Musician Forum - Band Discussion Board - BandMix

Have you ever had a really cool song buzzing in your brain, and wanted to play it?
And then, by the time you get to pick up your guitar to find the tune, it's changed into something nowhere near as good?

Unfortunately, too often!

Is there any other way to do it?

r-man, that is why you should invest in a dictaphone, with a mic and hum it on to the machine, then get your guitat out and transcribe or transpose the hummed vocal notes..

I used to do it that way, until I could no longer hear good melodies inside my head, then I started ramrodding chords together like smashing a square peg into a round hole

Dayne Nobody IV wrote:
I used to do it that way, until I could no longer hear good melodies inside my head, then I started ramrodding chords together like smashing a square peg into a round hole

This sounds like my songwriting process!

If I'm anywhere near a pen and paper - I'll grab the lyrics in no time. Then spend the rest of my life fine tuning the music...

Talbot

It can be hard to remember it, if you just write it down.
Sometimes you can play the right melody, or the right chords, but with the wrong rhythm, and it becomes . . . well, crummy.
What I used to do was record 'newly thought of songs' on cassette, which was a hassel . . . mikes, blank tape, etc . . .
(Yep I'm an OLD dude, eh?!)
Then I started recording sound bites on my computer. Again, a hassel: load the software, plug in, adjust volumes . . .
Now I just plug into my looper pedal; wham - bang: done.
You don't have to just use it as a looper, you can use it as a recording device, too.
I can record/save up to 6 hours or 99 tunes.
I've tried recording just my voice for a new tune, but I tend to hear melodies as full chords, and a simple vocal melody doesn't capture that . . . I want to hear the minors, majors, 9ths, 7ths, whatever . . . Of course, that doesn't help me too much if I'm driving down the road!

If I'm driving, then what I do is to mentally repeat the song, and hope that I don't change it too much by the time I finally get a chance to pick up my guitar.