial and error, you're not going to write good music until you give yourself a chance to grow as a musician and that requires a lot of practice. You have to be an amateur before you can be a pro. By giving up you're not giving yourself a chance to mature creatively, I should know because I've made the same exact mistake. I was in the same position as you if not worse. I've tried joining a band without knowing any chords.
All of your favorite musicians have been playing music for years before they released any of your favorite albums.
Keep trying anon, get the bad songs out of the way and learn from them so that you can improve as a musician.
Sucking at something is the first step to being sort of good at something.
Good luck with writing music and don't forget about us little guys when you're famous, okay?
>>66168823
I get what you mean but you still need to have some degree of original creativity to use influences so blatantly but still retain original merit and gain a large following
>>66168815
This.
I felt the same way OP. In fact, every now and then I still do feel uncreative and wasting others' time just by trying to make original stuff. OR I feel like everything I do has already been done. Which it probably has—still, if you like what you make then you shouldn't give a fuck.
Personally I've realized that the only way to feel better about being creative is to simply continue trying or to completely stop. So I guess decide for yourself
>>66168772
some of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard were stripped down/minimal recordings, possible on-the-spot vocals, & grainy production. Quit wanting to create a masterpiece & start channeling your emotions. A sub-par recording for you might just end up being someone else's favorite song. Think about it like that.
>2016
>still trying to make music with guitars and singing
Get with the program grandpa
same here OP and everybody else is right. if you like what you do and shit then do it, everything will come to you eventually. it's just getting that into your head thats the hard part.
get shit faced and whine over some guitar riff and keep doing that until it sounds the way you want. learn about music, rip off other people whatever just keep going.
also torrent fl studio and get some drum samples and make yourself a one man black metal band.
>>66168909
Your friend is a fool and he is being successfully separated from his money
>>66168772
Blues is literally all I7 - IV7 - V7. Write memorable melodies before you write memorable chord progressions
>>66168929
Not that guy but a good 90% of stuff I've written while high or drunk has been really funny and kind of shit. But it's that other 10% that makes the whole experience worth it in my opinion.
I write a lot of songs, OP. It took me three years to get my shit together. My advice is to just write whatever leaks out of you. Save every scrap of paper, every chord chart, and every phone recording you come up with. Study everything you do and share it with people even if it's shit.
I wrote about seven songs before good ones started coming out, and now I have 20 songs that I stand by and that at the very least my friends enjoy. Sometimes /mu/ even likes them.
Also, join a band so then you have people who are obligated to at least listen to your output even if you're all falling in line behind someone else.
Be patient, dude. You've got to build yourself up.
>>66169252
this 10000%. you can still come up with an original chord progression, but it's super super rare. i guarantee 90% of what's on the top 40 is a derivative chord progression with a nice catchy melody
Try instruments other than guitar, OP, and see if you feel more creative. When you play guitar you can sometimes feel a bit locked-in to basic chords.
>>66168929
~30% of the stuff I make when high or drunk turns out amazing, and better than anything I'd do sober, so it's worth it. But yeah, 70% of the time it's shit, and I don't realize it's shit until the next day.
>>66169812
>90%
I'll paypal you 100 dollars if you can find an original chord progression in a current top 40 song
make yourself motivated. get excited. do whatever you need to do to get those creative juices flowing. play some random melody or chord progression you can jam to, it doesn't have to be completely unique. then build on it. if you feel like you need a break then take one. get back to it later and keep working on it. some songs get written in less than an hour, and others can takes weeks, months even.
>>66172637
This.
>>66168815
Justin Hayward wrote Nights in White Satin in like four minutes
I feel a lot like you do OP. What I just don't get is the best way to record my ideas. I don't have multiply instruments and good microphones available. I know a decent amount of music theory but I'm shit at writing anything into a music staff. So how do you guys turn your musical thoughts into a product?
>>66173549
The whole "famous song jammed out in just 10 minutes" thing is just a meme to discourage competition from other musicians and songwriters.
>>66176086
To make it look like they didn't slave over the thing refining it into something palatable?
Step one: pick 3 of these: G C A D Em
Step 2: write some uninspired lyrics about girls or how shit your life is
Congratulations, you've got yourself a song, now make a few of these and you're ready to go out to an open mic night at a coffee shop and prove yourself to the public.
>>66176112
Yeah, people are more wooed by natural visionary genius than hard work. This goes back in time too, like Coleridge supposedly having the entirety of Xanadu written in his sleep and other bullshit like that. The reason people complain about how savants don't seem to exist anymore is because it's too difficult to fake it now.
>>66176184
I'm fine with that illusion falling though. If you put in hard work and effort on something then flaunt that shit.
>>66176177
>uninspired lyrics about girls or how shit your life is
That's literally all there is to write about.
