Crossroads movie, Guitar duel…A must see movie!

Deliverance

AC/DC, Thunderstruck, simply phenomenal!

How does a song get started?

How do you know if your song is any good?

For those who write music, versus lyric writing only, the process is to go to their instrument and improvise until they stumble upon something that sounds good. They choose to focus only on the “goal of having a completed song” instead of focusing on the wide range of available “processes” to compose music.

In other words, these people focus on the “what” (the song they want to write) instead of the “how” (which processes and methods can be used)

A song that expresses what you feel is a good song, even if no one else thinks so. A song that expresses your thoughts and feelings in a way that reaches other people, helps them feel something deeper or understand something better: that’s a really good song!

So what DOES come first – melody, chords, lyrics?

The answer is… none of the above!

Go to your instrument and begin improvising, notice what types of things you do naturally. What is the process that you usually start with? Do you begin by trying to write a melody? Or do you begin with chords?

Beginning with Melody first.

It has been said many times that no one can teach you how to write great melody. This may be true but there are a few tricks that will help you write a memorable one.

Memorable, emotionally powerful melodies, use repetition and variation. A melody with no repetition sounds unfocused and weak, as if it’s wandering around with nowhere to go. Listeners quickly lose interest and tune out. A melody with too much repetition is boring. Good melodies walk the line in between mixing repeated phrases with variation.

As you listen to a song, you can usually feel where melodic phrases begin and end, there is a natural break there. Melodic phrases can be short (one bar) or long (four bars or more). Varying the length of your melodic phrases is a good way to keep your melody interesting.

For example: try starting a verse with two rather long phrases followed by a shorter phrase. Here’s an example of a radiohead song that I just love, High and Dry:

Two jumps in a week I bet you

think that’s pretty clever

don’t you boy?

Melody also makes use of rhythm, notes are long or short, creating a pattern that can be repeated or varied. You can repeat the same rhythm pattern but vary the notes.

Paul McCartney’s “Yesterday” is a great example of this.

The first line begins with a short phrase (Phrase 1: “Yesterday…”)

followed by a long phrase (Phrase 2: “all my troubles seemed so far away”).

The next line repeats the rhythm of the second phrase but changes the notes

(“Now it looks as if they’re here to stay”)

followed by a new phrase (Phrase 3: “Oh, I believe in…”)

The very last phrase has the same rhythm and lyric as Phrase 1 (“yesterday”) but the notes are turned upside down! (The ends of the second and third lines are variations of Phrase 1.)

This verse is a great example of the use of repetition with variation and it’s the reason why we can all remember this melody.

After you have written a melody, begin to write the chords around it. It may help you to compose the chords for this melody if you record the melody first, listen back to the melody while writing the chords. Ok, after you have your new chord progression written, record it. Listen back the recording of the chord progression only (without the melody). Using the chord progression you wrote for your original melody, use your guitar to improvise/compose another new melody for these chords. Compose several different melodies. Sometimes the original melody may not be used in the song because one or more of these new melodies may be better than the original. It is always good to have options to choose from.

If, after composing several melodies, your original melody is still your favorite, don’t think you wasted your time by writing new melodies that are not as good. Many times you can still use at least one of these other melodies with the first melody. For example, your favorite melody may be used for the vocal melody, but you might want to use another melody as a counter melody played on another instrument under the primary vocal melody, or you can use the second melody as another vocal melody sung by a backup singer(s).

Yet another option is to use the original melody as the first half of a much longer melody and then use one of the other melodies as the second half of this new long melody. In this case, the second melody serves as an extension of the first to form a new long melody. Although this can be a very useful technique yielding more original results, it rarely works out perfectly the first time you try combining two melodies together to form one. You will probably need to make at least some minor adjustments (alterations) to one, or both, melodies to get them to connect in a cohesive way.

Even if you finally decide to stick with your original idea and throw away everything else that was suggested here, the process of going through all these techniques will make you grow as a songwriter, so it’s well worth the time and effort you invest.

Beginning with Chords first

Many songwriters begin their songs by strumming a chord or two. Without really thinking about it, they let the chord progression lead them through the song. The downside is that we tend to use the same chord patterns over and over. How often have you caught yourself going to the V chord at the end of the chorus just so you can resolve to the I chord that habitually begins your verses? Your songs are probably sounding less than fresh but you don’t know why. There are lots of exciting chord progressions that use the basic chords within a key. Think about starting your verse on the II min. or the IV chord.

Shifting to a new key at the top of the chorus is a great way to grab the listener’s attention at a crucial point in the song. So how do you start writing these new chord progressions if they’re not already part of your existing vocabulary?

Melodies and lyrics ARE copyrighted, but, in general, the chord progressions that use I, IV, V plus a couple other familiar chords are not. C-Am-F-G belongs to everyone! What this means is that you can use this type of generic chord progression in your songs!

After you have written a chord progression you like, write several different melodies to go over the chords. Once you have composed a few melodies, record each of them without the chords. If you need to, listen back to each recorded melody and compose NEW chord progressions for each melody. If you wrote 5 melodies over the original chord progression, you will write 5 new chord progressions (one for each melody).

As you can imagine the same variations and combinations that were suggested above in the Beginning with Melody first, can be applied here.

The point here, in the above examples, is to keep you thinking about “developing” your ideas further and further before settling on the first good idea you come up with. Often times the process of developing your ideas will result in far superior results than you may have achieved without it. Of course, sometimes you may like your first ideas best for the current song, and use the newer ideas in a totally different song.

Beginning with the Lyrics first

1) Song Structure

Before going any further, it would be a good idea to get familiar with one very important aspect of songwriting: song structure.

The most common contemporary song structure is verse / chorus / verse / chorus / bridge / chorus.

Listeners like this song form because it provides enough repetition to feel familiar and enough variety to keep them interested. It also gives you, the songwriter, the chance to add emotional dynamics to your song. Many of today’s hits feature a conversational, intimate verse followed by a big, powerhouse chorus with plenty of emotional punch.

Here are some useful definitions for understanding song structure:

 Verse: The verses in a song all have the same melody but different lyrics. The verse lyrics give us information about the situation, emotions, or people in the song

Chorus: We may hear the chorus of a song three, four or more times. The lyric and melody remain the same each time it recurs.The chorus lyrics sums up the heart of the song. The title of the song almost always appears in the chorus section and may be repeated two or more times.

Bridge: The bridge has a different melody, lyrics, and chord progression from the verse or chorus. It provides a break from the repetition of verse and chorus. The lyric often provides an insight or revealing moment.
Pre-chorus: Many of today’s hits include a short section at the end of the verse that builds energy, letting the listener know that the chorus is coming. By creating a sense of anticipation, the chorus has even more punch when it finally arrives.

2) The Title

When you go into a record store or online to buy your favorite song… what do you ask for? When a DJ reads a dedication – something they don’t do much anymore, unfortunately – he doesn’t say, “This one goes out to Gloria. It’s that song about this guy who’s wondering whether his girlfriend still loves him ’cause she’s acting like maybe she doesn’t care anymore.” No, he says, “From Steve to Gloria, here’s ‘You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling.’ ”

The title says it all. That’s what comes first… the TITLE!!!

Start your song with a title that appeals to you. Make sure it’s a phrase that rings true in your ears. Something that makes you say, “I’ve got to know more about that!” Because if YOU want to know, others will want to know. The title is going to be the line that everyone remembers. Most important: It’s going to define the message of the song. It will be your guiding principle, your beacon, your pole star.

So start looking around for good titles that have emotional energy for you. Action words, images, or short phrases make good titles. Attention-grabbing newspaper headlines are full of good titles. Here are a few from this morning’s paper: “A Dream On The Edge,” “The Great Divide,” “The Same-Old Same-Old,” “Easy Does It.” Or try listening to yourself. Write stream-of-consciousness style: write or type as fast as you can, trying not to think or make judgments, then go back and look for good phrases. When you listen to other people, to the television, or read a magazine, always keep a little corner of your mind alert for phrases that capture your attention. Start making a list. You’ll end up throwing out most of these or using some for lyric lines, but others will become the titles that drive your songs.

 The best way to demonstrate this is to give an example. Let’s say I’m interested in writing a song called “She’s a Lady” (The title occurred to me one summer morning when I was with my girlfriend, having an Irish Breakfast in Howth…it’s just an invented example..)

You never know when a title will hit you! Okay… I don’t know what this song is about yet or why this phrase interests me but it does, so I need to find out more.

Start by asking the questions this title wants to have answered. Let’s say your title is “I Drove All Night.” What questions need to be answered: “Where did you go?” and “Why did you do that?” Now apply this idea to ‘”She’s a lady”: “Who is she?” and “What is she doing?”

How I answer those questions will determine what my song is about. Now, you may answer them in very different ways than I do and that’s just fine. There could be several songs written with the title “She’s a lady” and they would all be different!

Notice that I didn’t start this song by wanting to tell a story or relive something that happened to me. Instead, I am just following my feelings. This is how songwriting (or writing poetry) teaches you about yourself. A song is a process of discovery!

3) Using hit song melodies to practice writing lyrics

Many inexperienced songwriters begin by writing a lyric that looks like a poem, complete with nice rhymes and a regular, sing-song meter. But this type of lyric doesn’t work well with today’s melodies. Take a look at the lyrics to a few recent hit songs in the style you’d like to write in. Notice how the lines vary in length and the rhymes don’t always occur where we expect them to. What you get when you write lyrics without music is usually something that sounds more like a greeting card or nursery rhyme than a hit song lyric.

So, here’s a suggestion: Start becoming familiar with successful, contemporary hit melodies.

Next, create a song title you comfortably sing where the hit song title is. Notice, I said “comfortably.” Don’t drive yourself crazy! You might be able to use one of the titles you created earlier but, if not, look for a new title.

Once you have your title, look for the questions it suggests, the ones you want to answer in your lyic, then make your lists of related words and phrases. Sing your title where the hit song title occurs. If it’s used more than once, put your title in the same places.

 Fill in the rest of the chorus lyric by answering the questions and using some of the words and phrases from your lists. This will keep your lyric focused which, in turn, makes it more emotionally effective for your listeners. Don’t make a big effort to find rhymes (unless you are writing for animated films or musical theater); it’s more important to say what you feel at this point. If you happen to find something that rhymes, and says what you want to say, that’s great but don’t bend your message out of shape to make something rhyme. Keep things conversational and honest.

Once you have a chorus, try writing the verse in the same way. Again, try to use the questions and the related and contrasting word lists. If you used them all in the chorus section, go back and create another list. With each verse, try to give the listener more information

You don’t have to tell a linear story but there should be some development. And remember, the listener knows nothing at all about your situation or about you. Invite them into your song buy giving them plenty of information! Here are some questions you can answer in your verses: What are you feeling? Who are you feeling it about? What is the problem? How will you solve it? How did it begin? How do you think it will end?

Work on your lyric for short periods of time. If you’re not getting anything usable, walk away… literally. Take a walk and let things settle for awhile. Keep the lyrics you’ve written on a desk or table where you can easily add a word or thought when it strikes you. Keep the hit song melody in your head. The most important thing (and the most difficult) is to keep the emotional integrity of the song intact. Don’t settle for anything less. There are times when you’ll lose your way. Stop working! Go away and come back when you’re fresh. You’ll be able to see what needs to be fixed. Keep working on the lyric until you are genuinely moved and excited by it.

 
4) Writing a melody to your lyrics

 If you’d like to write a melody of your own to your lyric, here’s a great place to start: Use the natural rhythm and pitch that is embedded in the spoken words of your lyric.

Here’s how you do it… Try reading the following phrase out loud in a normal tone of voice: “I don’t love you anymore.” Read it again and put more emotion into it: “I don’t love you anymore.” Notice how the rhythm and pitch of normal speech starts to become more exaggerated as you add emotion. Now, read it again and move the high notes even higher, make the low notes eve lower; see if you can turn it into a melody that preserves the high and low notes and stressed words. This is a melody that sounds natural AND conveys the emotion that is inherent in the phrase. Continue to work on your melody in this way. When you have a lyric that is emotionally neutral, you can just try moving your melody up or down to see what feels right to you. If you used a hit song melody to write your lyrics, try doing the opposite of whatever it is doing: If it goes down, you go up. If it goes up, you go down. If it’s moving around a lot, try remaining on a single note. Play around with the melody until you like it; YOU are the one who decides what sounds right for your song. (Remember that the hit song melody is protected by copyright law. Check to make sure that your melody doesn’t use any of the hit song melody.)

The next step

Once you have written a compelling song with a memorable melody, emotionally evocative lyric, and good structure that keeps the listener’s attention, you’ll want to make a demo to show it off. Advances in recording technology have revolutionized home recording. It’s now relatively easy and affordable to put together a home demo studio. Although a course in home recording is beyond the scope of this article, here are a couple of ways to get started…

HOME STUDIOS: There several inexpensive software programs that include both midi sequencers (for use with midi keyboards) and audio recording capability (to record vocals and guitar). Cakewalk Home Studio (Windows) will get you started, I like to use also Cool Edit Pro. Acid Home Studio is another inexpensive sequencer and it comes with a huge library of loops that make assembling a track a breeze.

For Mac users there’s Garageband from Apple.

PORTASTUDIOS: If you’re a singer-songwriter who plays guitar, you might want to bypass the world of midi music entirely and record vocals and guitar direct to disc using a digital Portastudio. This is great for making rough demos and working out your song. Later, you can take your CD-quality tracks to a project studio to add drums and bass when you are ready to submit your song to publishers or producers. Digital Portastudios are now very affordable and sound great.

Search for the Zoom H2 on the internet, it’s just great and reliable, to record anywhere..

One last thought…

Of course, all I have given you here is a doorway into songwriting. There are other ways to approach songwriting but all are just other doors. Once you go through the door, that’s when you really begin to learn. Everything you need to know is right there in your CD collection. Study the work of your favorite artists to learn what they’re doing. Thankfully, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel every time you write a song. Stand on the shoulders of giants; use what others have discovered and build on it. Don’t worry that you will end up sounding like someone else – you will always sound just like you. No one else has your voice, your experiences, or your talents.

May your songs flow!

Good luck!!

Patrice

● Audacity

Here is a really cool free piece of software. It’s an audio editor. You can basically record any sound that comes out of your computer.

I haven’t checked all the features but there is one that is very very cool and that I personnaly use for my practice. Let’s assume you’re working on a song or piece of solo. Well once you have the file open in Audacity, you can separate a difficult part, slow it down in tempo without altering the pitch, and work on it…just for this it’s great, I can show you when we meet if you don’t know how to use it, definitely a must have!

● Guitar Pro

It’s a TAB editor, you can create your own songs but obviously read existing tabs, with the sound!

It is a fantastic software. It’s not free, but you can find tab files for free over the internet, (extension .gpx). If you’re struggling with an arpeggio, solo, again you can separate the difficult part, loop it, and read the tabs at the same time…I wish I had that kind of thing when I started;-)

● Ear Master

If you don’t have a very good ‘ear’, there is 2 ways to develop that very important skill. The first one is to try and transcribe songs by ear (without looking up the chords or notes on the internet!). The second one is to go over the assessments of EarMaster, you can try it for a week…