If it's aCajun song, the accoundion part always come first for me. After that, the vocal seems very obvious, just a simple version of the accordion "A" melody.

For me the melody almost always comes before the words. If the melody does not stand on it's own without the words, I usually toss the song before I get to the point of writing words.

DP

Hey Rick,
For me the melody always comes first. When I get one in my head, I make a rush to my computer and record what I have, then go back to it and work on it. There are a few of my tunes that has words to them, most of them are instrumentals. Weather they sound Cajun/Zydeco like, that is another story, I am sure there are those elements in my tunes since they are played on a Cajun accordion, but I can also hear some Swiss(my roots) elments in my playing also, along with folk music.

Yeah, I'm glad to know others share a variety of methods and there's no one "set" way to invent a tune. I'm much like Mark -- I've always got a computer/digiVoice recorder around. I'll hear a melody in my head and "doo-dah" it on the VR. It could be the melody for the vocals or for the box. Then of course, I might discover some riff that's cool and lay it on the VR and build vox around it. I've even found calling my voicemail to hum a diddie works if you don't have a VM available. Some ideas are Cajun, some zydeco, some Lord knows what.

I've found for every 50 doo-dahs laid down, maybe one of them will make the cut to final form. It's a interesting practice, but it sure keeps my creative cap screwed on. And then there's the inevitable dry spell for a few weeks. But then "viola!" (Foghorn Leghorn: yes I meant "viola" -- it's a joke, son!) I'll hit a fertile run on a spate of candidates again.

Emotions, time and place, happiness, blues; so many different vibes that hit me from all angles can be inspirational. Oddly, I find some of my favorite melodies and riffs come to me at the weirdest times.... like in the shower, driving in my car, and the strangest one (but often the best) just waking up from a deep sleep. Of course, cheap beer and tequila often pairs with one or more of those events -- except the driving one!

And yeah, when you bring an idea forward to a band, you never know what's gonna happen when you've got a collection of other minds attempting to wrap around what you "hear" in their heads. They parse it and distill it in their own way -- and often how they interpret it can give it a sparkling life -- or in some cases, swept under a mat and forgotten. It's a double-edged sword working with a band... elation and buzz kill.

Thanks for the replies; it's truly interesting for me to discover what other box players do here. Viv le Braves!

R!CK

Rick,

Not to be redundant, but yeah, an accordion lick is always a great place to start. Sometimes a tune you love inspires you. More often than not, you stumble upon things while trying to copy other people's licks.

Other times, I'll have a few French phrases in my head that inspire me. The poetry of the language will sometimes move you to write stuff down and begin the process.

My band will be touring Texas in late October. We will definitely stop in Frederickburg (to do a spot on KFAN), but I was thinking of playing there too, though I'm unfamiliar with the venues there. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I haven't settled on a venue for Dallas (my hometown), but we hope to pick a medium-sized venue that would be a good time.

Anyway, I think it's important for everyone to write new Cajun/Zydeco songs. There are plenty of great players on this board and no one should be intimidated by songwriting.

Nick B

Nick,

I'd check with The AllGood Cafe (allgoodcafe.com) and Poor David's Pub (poordavidspub.com). Those are practically the only two venues that feature roots music in Dallas. I'm sure you're familiar with Poor David's, being from Dallas -- it's been around for decades.

The owner of the AllGood also books the Sons Of Hermann Hall, which is a fantastic venue and he's been wanting to pair up my band with another likeminded band for a double-bill at the Son's. If you can nail down a date, perhaps we could do that there? We can take this off-line to keep from boring the Braves... Holla back and hit me up if you wanna explore that idea more.

C'est bon,

R!CK

Another interesting question, Rick! I normally hear a song in my head as I'm writing it--at least I hear the rhythm and have an idea of how I want a couple of lines to sound. Then I start trying to put the rest of it together, just singing it different ways around the chords I'm playing. After that, when I bring it to my band, I normally have the accordion intro ready in my head. I sing that to David and he plays it, then works his own thing out. It's definitely a group effort, I'd say, at least for me.

That's cool to hear, Sarah! Yeah, having a band sure makes it easier to complete a tune -- speaking for myself, there.

I've been toying with the idea of taking the "song in my head/doo-dah" process a step further, by acquiring a software package that will allow me to lay down the rhythm track, vocals, accordion -- and (if possible)a guitar rhythm. I haven't determined what package would be best, but whatever [that] is, it would have the virtual samples of these instruments included -- basically having a virtual band in my computer. My only concern with that would be the learning curve involved in such a method. Plus, I'd need to upgrade my Mac hardware and acquire an M-Box or some sort of plug-in interface.

But I've got the gumption to do it.

It would sure be nice to have some of those raw ideas already hashed-out to present to the band. And for those they don't really warm up to, I'd have a comprehensive idea down for future revisitation.

S'Good...

R!CK