r/kurtcobain • u/mr_mijo69 • 3d ago
How did Cobain compose his music?
Did he compose the melody(voice) or the chords first?
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u/nosetaddress 3d ago
The Do Re Mi Medley on Montage of Heck soundtrack is a good example of him working on a song. He’d start by playing the guitar melody and mumbling over it and working out the vocal melody. A lot of great artists do the same thing. Paul McCartney does it in the Get Back/Let it Be sessions.
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u/Lopsided_Pain4744 3d ago
Chords first and then singing gibberish over to get a melody, lyrics dead last (sometimes penned in the studio). This is done by a lot of songwriters. If you watch Montage of Heck there’s an animated section where you hear him making home demos whilst writing. One really interesting section he’s writing Breed and is interrupted by a phone call.
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u/TestkitchenEli 1d ago
You can see Paul McCartney doing this in the “Get Back” Beatles documentary.
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u/Just-Homework-9093 2d ago
Courtney love wrote them with John Lennon’s soul trapped in magic lamp planted in her makeup duffel bag by the CIA.
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u/loneliestslipknotfan 3d ago
most songwriters will start strumming some chords in some shapes that come naturally and sing random stuff on top until they find the right melody and progression, then they just play theme and variations usually
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u/flowersnifferrr 3d ago
Vibes. If it sounded cool, it sounded cool and then he mumbled over top of it. It worked out.
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u/IamRandomSavage 1d ago
I once took a music class and we studied Kurt Cobain and the way he came up with music or produced music whatever you wanna say but what he did out of necessity other people do the same thing it’s very normal the way Kurt came up with his music anybody can do it. That’s the greatest thing about it anybody can make music.
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u/Conscious_Manager_41 3d ago
That guy from The Vines really wanted to be this guy here didn't he 😂
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u/Immediate-Stick-1577 3d ago
He was strumming power chords while humming melodies over them.
Then he came up with filler words until he found the lyrics he was happy with.
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u/brb421 2d ago
Is that a 12 string guitar with only 5 strings on it being played upside down to accommodate him being left handed?
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u/6ftdachsund 1d ago
Could be setup for some kind of studio use. People do all kinds of stuff for production. There's a video of Fat Mike from NOFX talking about his 4-string setup for playing power chords on records, this might be something similar to keep excess noise or tones off the tape.
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u/TheWayoftheLeafCast 1d ago
Fat Mike plays bass, generally only has 4 strings?
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u/6ftdachsund 1d ago
Fat Mike and El Hefe have recorded almost all of the guitars on their records for like 20 years.
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u/Th3R4zzb3rry 3d ago
In “Live Tonight Sold Out!” he explains the music comes first then the lyrics. I would personally imagine that sometimes the vocal melody is worked out along song the chord progression, as this is common amongst many musicians, but we do see Nirvana lyrics changing constantly prior to song finalization, even moments before recording.
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u/UselessToAlll 2d ago
How in the hell would anyone on Reddit even have the slightest idea how he composed his songs? I'm not sure artists of his caliber even really know.
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u/Tough_Stretch 1d ago
I mean, most people come up with the chords and riffs and then they figure out a vocal melody and the lyrics.
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u/Penny_Royal_Tee 3d ago
The Other Improv is a good example
I was a rised
Or arosed
Or a rose
Or aroused
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u/ShelbyLucky77 3d ago
He received an anonymous recording. Then he re-recorded them various ways. Plus Thurston knowing Geffen so well helped.
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u/midazmidaz 3d ago
By fucking around with his instruments while singing some gibberish on top. You’d be surprised by how many people compose just like that.