Hi, well I play some guitar and got some friends who play guitar and bass. We do some covers and shiet but I'm really a beginner so I just wanted to know.. How do you write music? Sure you can just sit in a room and make up riffs. But, what is useful? What do you need to know? Scales, Chords etc... And yes, this is for making mainly metal songs.
I would really appreciate if someone maybe could tell me how they work out etc.

Knowing chords and scales help. If you know which scales go with which chords
its much easier. Scales will also help you to know the names of each note, which
is very helpful. Just play alot, you'll soon figure out what sounds right and
what sounds crap. Dont just limit yourself to power chords either.
Practice full bar chords.
on writing songs:
for getting things started, either put on a drum machine, or have a drummer start of
with a simple progression, and just play some stuff. it helps to know the notes,
as this will mean you can switch chords, changes keys, and solo easier.
dont limit your self with your playing ability, hum riffs or licks, and then try and
work them out on the guitar.
And record everything! just on a tape player or mobile phone or whatever,
otherwise you might come up with something only to forget it.
it will also help you to discover which parts of your song are any good,
as you will find out which bits you look forward to ect.
bare in mind i'm a complete amuteur, so this may or may not be helpful.
and of course, Practice Practice Practice.
good luck

Basically everything (s)he said.

she with out the s

In my opinion, the most pragmatic approach to writing music is to just play what you feel and sounds good to you. Afterwards, you can examine the music from a theoretical point of view and understand why the music sounds the way it does. This method allows you to be creative as well as technical.

yeah, i got kinda carried away with the technical side.
You need to feel the groove.... .... or something like that.
just try and get whats inside to come out through the guitar.
(no tasteless jokes please, and yeah, i know by writing this i've increased
the chances)

QUOTE(stealth_llama @ Aug 19 2007, 02:53 PM) [snapback]390143[/snapback]just try and get whats inside to come out
lol

thats number one lol,
but hey, you telling me Hendrix didnt?

I haven't had lessons once in my life, yet I can write entirely complete complex music.
want to know what I do?
Always write down every riff you think sounds good.

I'm actually a beginner myself, I started about 5-6 months ago. Honestly, it sounds stupid but I usually just sit there and play and whatever sounds cool you just write it down and practice it and make some more parts up.

QUOTE(Jaysin @ Aug 21 2007, 08:58 PM) [snapback]390535[/snapback]I haven't had lessons once in my life, yet I can write entirely complete complex music.
want to know what I do?
Always write down every riff you think sounds good.
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