Moderator, I may have posted this in the wrong forum, if so please move it. Thanks,
Charles

Anything that is beautiful.

What type of music though? That determines much.

Hi Vladimir, good meeting you. Mostly rootsy/folky stuff is what I do as far as writing songs to sing myself.

Oh, as far as that's concerned I think the rule is to keep it so that you wouldn't be embarassed to sing it to someone of the opposite gender, a religious or priest, etc.

Depending on your skill with composition you may consider looking into composing music for the Church.

Ok, thanks for that, makes sense. I suppose I should have known that as far as subject matter.

I'm not up to the level of composing though. Perhaps if I had started younger.

J+M+J

My mind seldom gets enough rest to be creative and write stuff -- but I do enjoy poetry and writing lyrics.

I'm heavy into singing, though. I sing in the choir every Sunday (though the choir is only 3 people now plus an organist. My voice is the only young one, and by far the loudest!)

I think when it comes to music, you should just avoid glorifying anything shameful, and try to create pieces with objective beauty.

I like all kids of *real* music. It has to have a coherent (catchy) melody and/or harmony, and some kind of substance as far as lyrics go. The lyrics don't necessarily have to make sense -- they can be cryptic or strange -- as long as the rest of the song is good.

My taste is very eclectic. Besides Chant and Catholic hymns, I also like country, folk music (e.g., Irish), some classical, some good pop music (mostly from the 90's), some Japanese pop (again, mostly from 90's) -- plus a few things here or there. I rather like the sound of certain Ska songs (I guess I like horns, and the fact that much Ska music is upbeat). I just like music that sounds good.

I agree with Vladimir -- anything universally true will resonate with the greatest number of listeners.

Hi Matthew, Dulcamara, any composition for choirs or such is out of my "zone" I'm in.

I really have to stick with what I do well, or at least what I think I do well.

I love the old ballads and such. If it can be done on acoustic instruments, I'd probably like it. Here is a short one I wrote to give you an idea... the words are spelled like they would be pronounced and sung in the Appalachian Mountains

Whittlin Joe

Joe was the last, of the Tillford boys
learned to whittle from uncle Lee Roy
mamma curses Leroy every day
'cause Joe’s just a whittlin his life away

(chorus 1)

whittlin Joe
how’s your day
are you gonna whittle
your life away
there’s girls in the hills
of marryin’ age
but you keep on whittlin
the time away

brother Ed married a pretty young girl
her sister turned around and married brother Earl
they got a pretty cousin named Darla Mae
Joe’s on the front porch whittlin a cane

(repeat chorus 1)

Darla Mae walked up, took his knife away
said “Joe listen up, ‘cause today’s the day
I’m a getting lonely, up on that hill
if you don’t marry me, I know a boy who will”

"oh if you don't marry me
I know a boy who will"

(chorus 2)

whittlin Joe
sent her away
guess he’s gonna whittle
his life away
there’s girls in these hills
of marryin’ age
but he keeps whittlin
his time away

tag

reckon he'll whittle his life away

Hi Matthew, Dulcamara, any composition for choirs or such is out of my "zone" I'm in.

I really have to stick with what I do well, or at least what I think I do well.

I love the old ballads and such. If it can be done on acoustic instruments, I'd probably like it. Here is a short one I wrote to give you an idea... the words are spelled like they would be pronounced and sung in the Appalachian Mountains

Whittlin Joe

Joe was the last, of the Tillford boys
learned to whittle from uncle Lee Roy
mamma curses Leroy every day
'cause Joe’s just a whittlin his life away

(chorus 1)

whittlin Joe
how’s your day
are you gonna whittle
your life away
there’s girls in the hills
of marryin’ age
but you keep on whittlin
the time away

brother Ed married a pretty young girl
her sister turned around and married brother Earl
they got a pretty cousin named Darla Mae
Joe’s on the front porch whittlin a cane

(repeat chorus 1)

Darla Mae walked up, took his knife away
said “Joe listen up, ‘cause today’s the day
I’m a getting lonely, up on that hill
if you don’t marry me, I know a boy who will”

"oh if you don't marry me
I know a boy who will"

(chorus 2)

whittlin Joe
sent her away
guess he’s gonna whittle
his life away
there’s girls in these hills
of marryin’ age
but he keeps whittlin
his time away

tag

reckon he'll whittle his life away

It's like a folk song. Though I'm not much in to that, thanks for sharing! Nice!

Thanks Joan, it's just a bluegrass music type ditty.

Roscoe, no I just don't have any interest in it right now. Not my forte.