How To Arrange Your Songwriting For A Band!
We have all heard the stories about famous bands writing songs together. It has such a strong appeal, to CREATE GREAT MUSIC WITH FRIENDS, almost like having a musical second family.
But the truth of the matter is that writing songs with an entire band is a very rare situation. Even when all the names of band members are listed as co-writers, it is usually just one or two who did the majority of the writing.
The usual scenario with band writing is that all the members are there to help arrange a song that only one or two members actually wrote. This can be a very inefficient use of practice time.
So what is the best way to be creative with band members who have a desire to help in the writing process?
The most common SOLUTION is for band members to write solo, or pair-up for writing in twos, or threes at the most. This way, you can EASILY switch around writing partners, and everyone will be bringing COMPLETED SONGS to rehearsal so that no time will be wasted.
To avoid wasting a lot of time having to show each band member, one at a time, how to play each new song at band practice, while the others wait, it is best to get a rough recording of the song to everyone prior to rehearsal. It can be extremely frustrating having to wait for each player to learn their parts before it can be played by the whole group.
If during rehearsal other band members contribute to the completed song in a significant way, and their new parts or editing ideas take the song to a whole new level, DEFINITELY add them to the credits as co-writers.
THE TWO BEST TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE BAND SONGWRITING
One, be aware that some writing partners will like to stick together, and other just won’t click well. This is very similar to dating, so don’t let jealousy or other emotions interfere with developing great songs for the group. You are part of a team; BE A TEAM PLAYER, all good songs benefit you and the whole team.
Two, It is alright if not all the band members write. Some will either not be as creative as the others, or they will not have developed their skills at songwriting yet. Don’t let that interfere with the members who are writing songs more prolifically.
Additionally, sometimes drummers or bass players will learn to hack out chords on the guitar or keyboard and sing, to get more involved with the writing process. It would then be YOUR JOB to overlook their inadequacies on a new instrument, listen to the quality of the song despite a probably mediocre performance, and help them with the performance aspect, and possible co-writing of their songs.
So if you have been jumping from band to band in search of the greatest songwriting team in the world, Stop! It is almost never done that way. Realizing this can help you to relax and enjoy the band for what it is, and allow you to get to work on writing those awesome Hit Songs!
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