Lately I've been coming up with melodies in my head. So I sing them into my phone to get a recording and then pick the notes out on guitar, often with little changes along the way.

The Spoils - FB - RN
Second Saturday Surf in Austin, TX - FB

Last edited: Sep 19, 2017 22:43:35

It begins with two notes, that go together in a special way. And if you leave yourself open to help from above, and maybe sometimes help from below, it will come. Most of my best stuff starts out from something that I originally thought was a mistake. There is a point where you have to take over and use your skills and intuition to bring it in to the best light, but that's the last part.Until that part, the less thinking,the better.

mj
bent playing for benter results
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And always steal from the best.

Da Vinci Flinglestein,
The quest for the Tone, the tone of the Quest

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humming in the toilet is a key

Umar
The Mentawais
The Rentones

Ever since I started using Guitar Pro 6, my writing output has accelerated. I have just enough theory to help me along but sometimes unintended errors sound so cool that I keep them or expand on them to take me in slight changes of directions.
I start out with a riff, a rhythm, a chord sequence, or a bassline and record that onto my tablet mic.
When I am ready to sit down to draw it out in the software, I do so without having a guitar in hand. So, by the time I have fleshed it out, I actually need to learn how to play it on guitar. With surf and trad rock n roll styles, I get better results the sooner I put down the computer keyboard and take these ideas to the band to play so it can breathe rather than sounding like it was cooked up in a laboratory. But having that command over the entire arrangement and instrument parts means that I can experiment with different versions of basslines, etc. very quickly.

Lorne
The Surf Shakers: https://www.facebook.com/TheSurfShakers
Vancouver BC Canada

Last edited: Sep 22, 2017 01:20:40

Also, Band in a Box is amazing for exploring different rhythms and jamming out ideas. When you have something good you just ditch the backing track and work on making it sound like surf.

-Pierre
The Obsidians! (Ottawa surf)
The Obsidians debut EP

Last edited: Sep 22, 2017 09:34:39

ShaneHarkins wrote:

I'm having trouble trying to come up with an instro surf song. How do you guys and gals go about writing them? Thanks!

Most of Surf Instrumental Music originated from Big Band (Swing) from the 30's and 40's along with some 50's Rock n Roll hits. Big Band robbed a lot from Classical music - but just lifted small sections of the works for hook line or leads etc...1920's Hawaiian music was inspiration for early Surf. I don't write music but I know that's how it's done, lifting sections of musical phrases and hooking them together in new forms and combinations.

Its much like writing novels - you have riffs that are like words hooked together to make musical sentences as musical phrases. There is a structure to songs much like all sellable novels have as well. Even Classical composers used earlier works to make masterworks. Surf instrumentals usually only have two basic changes Verse and Chorus that each can have the same type phrase and octave apart. Sometimes a Bridge like in Pipeline the B/C part. They can vary a bit but not much to be traditional Surf otherwise its Jazz to me.

Last edited: Jan 22, 2019 16:35:22

One element that I've come to pay close attention to when songwriting, is the rhythm patterns of each instrument and how they interact. That includes both guitars, bass, drums of course and keys. When arranged well, it grabs the listener and hits them on a gut level. If ignored, often it puts off the listener instead.

Danny Snyder

"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party

Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF

Surfing_Sam_61 wrote:

Most of Surf Instrumental Music originated from Big Band (Swing) from the 30's and 40's along with some 50's Rock n Roll hits.

Hi Surfing_Sam_61, I'll give you the "some 50's Rock n Roll hits" (I'd say more than some), but I'm going to need to see a citation for "MOST of surf music coming from Big Band (Swing) from the 30's and 40's."

John Blair's "Southern California Surf Music, 1960-1966" only makes only one reference to Big Band music as an influence,

"Between the late 1950s’ streetwise rock ’n’ roll of Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry and the “safer” teen idol recordings two or three years later by singers such as Bobby Rydell or Frankie Avalon, there was the “golden age of rock instrumentals.” The electric guitar became the “lead singer” in a large number of local and national hit records by artists such as Link Wray, Duane Eddy, the Ventures, and the Fireballs. This had a great deal to do with Dale’s choice of the instrumental medium to express his “surfing sound,” while his admiration for big band drummers such as Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich fueled his use of heavy, dance-tempo rhythms.

Blair, John. Southern California Surf Music, 1960-1966 (Images of America) (p. 7). Arcadia Publishing Inc.. Kindle Edition.

I think of SurfGuitar101 as being THE source for ACCURATE information for Instrumental Surf Music, and I would hate to see some teenager writing an essay starting with "Most of Surf Instrumental Music originated from Big Band (Swing).." and giving SG101 as the source of this definitive information. I don't mind informed opinions, but I would list Middle Eastern and Mexican influences before going to Big Band as the point of origin.

Anyway, I appreciate your enthusiasm for surf music and you've certainly pumped out a lot of information in the one week you've been a member of this forum, but I need to see from whence you are pulling your facts. Teenagers in early 60's California were probably exposed to all forms of music, but I would bet they looked at their parent's Big Band music the same way my kid's look at my beloved surf music.

-Tim
MyYouTubeChannel
My Classic Instrumental Surf Music Timeline
SSS Agent #777

Last edited: Jan 26, 2019 01:18:44

I've heard the classic surf beat as being described as "two on the two".

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