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Ten Commandments from Ray Wylie Hubbard

D

DSmolken

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Not sure if it's a repost of something he wrote years ago, but...

"I let my alligator mouth over load my jay bird legs about writing the ten commandments of songwriting. I ain't the moses type since I wouldn't suggest anybody follow me anywhere.. how bout some suggestions instead.. in no particular order.
1. never second guess inspiration. when the 'aha' hits, don't doubt it. remember it, write it down. which leads to
2. rewrite. yep its okay to rewrite. in fact its always necessary for me.
3. this one isn't for the brief case hoards signed to a publishing company in nashville.. write not thinking about the songs future. wait..forget the first line of this one. if you wanna write a song for taylor swift or even taylor sheriden go ahead. what I found out works for me is writing with no purpose except to write. that way I'm not in a box. I knew some hot shot wouldn't record 'jessie mae'
or 'a. enlightenment' or 'polecat' but it sure felt good after they were written..gurf dug 'polecat' so that was enough.
4. learn about publishing..
5. really learn about publishing.
6. remove doubt..if you're ever writing a song and say to yourself 'this isn't any good' the next thought should be 'where's the proof?' there is none. just listen to what's on the radio..crap. so therefore your song has got to be better that that. so don't ever doubt yourself. finish the song.
7. your heart is the only judge. Rilke said something to the effect that critics just drone on and drool. I have yet to hear a song written by a critic. lemme know if you know of one. I've gotten some good reviews is what Judy tells me but I don't read 'em. I'd rather play an E chord without the 3rd for an hour than read about me. if someone says something negative, bout your song well that's just their opinion, man. remember capital records passed on the Beatles.
8. don't get a cutaway guitar and stay above the 5 fret..wait. that's not a songwriting suggestion; I guess that's just a snob head thing I got. I see these video people dance around playing D, G and A chords with a cutaway and I sob into my pillow at night. now if you starting out and that's what you can only afford, its okay but when got a tour bus and you playing at the cmt tv awards and you just strumming and doing that..well, its not right on this planet, in this solar system, in this galaxy, in this universe, in th ..you get the drift.
8. keep learning new stuff. I learned finger picking at age 42, then open tunings, then slide, then mandolin..by learning new things, it gives the song a door to come through that wasn't there before. I learned open D and got 'train yard' and 'namedropping'..open G and 'polecat' and '3 days straight'..mandolin and 'crimson dragon tattoo' ..as examples.
9. when you co-write, remember 'hey jude' 'all along the watchtower' 'memphis' have already been written so you don't have to write those..just write the best song you can with who ever you're with.
10. learn about publishing. google bmi or ascap and get information about it.
there ya go.
write like your life depends on it.
ray wylie"
 
It's probably for the best, haha. I did want to post the link so people aren't like "Ray Wylie never said that, what's your source?"

Also, do non-guitar-playing pianists need to have number 8 (well, the first one, there are two of course) explained to them?
 
DSmolken said:
Also, do non-guitar-playing pianists need to have number 8 (well, the first one, there are two of course) explained to them?
Click to expand...
I'm a non-guitar-playing pianist (I prefer keyboardist), and I don't need that explained to me. But then again, I did actually try to build an electric guitar myself (which didn't work out 😆 ) before I decided to build a synthesizer (which did work out and started me playing in bands).
 
DSmolken said:
... now if you starting out and that's what you can only afford, its okay ...
Click to expand...
In the category of things I already know, but keep re-learning...

I recently started playing my old mandolin. I bought what I could afford at the time, which was an $80 Rogue mandolin. (You can guess where this is going).

I replaced the tuners so it was usable, and it was good enough for learning on. But it was never fun to play, so I'd put it aside with the plan of eventually getting a better one.

This week, I finally had a look around to see what I could do about upgrading. I watched a bunch of helpful YouTube videos, but with the tariffs, $300 mandolins because $400 overnight. I found a nice Loar still priced at $300 at the local Guitar Center, but the bridge was wonky and the instrument would need a setup.

Fortunately for me, I also found a Rogue on Craigslist for $200 that claimed to have a "professional setup" for only $200.

I figured it was just some player who intonated the instrument himself, but no - it actually was professionally set up. The action close and even to the frets, a complete no-brainer of a purchase. The guy had priced it to sell, and - bless his heart - knew exactly what a sweet deal he was giving. As soon as I picked it, I could tell.

It turns out that on a properly set up mandolin, it's not painful to play. Even those wide-stretching chop chords feel much easier.

Mary Spender had recently posted a video about how she'd found playing viola problematic, until she finally got one that was properly sized for her. She had been playing for years, and never even considered that the size might have been an issue.

So purchase the instrument you can afford, because it's better than not having it! But by all means, if it's not a joy to play, start saving up to get something better, because it can make a world of difference.

Or maybe consider getting a professional setup, or at least changing the strings more than every five years. (That last part was my guitar talking to me. :laugh:)
 
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