Gang,
I think I see the problem here.
So let me insert a very long epistle that I plucked from another forum about a year ago, and see if that helps ya. Bear in mind a couple of things: Strictly speaking, a tune is music without words, and a song is music with words.
1 They are often interchanged though, and no one really cares.
Next, appropos the below message, surf music is normally without words, beach music is with words (Dick Dale notwithstanding.
), but again, who cares. And finally, all of the names you see below are either pretty big, or d@mned big, in the surf music world. These are highly respected people who have paid their dues, as I'm sure you will agree after reading through it all.
Enjoy!
~!~!~!~!~!~
"surfbandbill " wrote:
>
> Greetings all,
> After some ever-so helpful tips from Pollo Del Ferenc, I thought I'd
> put the question to the whole group: how can I improve my
> songwriting? Should I start with a chord structure? A scale? Or do
> I just write a melody line and see how things fall in?
> I've been really happy with what I've written thus far for The Lava
> Rats, but feel like I'm still missing some of the finer "ins and
> outs" of writing in the surf idiom. I'd be really interested to hear
> how some of you others with more experience go about penning your
> tunes.
> Thanks, and a happy holidays to all!
> ~Bill~
Bill,
First, I want you to know that I was not criticizing your songs... Song appreciation is a matter of taste, as is the writing of the song. Presumably, one writes a song to express themselves in an artistic manner. There are other motives for writing a song, but if you are writing surf/instro, it can't be for the money.
So the task becomes: what do you want out of the songs you write? Are you trying to tell a story or capture a mood? Is it about releasing your aggression in a positive way? Are you trying to imitate or improve on your hero's work?
There are many different ideas of exactly what a song is and how it should be written-- what comes first? the groove, the melody, the chord structure? I think we can all site examples of when a song has too much of one of these elements, but not enough of another. Then again, there are different listeners who might prefer an all groove song (think Rap), all chords- or riffs (think death metal), or all melody (think Teen-pop). ((I am using extreme examples of each of these genres, please don't start a thread telling me that Slayer has a song with a good melody, or that when Mary J Blige did a duet with Redman, it was a merge of melody and rap- I know, I don't care)).
Bill, as to your question about where to start when writing a song. You can start with any one the axis'- melody, chord or groove. (If you are writing vocal tunes, lyrics would be a fourth axis). If you are interested in writing for the surf genre, there is a trademark groove associated already (boom da da boom boom da), although you are definitely not limited to this groove by any means as surf was open from the get go to beats from around the world.
Now- chords or melody? It has been my experience that a song that starts with a melody will lead to more unusual chord structures, and hence a more original song. Many people site the melody as the most important part of surf music, so maybe you SHOULD start there. And, starting with an exotic scale can lead to a cool song. I read about the Hungarian Minor, worked on it a bit and came up with Magyara- it turned out to be my Dad's (a Hungarian) favorite song of mine.
But, if you are stuck for a melody, starting out with a chord structure and then coming up with a melody that fits can be extremely satisfying, and no less original.
Major or Minor? It has been my experience that minor keys lean more towards mood and that major keys provoke melody. I guess that is obvious, but turning this around is yet another exciting challenge to be undertaken.
There is an important fourth element- arrangement, or when recording- production. I think it is extremely important not to confuse arrangement/production with song writing. Arrangements define a genre rather than a song. A good song should be able to be arranged for a variety of genres. But to start out the song writing process by saying, well I'm going to have a glissando going into a reverb kick followed by the drum lick to Wipe Out and then the bass line to Pipeline with some pingy notes on top, will create a completely unoriginal, paint by numbers surf song. And, to my ear, there is lot of that happening in surf music these days. Arrangements are the wrapping for the present, but don't skimp on the gift for fancy paper and bows.
I think a big mistake that people make is to listen only to songs in a single genre for inspiration. The originators of the surf genre reached far and wide to come up with the influences that distilled into "surf music", and even though the genre is 40 years old and well established, you should too.
Here is another point- are you writing for a 4 piece or a trio? Sometimes when I watch a trio, it just seems like the guitarist is noodling around playing solos rather than playing a defined melody. Largely this is due to the fact that there are no chords to show movement and counterpoint to the melody. Great arrangers, like Dave Wronski, will play the melody and chords at the same time. Dave is also an extremely talented guitar player to be sure, but you don't have to be as skilled as he to throw in double stops or triads in your melody to give hints of the chord structure.
An extreme act of labor or gift from god? Sometimes a whole song just pops into your head, as if the muse had landed on your shoulder. And sometimes you just have to sit down and work it out and keep on massaging what you've got until it is right. If you are going to sit around and wait for the muse, you might be waiting a long time, so be prepared to do the work. Personally, some of my songs have taken years to write- a riff that just turns over and over until it find the write counterpoint line. Many times I go to my 4 track with nothing and put down some chords and keep scratching that itch for a week 'til it comes together.
A great exercise is to take apart your favorite songs. I don't mean to just learn how to play it, but to really examine where the melody starts in relation to the key of the song, and how the melody shifts as chords change. Really, look at it note by note against the chords.
I think this is a very brief introduction to song writing. Really, it is different for everyone. One could write volumes about the subject, but rather than talk about it, it is better actually get yourself going. Talk about the songs after they are done. Write a lot-- not everything you write will be a gem and some deserve to get tossed out; keep the good parts and use them later. You don't have to be a great musician to write a song, in fact, some of the best musicians I know don't write at all. In summary, I think that the most important part is to make sure that your motivation for writing in the first place is to express yourself. A song is a good song if the writer has pursued his motivations fully, and completed them to his personal satisfaction. If anybody else likes it, that is a bonus, and if not, well, there is no accounting for taste.
As Paul Westerberg said about song writing, "Nobody knows how to do it, but if you have to do it, you just do it"
Ferenc
~!~!~!~!~!~
HTH!
sumgai
1. Given the definition of a tune, it's funny/ironic that the first nationwide exposure to surf music was in 1962, with Pipeline by the Chantays. To the best of my knowledge, they never recorded any songs (with words), only tunes. But where'd their name come from? It's a French word.... to
chantey is to sing.
More, a 'shanty' is where sailors on shore leave went 'to sing the night away'. Ya gotta love words, they're so.... meaningful. ;D
)
)
So let me insert a very long epistle that I plucked from another forum about a year ago, and see if that helps ya. Bear in mind a couple of things: Strictly speaking, a tune is music without words, and a song is music with words.1 They are often interchanged though, and no one really cares. 
More, a 'shanty' is where sailors on shore leave went 'to sing the night away'. Ya gotta love words, they're so.... meaningful. ;D