Tricks For Songwriting On Guitar

There are many people who learn guitar for the purpose of writing and playing in a band, but they don't know where to start with on writing. Here are some tips for those of you struggling with a composition.

First of all, it's important to remember that, in most cases, the other instruments play a crucial part in how the music sounds; so you want to take all the other possibilities into account, this means thinking logically. Also, if you want your music to sound good you have to make sure it is organized. Don't make the same mistake many others have in writing it all at once, instead toy with some riffs, melodies, and rhythms first. If it has more of a flow it might sound better, and be easier to write.

Another very useful trick is to know what scale you're using and what kind of chord progression you're after. This makes it easier to write because you know what chords to use individually, and therefore what notes you want. A useful tip in writing chord progressions is that there are three types of chords. Your I, III, and VI chords are 'stable' chords, your II and IV chords are 'semi-stable', and your V and VII are 'unstable' chords. It's important to remember that stable chords are always used at the beginning of a riff. Semi-stable chords usually follow the stable chords, and tension begins to rise. Unstable chords are the ultimate tension builders - particularly the V chord - they follow immediately after a semi-stable chord. Then, finally, the progression goes back to stable (namely I) chords.

Scales, as trivial as they may seem, are handy in writing as well. There are many scales that can be used, but if your looking for a more progressive sound I strongly recommend the diminished scale. The diminished scale is easy to play. All you have to do is play the root, go up a whole tone, then up a semi-tone, then a whole tone, then a semi-tone, etc. You can make it go on for as long or as little as you like, although it is a good idea to avoid going longer than one measure. It's excellent for fills.

Another handy tool in writing is the arpeggio. There are two ways of playing an arpeggio on guitar: one way is to play the notes of a four-note-form chord in succession, first ascending then descending. The other way is to hold your fretting hand in the same position of the chord you are trying to play, then pluck the lowest note in that chord and the thinnest three strings on the guitar in the order of third thinnest, second thinnest, thinnest, second thinnest, third thinnest, and then play the lowest note once more. The latter is not very common in Rock of Metal because of its difficulty when playing quickly.

I hope these tips are useful to you in the future. Happy writing!