r/askmusicians

I’ve been thinking about this lately because I’ve been struggling to write anything that I think is great. I still keep writing and finish whatever I can, even if it’s just fragments, because I know that’s part of the process.

It made me wonder if you had to put a dollar value on the best song you’ve ever written, what would it be?

For example, if someone guaranteed that a $1,000 vacation or a songwriting retreat would result in one song you’re genuinely proud of, would that be worth it to you?

Curious how other songwriters think about this.

To convince me to feel enough with what I have.

I had a little GAS before. And I have been cured but my thoughts still wonder what I miss.

Anyone get anxiety about being a musician? Like that paralyzing feeling? Any tips on collecting and calming yourself?

Just curious, what are y'all's song writing process like? I know it varies person to person, and even song to song. What are the kind of things that inspire you? Do the words come first for you or the melody usually? What's important for you in a song you're writing?

I have a question that has been bothering me for a while.

Whenever musicians find out that I play more than one instrument, they almost always tell me that I should focus on just one because "no one can truly master every instrument" even though I'm still young and I'm a fast learner.

The thing is, that's never been my goal. I'm not trying to become the world's greatest player on every instrument. I simply enjoy learning different instruments because each one teaches me something new and helps me grow as a musician.

Still, hearing the same comment over and over has started to affect me. It makes me wonder if what I'm doing is wrong or if I'll never become good enough because I'm dividing my time.

Is there any truth to what they're saying? Can someone become highly skilled while playing multiple instruments, or is it really necessary to choose just one?

Actually i have been thinking about this for a while and i always wanted to make music i am working on producing right now but does social media really work that much to get listeners? Does promoting on tiktok, instagram really work or is it more luck based? I also thought about making content apart from music maybe funny content and being really known from there so people know me then be like i make music and get way more listeners at start. Would people who watch me for funny stuff care about my music too? Which one is more efficient for music?

Hey everyone, I'm just curious about how the modern music industry actually works for new artists starting from scratch. Is it better to focus heavily on posting 3–5 short-form clips a day on TikTok to trigger an algorithmic snowball effect, or should the main priority be networking locally to find a dedicated producer or manager who can help package your sound? What do you think is the absolute fastest way to convert casual internet views into a loyal, obsessed fanbase today?

So I usually write pulling things from my life. And I just started to get serious with this girl and I make music anonymously and only 5 of my closest friends know so but I let her know. I made a song talking about her in the lyrics but not like I am calling out her name or anything but I usually post all the non serious just trying to improve songs I make on tiktok but idk I just feel like a fucking weirdo for letting another person hear a song when it is obvious they are being mentioned. The same goes for cap rapping about bitches in a more metaphorical sense even tho it isn’t actually true it just feels wrong yk. I do not think she would mind because she really likes my music and has been very supportive for the couple days she has known about it. Idk I just am feeling lost. Sorry for making you read all this but ANY advice would be so awesome to hear.

Hi everyone
My partner has been writing songs
She sings and wants to know where to she can find people to help with the instrument side of things

Edit: she was using AI as was scared to record her own voice and didn’t know how to play the tune she has
But wants to redo all her songs the real proper way

I’m curious about how you all feel about band members criticizing your work.

Although they may “know” some form of audio capabilities, do you think they should be able to say “your doing this wrong” or “these sound guys are not as good as last year”?

Was doing a festival for the first time with a company I work for. And as a first time doing a festival ever and I was put on the main stage A1 for 6 bands all different setups and different equipment with only 5 minutes to hookup and line check.

One of the drummers gave a look, walked over and told me a lot of things and asking me questions about why I didn’t do this and saying why I should.

I understand the opinion on helping however I do believe that if you are not on the board mixing said bands, you should only suggest not shame on the work.

As a first time this honestly lowered my self esteem making me text my boss and say,”hey man, I’m not sure if I can do this for this gig because it’s not right of a mix”

I want yalls opinion on this, any advice dealing with these situations?

No shame to band members by the way, more of a question than anything!!

A well-established distributor has withheld a significant amount of my royalties over a copyright claim dispute. I have solid documentation on my side.

Looking for someone with real experience specifically fighting distributors, not just general contract review.

If you’ve been through something similar, I’d appreciate hearing who you worked with — feel free to DM me. Thanks!

Whenever I sing I notice my voice sounds really weak and thin. When I do a song cover it feels like my voice is hovering over the notes not on the notes if that makes sense 😭 I have heard people to say hey loudly and then sing it with the same volume/grounded way and it kinda helps but then my voice sounds shaky, and unstable.

It’s kinda like my voice is like a paper bag in the wind trying not to get blown away 😭 Like for example lots of singers sing very clear, grounded and stable but when I sing it just sounds unsupported and thin. If I try to get louder it just gets worse (especially the shaking in my voice). When I try to sing notes it’s like for a second I’m hitting the notes and then my voice randomly goes unstable and and shakes and goes off note.

I did hear that it could be that my breath control isn’t correct and that I’m not singing with my diaphragm. For the past year I’ve watched so many videos and explanations on how to sing with your diaphragm correctly. Somehow I still don’t know how.

And the last thing I notice is whenever I try to sing higher my voice gets even thinner and more head voicey??? I was singing a line from a song and the singer almost sings it in a chest voicey way where it somehow sounds grounded at the same time so I tried to do the line and my voice immediately got quiet and I sounded very strained and shaky. On top of that for some reason I hear like a “hssss” of air when I sing high almost like a whispering sound. I also wanted to mention when I sing lines instead of me singing till the last line and fading my voice till theres no sound I kinda sing a line and immediately stop. I've tried to sing longer but for some reason it's really hard to correctly do it.

Sorry for the long post, if anyone knows what I could be doing wrong please let me know 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Hello, I wanted to ask this question out of curiosity. I think it's fascinating that in so many creative fields enough talent and practice will get someone to the point where they can recreate something through only their senses.

I've been crocheting for a few years, and while I'm not a master, I've gotten to a point where I can pretty accurately recreate most projects I see photos of on Pinterest without needing a pattern. I know artists practice for years in order to accurately paint or draw a detailed image of a reference.

How advanced is the skill of being able to play by ear, or recreate a song without needing a music sheet? I'm sure there are different levels of it, but is it something most musicians can do? I'm musically inept, so I'd love to hear people's perspectives. Thx!

Edit: Follow-up question -- is music reading harder than playing by ear?

Hi, I was just wondering how singers know when they're on pitch because whenever I'm singing, sometimes there's just a smoother feeling when I'm on pitch and nobody really says if I'm off or not, so I was wondering how people know they're on pitch? Is it a lot of training and knowing the place or is there a way to develop your ear better?

For years I have tried singing with riffs but for some reason it always fails. Like for example I know that lots of artists like Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera and SWV sing with riffs amazingly. The riffs they do sound controlled, loud, and individual in a way. Of course I am not saying that I am gonna find a way to get on their level because that's for sure impossible but I want to at least be able to do riffs correctly and not have It sounding like a mess.

Whenever I do riffs no matter how much I practice the notes and slow it down it's like my voice slides over the riffs and sounds very weak and messy. It doesn't sound as grounded, loud and on note as it should. It's like my singing hovers weakly over the notes and not correctly on pitch/on note. Also my voice doesn't slide through the notes nicely controlled and as nicely as it should.

I really don't know how else I can get better at riffs. I think if I watch some more YouTube tutorials I will only get more confused so I thought it'd be better to ask on reddit.

I want to start a rock band preferably in the nu metal genre but i cant fry scream or metal scream without hurting my throat and i dont want to mess up my vocal chords but i want to be able to sing with rasp at the very least,i am unable any tips?

Approved, or , Pass ?

https://youtu.be/3gCXy7lTpss