Hello,
       I was just wondering if anyone has any good ideas/techniques on how to write songs...lyrics and music, the whole shebang!

Welcome to chordbook buttercup ! Well, i'll start off by suggesting choosing a title for a song. Write it down and think about it and you'll find yourself creating the first line or even the first verse. Then you can write down the ones you like. You don't really have to worry about rhyming right away, since you can see to that later. It's more like you're telling the story about what's in the title of the song.

Others will come along that have a lot of experience with song writing and they'll add to the process i'm thinking. Hope you are enjoying your time in chordbook !

GuitarZen

It really helps if you keep a  notebook. I have one in every room, to write thoughts, ideas, and subjects of my songs. don't worry if they make no sense, they will when it all comes together. write  down everything. The lines will come. Don't give up, don't fight the process. sometimes it takes a lot of time, sometimes it flows fast. Don't force it.   Keep writing and let us see one of your songs in the song writing section. welcome to  chordbook.

it really depends I usually start with guitar.....usually by accident...im just praticing and I will play something tha sounds cool...a chor progression or a riff or maybe even a lead lick sometimes....but I will take it and start from there it usually serves as the intro (thats the catchy part of all of my songs )then I develope a verse and a chorus...at which point I usually start humming a singing a melody....lyrics usually come last for me as they are they least important to me...a good song is about melody and music that sticks in your head....good lyrics arent requred for catchiness  I mean listen to most of the hits from the from the last 40 years....` of them are terrible songs lyrically

i was a singer before i started learning guitar so lyrics usually proceed the music.
But ill be at work for 8 hours talking to customers about life and come home
with 20 different scraps of paper with one line or one verse or chorus that
i thought up or developed through a conversation. and it can be the start of
20 new songs or one song. and i wait for those going back to school sales
and buy 10 of those lined paper note books and just write what ever i have
down so it all stays together. as well as being effective for writing tabs
cause the lines are light blue and you can choose 4 or six line depending on the
tab
and as for titles its so uncreative to have a songs chorus and title be the same.
like if the chorus is times are so hard why title the song hard times? takes 5 sec to
be more creative and call it times are changing or something

Thanks everybody!  Those are great suggestions, I really appreciate them, and I will be trying them out.

You know, I think I just need to sing whatever I like, not what I think other people will like

Bingo buttercup...sing and play what you feel and that will keep it fun, which is what it's all about !

Cheers,

GuitarZen

most people don't even know what they like till you sing it
too them. and i have noticed holding a guitar keeps
peoples attention on you for the most part

THINK OF A PHRASE, WORD, OR SHORT SENTENCE...eg. (long train short ride)  that should be your hook, the music to which this describes