Ive been writing lyrics for years. Now I've got the balls to actually perform them. How do I go about finding musicians to work with.
Ive placed ads on a few music messaeboards but all Im getting are weak people who are still trying to live out there dream

any insight will help thanks

Go to open mic nights and sing. People will find you and there will be musicians who actually want to play.

I'm having the same problem but nothing is as bad as the rock star musician who acts like they're doing you a favor by playing with you.

I've been told on more than one occassion that sometimes you have to find musicians and pay them to play what you want (for a live gig)

CRYSTALBALL said:

I hate to be the one pointing this out, but, aren't you new to performing live, and you've been writing lyrics for years? So, in a sense, you're also a weak one trying to live out your dream as well, right?

I know you're going to hate hearing this, but you'd probably get the best response in working with those exact same people. Yes, they wont be perfect, they'll be barely tolerable at times, but everybody has to pay their dues - it's a cliche but it definitely holds true here. If you go out and find the very best musicians to play with, you're going to be WAY WAY in over your head. What key will you sing in? How will you tell the musicians about your chord changes? your melody?

If you're wanting to write songs instead of lyrics, try a single musician, keyboardist or acoustic guitarist, and spend some time working with them - give it maybe 6 months to see if it gels, and then, once you've got some songs together, THEN start adding other folks.

If you're just interested in a band taking your lyrics and putting them to music, your best bet is to ask folks on this board right here to try their hand at it. But if you want to sing, and sing YOUR songs, that you haven't written yet, (just the lyrics so far, right?) you've got very high ambitions, and you'll get there, trust me, but you've got to take little steps in the beginning - or at least be prepared to do so.

You very well COULD be a musical genius and dont know it, and as soon as you find great musicians, you could be able to explain to them exactly how you want to perform your lyrics put to music. But, it's a hard task. I've tried to work with somebody who knew nothing about music but just had lyrics and a rough idea of a song. We spent 6 months on the song, TRYING to make it work, and in the end, he discovered that he never really mapped the song out, never really took the time to learn the basics of music theory. his assumption that *I* would magically convert his idea into a song was his downfall.

Since then, he's gone on to write some great stuff, but that very first song held him up because he was determined to make a great song out of it, as opposed to try to learn HOW to make a song first.

I know I'm talking in circles, I'm sorry. Good luck. Maybe start out singing covers first with a band and then start introducing lyrics to them -- to see what happens.

CRYSTALBALL said:

gO DOWN to the unemployment office

lot of musicians there

also try drug rehab places

You just need one experienced, (not necessarily brilliant) musician who likes to jam with you every now and then. Drummers tend to have huge networks of musicians, in my experience. Go to open mike nights or jam sessions and see if you "click" with anyone. Remember: playing with others means compromise. So be willing to invest. Once you play with one experienced musician, more than likely he or she will know lots of others. But don't think you'll go from bedroom genius to band leader in one step. You've gotta start from the bottom, learn to vibe off other musicians, when to lead and when to follow etc. And enjoy it!

I agree with otan on this.
You are getting only 'weak' musicians, because the good musicians are looking to work for people who already proved themselves.
If you still want good musicians, just hire session musicians. that'll cost you a lot, but you'll get what you want.
Or just do what everybody else does, start from the bottom and climb up. don't just try and jump your way to the top, because the higher you try to jump, the bigger the fall will be.

I see this every day in the studio I work for.
[This message was edited Fri Apr 23 4:06:42 2004 by MrSoundMan]

thechronic2 said:

HAHAHAHAH. Oh damn U funny.

otan said:

Im not saying Im the best. I know Im inexperienced. But the people Ive come across are in the age range of late 50's and 60 years !!!! Playing The Beach boys and oldies tunes....poorly. Still praying for the perfect gig,bragging about "Ive got chops"
No way am I gonna try to collab with that. Im 23 and I sing Modern R&B it wont work
Id work with people who are in my shoes, I just want some people or a person who are on the same page.

I'm a singer & write lyrics myself, and I'm also looking 4 musicians 2 collaborate with. I have been reading a book about the Beatles songwriting at the moment and thats helping me understand music theory alot more. I also think of good ideas 4 songs but as I cannot write music I cannot write them down. However I think a good idea is 2 hum or sing ur song idea on a tape recorder and play it 4 a musician who should b able 2 convert ur idea in2 a song. Its just an idea but I'm sure it works as I know some songwriters, like The Beatles, couldn't read or write music but wrote fantastic songs so just try 2 get contacts with other musicians etc. and see if they can help u.

Hope this helps u!

i took out an add for multitalented musicians that play multiple instruments
with a creative imagination
i schooled some cats
became very close to them
theybecame close to me
and we were a band
we don't have one lead singer
but when performing im the lead singer

the reason most band gigs don't work is because like relationships you have disagreements
these guys have the same interest
and love the same type of music as i do