is it important that u play instrument as songwriter?

[iLoveMusic]

I am very new to the world of music i would say... but I love it as my name implies lol.
which brings me to my question:
I have been writing poetry for a very long time since i was an infant to now being 17 years of age. I never really had access to instruments growing up, there was no prior musician in anotehr generation... well my dad plays drums but i never found that out until this year plus i never lived with him. but anyways yes it was all poetry until about 10 years old.
basically i have gone from simply poetry, to an interest in being a hip hop artist. And im interested in both the wordplay and the production with instruments, etc. however my problem is, i like to write then i think of melodies but its just that i dont know a thing about chords and the many other things that come with musical knowledge
so its hard to write lyrics to a beat or rhythm when i really dont know the notes of wut i want to play...

[iLoveMusic]

I know that there are alot of big hip hop producers out there these days that had no instrumental background either... they just know wut sounds good and/or makes hits
so the question is more relevant to the artists relation to the music... hm maybe this question WAS more relevant to the producer's role...

well anyways plz if u have any responses to the question plz reply
all advice is appreciated =D

[dobro]

If you're going to make music, there are two ways to do it - play the instruments yourself, or get somebody to do it for you. Each way involves its own skillset. If you're playing the instruments yourself (not your problem) you're limited by your own ability to play this or that instrument. If you're getting somebody to do it for you (your problem, it looks like), you're limited by your ability to persuade somebody to spend a lot of their own skill and time making music according to your specifications. So, how good are you at interpersonal dynamics and persuasion?

[iLoveMusic]

hmm thnx for ur reply dobro, i have seen ur other posts and they seem to be very useful so thank u

well I am curently making efforts to get in touch with ppl who produce the music and who could do exactly just that for me. but seeing as i have no personal connections or even barely know anyone with personal connections, its hard to get in touch with such people
i have thought of usin internet as a method, but at this point, i have no recordings and no proper equipment or programs to showcase music that can at least get ppl interested in spendin time on me
btw plz let me know if i am looking at this situation the wrong way

but ye up to now i have been doing this for about a year and i have only been seriouly pursuin the career for a few months so im startin with no connections and no reputation lol juss makin money slowly so i can first get all the necessities for recording and such
so now i have to get deeper into the networking process, specially now being summertime... OH lol and i took that last question as rhetorical but i can answer:
I believe i have good interpersonal dynamics however i need to learn how to get out of my shell with groups of ppl I have not much experience with, as in I really want to make connections but I am sometimes intimitdated by the fact that I am very "green" with the most of the musical world, in terms of pursuin a career... so i guess i tend to think ppl will not take me seriously at this point
but i can get over that... I believe that once I can make a connection with such a person who can help me, they will be persuaded by a common goal and my talent

is this too risky of an assumption to be making?

[iLoveMusic]

ok I have been updated on the diction used in these threads... and for all those who did not understand what I typed or just did not have the patience to go through "MSN" speak, I am sorry.
Hopefully I have not missed out on any other useful responses from other users.

[dobro]

[iLoveMusic]

ok thanks I will definitely take that to heart
I guess everything comes with risk... why else do it right?
ok well thanks again, I will keep posting here so I can get more advice thanks

[philip2637]

[dispelled_myths]

Hey there...just to chime in...

First things first...it's not too late to learn (and in fact, in my case, I really only started to learn to play piano when I was about 16). If you think that's how you want to move forward, get a cheap keyboard or guitar and start trying to learn (there are plenty of online resources, and/or lessons).

Also, you may just want to focus on being a lyricist, in which case, you would want to find someone who wants to focus on an instrument, and then go from there. Can you sing? Would you want to? If yes, then that's something to look at as a way of labelling yourself. If you dont', then someone to just talk to about the lyrics and see how they put it into music is possibly useful.

As an example, there's a guy on this board, Teek, who is a lyricist (and pretty good too) who has found some people on here to work with (myself included once or twice, although I barely did him justice).

Finally, FruityLoops or similar software is something that someone without any musical skills can use to drag and drop beats/rhythm into a loop and then do a song around. This could also be a way of starting to get some things out and going without going the longer route of learning to play or finding someone to play for you.

Good luck... and welcome...

[iLoveMusic]

hmm nice advice guys
Well I have already bought a keyboard and I have some little knowledge I have picked up from my sister during her piano lessons, so that helps me.
And I do use composition software to get a tune going sometimes; so thank you for confirming that as one way to manoever around a lack of instrumental experience. I also like the idea of simply just having someone else play the instruments and making songs in that fashion, because it takes two people's specialties and interests and puts them to work. Maybe it would not be entirely necessary for me to learn all there is to learn about instruments if I got involved with this process.
But I still appreciate the the tips on learning an instrument later on, I will definitely look into these online lessons and turn to as many resources as I can to become familiar with keyboard/piano playing.

[kgirl72]

You can always find just a melody on a keyboard to go along with your lyrics, but try not to make it too predictable, if you know what I mean. Let someone else arrange around that. That would probably do it.

[Rev. Jake]

If you don't play an instrumnet you may find it difficult to compose. If you don't compose, you're a lyricist.

[Rev. Jake]

If you don't play an instrumnet you may find it difficult to compose. If you don't compose, you're a lyricist.

[studioviols]

The song is the instrument, what is in your brain is the instrument.

Some of the best songs in the world have been written by songwriters who dared not play a note on anything ... but the writing of the song.

[ericsteffensen]

I second the fruity loops suggestion...I imagine since you're interested in hip hop you can most likely rap over loops that anyone can put together in any DJ software. You may even be able to sing over them too, depending on the loops. If you're looking for collaboration partners, find a way to show what you can do. Making Youtube videos to show off your rhymes could be a way to do that.

Have fun and good luck!