I started writing and doodling likely before I went to school at age 5 in 1953 in Vista California to Kindergarten. I went 1/2 year in Vista, California and then 1/2 year in El Cajon before we moved that summer to Tujunga when my parent were put in charge of a church in Los Angeles which was about 1/2 hour or 45 minutes away from Tujunga. Then at age 8 we moved to Glendale where it was only 1/2 hour (if there was no traffic) to drive downtown into Los Angeles where their church was.
Of course for me I had formal training on the piano from age 8 to 16 and then because my 5 years older cousin played piano but also played the violin my parents wanted me to play the violin too. However, it really wasn't my instrument because I was always very tall and there are no frets on a violin so your fingers had to be exact. So, by the time I was 15 and 6 foot 3 inches tall my hands were actually too big and my fingers too big for playing the violin well. I suppose I could have moved over to a cello or bass fiddle but then I didn't think of that so I left the Junior High School Orchestra after playing in the all City Orchestra when I was 12 at Hoover High School At a concert there where all the grade school Orchestras joined together (some of the players) who were picked as the best were sent to this Hoover High All city orchestra to play there at a big concert.
So, to make a long story short, I had a lot of formal piano and other musical training reading music for Piano and Violin before I started writing my own music. One day I was playing "Heart and Soul" which was something almost anyone could play on the piano and I realized I was skilled enough to do variations as long as I was playing in the key of C. So, I did many variations on that theme over time and even started writing my own songs based on variations of heart and soul played in the key of C.
I realized then (I think I was about 14 or 15 that I could expand this further into other keys especially when I taught myself the Guitar and flute between 15 and 18 years of age. I wanted a musical instrument (these 2) because I could put them in my backpack (especially the flute) or I could if I wasn't traveling too far carry a guitar case often camping into the woods somewhere ot to the desert with a a girlfriend or whatever. So, I met a lot of girls at parties from about age 18 to 25 when I got married playing music and singing to them wherever we were either at a party or camping or whenever.
I found that writing music (if you are on the piano writing music) it is much easier to write songs in the key of C because you don't have to worry about sharps and flats this way so it is much less complicated to write songs in the key of C.
However, if you are writing songs on the guiltar you can just make up songs while playing various chord progressions on the guitar. The hardest thing i found about playing guitar is to tune a guitar right and have it stay in tune.
For example, if you are out camping somewhere the guitar often is going to go out of tune. It's easier to keep a guitar in tune inside where it is warmer than outside where it can be any temperature. So, remember this if you are playing for other people that it is hard to keep a guitar in tune in the woods outside or in a tent or by the campfire.
But, if you write songs in the key of C it is much easier on the piano and if you are writing songs on the guitar just find a chord progression you like and sing along with your chord progression anything you want and then record yourself on your smartphone so you don't lose the song you just wrote.
Then if you are writing on the guitar write the words to your song with the chord names where you want to change chords next to the exact words you are changing chords on.
If you want to write songs I find wriitng on Guitar while playing chords is the easiest way I have found to write songs.
However, everyone is different in their musical writing process so you have to find what works best for you.
Like for example, some people might be singing in their shower because of the acoustics in showers. So then you might take your smart phone in there and set it on the sink while you sing in the shower to remember the songs and lyrics you wrote.
However, converting something like this to something you play music alongside of with Guitar or Piano or keyboards is often tricky too to get it to be exactly what you want. part of this is nothing is going to sound as good as when you are singing in a shower unless it is auto-tuned electronically.
So, good luck playing and writing music whatever age you are now!
Tashi Delek
That's Tibetan For "Good Luck"
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