I Can't Be the Only One
 

I would like to be a singer and many people have encouraged me saying I missed my calling and whatnot. At the moment I sing karaoke to get experience plus have a vocal coach. The part that upsets me is I don’t write music nor do I play instruments. I have tried writing lyrics but it is like nothing ever comes to mind, or a song that is already written pops into my head instead. I can’t be the only person like this. If I was to make a demo CD it would be of covers to songs that are already out there, which I have heard this might not be such a great thing to do. I have heard Mariah Carey got discovered due to covering a song, so there are people out there. It seems to me that people that are good singers that are lucky enough to get discovered are usually connected afterward with people who help them write songs. I can’t be the only one out there feeling blah about all this.

Check out our songwriters' subforum and maybe you can hook up with a good lyricist who you can work with. Many great singers never wrote a song in their lives, but it's the marriage of musician and songwriter that can often spark something special. Not everyone can write music but then, not everyone who can write music can sing. So find the happy medium and you could be on your way.

Along with what TrollHeart said(ever hear of Bernie Taupin) I'd also point out that no-one, no matter how famous or revered for their talent, starts out as great lyricist, they get that way through practice and studying others work. If you want to become a good writer you need to write all the time, even if what comes out is horrible, eventually it won't be. Also find lyrics and poems you like and study them-don't just read, but examine how the words are used, how their sentences are structured, and how lyrics are fit to the music they're paired with. Eventually you'll start to be proud of what you are writing and get the confidence to try and find musicians to work with.

i agree with Euronomus... just keep reading, studying and writing. even if you start out just taking ten minutes a day that you don't take your pen off the page for. a stream of consciousness without any worry of punctuation or grammar can be a great source for new and inspiring ideas.

also, you don't have to sing with words, in fact, the best vocal music uses the voice as an instrument for singing and not as a medium for transmitting texts

You could join a band, it can't be too uncommon for the vocalist to write their own material. It could be that a guitarist had the words written alongside whatever they composed, but they might not have the greatest voice. Whenever I try jamming by myself, it's only me that's creating, but with others, the process is multiplied by however many people are there, if you are not too sure you can go off someone else. Basically saying, with a band, the creative weight on your part is lighter since you have others to rely on. It's hard to become a great lyricist since when you are starting out, you usually try to be something.

i discourage your career from the start.

part of being a singer is to find your own voice, your own message
i would only encourage your career if you start writing your own lyrics and start approaching music from your individual perspective.

cause if all you ever wanna do as a singer is to sing other ppl's hit songs is best you stick to karaoke cause you have nothing to say on your own.

if you're problem is you are not a very good lyricist that's no excuse to not write lyrics.
just start writing, ppl don't just start being great they get there through practice and hardwork.

Not sure I agree with this.

Artists such as Elton John and Madonna wrote very little of the music or lyrics that they sang, but they both put character, emotion and drive behind the songs that were written for them.

I don't think that just anyone could have sung those songs...artists like that or like Layne Staley singing Cantrell's words...they put blood into the words.

Like someone else mentioned, vocals really are another and very important instrument in the art of music composition, and if you're good at it, you should pursue that if it makes you feel good, whether you're a songwriter or not.

-Two Cents Ghost Jam

See, i don't get that, it's like borrowing someone's opinion cause you have nothing to say..

Why can't they have their own message?

it's not like all the lyrics in every song are super meaningful, so so what if you write ****ty lyrics?

use them!

to me a singer who doesn't write his own stuff is just a pretty voice with nothing to say.

So...if the saxophonist or the bassist didn't write the song, should they not perform?

Again, the vocals are another instrument...the lyrics to the song are written by someone, right?

If the writer of the song simply cannot sing, should their lyrics just collect dust forever?

That doesn't make much sense to me.

-Contrary Ghost Jam

don't get the wrong impression, im just telling my opinion not declaring what a singer should be..

i understand your point but i see it like this, you are not musician until you start creating your own stuff

i don't respect it cause it's the easy way out, when you start creating your own stuff you take a risk.. a risk in voicing your own message rather than playing a popular song you know ppl are gonna like..

sure when you start in music you start by doing covers but at some point you move on from that and start creating your own stuff and that's when your journey as a musician truly begins.

shenanigans at it's finest

I guess I have a different definition of what a musician is.

I don't know about Elton's input into the writing process, but Madonna was contributing significantly lyrically within a few years of achieving commercial success. Musicians should strive for self-improvement. Anyway, as usual, it looks like another thread started by someone who is no longer here.

So... what do you call people who perform as part of an orchestra that play symphonies composed centuries ago?

idk, paid musicians? studio musicians?

all im saying to me a musician is more than just someone who can play an instrument or read music.. maybe i misunderstood the main point in doing music, but isn't it to create you're own compositions?

A musician is someone who plays music. We are all musicians. Some better than others.

But what about instrumental music? Those songs can certainly still have a message.... right?

If you agree with that, then you can agree that the musicians who aren't singing have an input into the group's message as well. Elton John didn't write lyrics, but he wrote damn good songs.

Part of being in a group is to share. A band is a group, not a singer with paid arms standing behind him. They all create the composition. Even if the singer came in with all the parts already recorded and asked the group to play it, each person is going to interpret the music a little differently which gives it their own sound. Ergo, they all end up having their own input onto the final composition.

Also, the main point of "doing music" is to enjoy music, not being original.

I am writer, and if I was to enter singing, I would considered writing my own music a must. I feel it's the only way to call it my own creative outlet.

Maybe that's your point, but it's certainly not mine. I just like playing funky grooves.