A Quote by Jason Reeves

There are no rules or certain methods. I usually start with the guitar or piano and sing melodies over the chords. The lyrics seem to be born out of that, and the fact that it's still a mystery to me is my favorite part.

Jason Reeves

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Born Certain Chords Fact Favorite Favorite Part Guitar Lyrics Me Melodies Methods My Favorite Mystery No Rules Out Over Part Piano Rules Seem Sing Start Still

Quote Author

Jason Reeves
Singer
Born: July 1, 1984

I think I'm much more of a guitar-songwriter than a singer. I start with chords and then test out melodies rather than improvising over it.

Soccer Mommy

We start a lot with melodies and instrumentation and trying to figure out good melodies for verses and choruses. We get to lyrics sometimes second, so we'll start humming a melody, finding something, and see where the music takes you as far as lyrics are and what you want to say and go from there.

Dave Haywood

I usually start with a guitar riff or some little pattern of chords, and then I kind of go from there. Usually my lyrics are the last thing to go onto a song. For years and years I only ever did instrumental, so I'm still trying to get confidant with my lyrics and find the right balance. I'll generally get inspired from the music. I'll have a guitar line, and then I'll have a melody line, and I hook the lyrics up to fit that rhythm. So, my lyrics to tend be very rhythmic as well. They work with the music rather than the music works around them.

Butterfly Boucher

Jim had melodies as well as words. He didn't know how to play a chord on any instrument, but he had melodies in his head. To remember the lyrics he would think of melodies and then they would stay in his head. He had melodies and lyrics in his head, and he would sing them a cappella, and we would eke out the arrangements.

John Densmore

I didn't start writing music until I was a sophomore in college. I would steal my roommate's guitar and sit on the front porch and kind of blend this weird spoken word and these little melodies over simple chords; that really started my whole journey as a musician.

Mat Kearney

Every time I get up in the morning, melodies occur to me and I start trying to shape lyrics to melodies.

Andrew Bird

When people hear sing-songy melodies, they think the lyrics will be nice, too. I guess there's a depressing or psychotic side to my personality that pops out in the lyrics.

Kim Shattuck

I sit down and create atmospheres, start playing guitar or piano and just sing whatever comes out of my mouth.

Martin Gore

Sometimes I start just on the piano with a melody or musical idea that kind of leads me to certain lyrics.

John Legend

My sister played the piano. She’s two years older than me, and I always wanted to play something. So my grandmother got the guitar for me, and showed me a couple of chords to start off. And then I got me a book. Next thing you know, I was playing along with sister.

Willie Nelson

Not playing guitar on 'World On Fire' gave me additional time to fine-tune lyrics and melodies, which improved the songs in the end. I'm very happy with how it turned out.

Myles Kennedy

There is a great temptation with songs, melodies and lyrics to overcomplicate them but in fact, you find that the most enduring melodies are often the simplest.

Ken Hensley

Music was my first love, and at Marlborough we put bands together and sang the pop songs of the day. Although I couldn't read or write music - I still can't - I taught myself to play the guitar and piano by listening to songs and working out the chords.

Chris de Burgh

I'll sing over some chords, searching, what does [the music] conjure up, where's the melody taking you? I deliberate over the lyrics, I really do. I'll come up with one line in a day, and then it might be a couple of days before I come up with the rhyming line. It's never been easy for me.

Rod Stewart

I compose melodies in my head and then interpret them musically with my guitar and keep them recorded. The guitar helps me to build unique chord structures on simple melodies.