I have a problem to write music

[Laso]

Hey guys, i'm 16 and i play guitar for about 5 years. Last year i decided that the only thing i really like doing is to play guitar and that i would live doing that. However, i'm having a problem to write music. Everytime i'm writing a riff or something i find out that's it's just a riff from someone else that i really like and it seems that my head just can't think of anything new. I have some good riffs but none of them satisfacts me. Also i keep changing the style of music i want to do everytime i hear a good song of other genre instead of just compose what comes to mind.

Have u ever been in that situation?

 

[Alex Kenivel]

Yes, I have. It's actually pretty normal I think. You're inspired by a band or a song so much that you can't help sound like your influence. Why do you think a lot of bands sound the same?

Give it some time and maybe your influences will begin to vary, and therefore your playing

 

[Aion]

Yeah, that's a common problem. What I would suggest is turning it into a strength. Figure out what you like about each of those styles and try and find ways to put them together. At first it might come out kind of sloppy, things won't mesh quite right, but if you keep at it you'll end up with a distinct combination of styles rather than become another cookie-cutter player. The one thing I would suggest is make concrete goals. For example, say you're really into death metal right now. Pick a song (or a couple) and get really into them for a week, really figure out why they work and what holds them together. Then say you're doing that and you start getting super into metalcore. Same thing, spend some time, figure out what makes it tick. You get into jazz, guess what? Same process. But you always have goals to figure out different solutions to different musical questions and that way you're not just hopping randomly between styles.

Meanwhile, keep writing music. Even if you realize you're accidentally copying someone else, take that riff and try and change it a little bit. Or you can take a bunch of different riffs from different songs and put them together in a sort of pastiche and the question is how to get from one to another in a convincing way.

You're saying you have a problem. You don't, or if you do, it's the same problem everyone else has. After all, every piece of art is in reaction to other art. You're either expanding on ideas that already exist, or countering ideas that exist. There's no way around it. So find your natural inclinations, find ways to turn them into strengths, and build up from there.

 

[JeffKill]

and the question is how to get from one to another in a convincing way.

This seems to be my biggest problem. I don't have too much trouble writing catchy sounding riffs. But putting them together to form a song is something I always struggle with. Only been playing for a little over a year though, so I take it for what it is and continue practicing.

 

[Mr. Big Noodles]

I've gotten into the habit of writing two sections at a time in order to combat this very problem. There are various things you can do, in terms of harmony and rhythm and whatnot, but I'm writing this on my phone and can't go into depth with that right now. If you're considerate of form during your writing though, it makes this sort of thing easier. Make it a goal to write two sections of eight, twelve, or sixteen bars each and try to adhere to that formula no matter what. Later on, you can screw around with what is happening on each individual section, but at least this way you have a stronger formal basis for your music.

 

[synrgy]

Totally common problem. Happens to me all the time. I don't have any quick-tricks to get around it, though. IMHO, it really boils down to persistence, practice, and widening one's listening-palette.

 

[cwhitey2]

I have the same problem. I have TONs of riffs...but putting them all together in a song and having it flow is very time consuming. It doesn't help though that I always think I make something better

 

[redstone]

Don't write with the guitar, open your DAW or guitar pro and develop your own sense of melody with no regard for what you think is playable or not.

 

[Aion]

I've gotten into the habit of writing two sections at a time in order to combat this very problem.

Another similar way to combat that problem is to write the ending or a middle riff. Work backwards and figure out how to build to it.

 

[Solodini]

Write with your brain rather than muscle memory or familiar sounds. Set yourself restrictions of time signature, key, choose a chord sequence to fit to. Don't allow yourself to change than, just keep battering at it and consciously adjusting bits which don't work until you have something you like.

The idea of writing two sections is good, too. If you write one familiar riff, you can write a complimentary section, then get rid of the overly familiar bit and write a new one which also compliments your 2nd riff. Or take the 2nd half of the familiar riff, treat it as the first half of a new riff, write a new ending to it. Get rid of the first half and write a new bit to replace it.

 

[ThatCanadianGuy]

Set yourself restrictions of time signature, key, choose a chord sequence to fit to.

I swear I'll need this tattooed on my forearm to remember it, but this is what I really need to work on remembering when I want to start writing.

 

[tender_insanity]

I've got hundreds of leftover riffs. But usually when I write songs, I start with something and when I've done it I hear the next part in my head. Sometimes the following part is a totally new thing and sometimes it's a riff from my archives.

And btw, I quit writing music with an instrument in my hands a long time ago. I do it all with the computer. My time's so limited nowadays that I grab the guitar only when I record the new songs I've been writing.