July 31, 2010
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July 2010 From Songwriting Software Plus at www.SongwritingSoftware.com To
help your songwriting with a focus on the benefits of innovative software,
tools, resources and programs for your songwriting craft and career. |
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Having just had the pleasure of listening to Jai Josefs' latest music writing cd, Chord Chemistry, culled from his great musical expertise and his renowned book Writing Music For Hit Songs, I was reminded of how many opportunities there are to easily contribute to the music of a song even if you don't write music or even play an instrument. I count it as one of my great fortunes in songwriting to have been able to study with Jai privately for three years and I'm forever grateful for all that I learned and it has definitely brought a wealth of practical knowledge to my writing of which, in thinking about this month's issue, I realized a lot of it could be readily grasped by even the most musically challenged. So in this issue's article I'm going to highlight a number of these concepts in the categories of melody, harmony (the chords) and groove and link you to Jai's site to get his materials if you're so inclined - to get the best and of course complete take on all these components of music writing for our songs. To get every last detail though I suggest his book too for the total picture.
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Co-writing On The Music - Even If You Don't Write MusicYou don't have to write music to understand a lot of the basic concepts that apply to the construction of the music for a song that can apply to making your songs more interesting and compelling. Whether you write music or not having a grasp of the musical elements of songs and their various incarnations can give you more tools to hammer away with on your tunes to take them to places you may envision but don't know how to get to - or to places you might not have imagined. In a co-writing situation having more music tools at hand allows you to consider different takes you may want to go with your melody, chords or groove and to also use these factors to see if there is enough contrast from section to section of your song to make those parts stand out. In my humble opinion nobody captures the musical aspect of songwriting better than Jai Josefs and I want to explore these three items of the music, the melody, chords and groove, a bit with you - and maybe open some new doors or refresh your knowledge on writing your songs to their highest and fullest expression. All the following points are distilled from Jai's super fine audio series that includes Melody Magic, Chord Chemistry and Getting Into The Groove - and I can't recommend them highly enough for the great information they have - and the easy way he makes it all so understandable and usable. The concepts he sites have transformative power for songs. Are Melodies Magic Or Made? Melodies may well come from some type of process in the mind, heart, spirit or whatever may suit your fancy here but regardless of where they come from there is no reason they can't be changed. Jai makes this point and offers up several ideas to consider when taking a critical look at your melody but he also stresses doing that after you've actually come up with a melody as he notes you should never mess with your muse - save the editing for the editing room. In his book and with featuring the main points of melody editing in his audio program Melody Magic he goes over several ways you can alter your melody to bring out its potential if it seems like it's just not getting the full emotional impact you want it to have. Just some things to consider that he elaborates on include the pitches of your notes - are the chorus notes higher than the verse or vice versa or perhaps does your pre-chorus have the highest pitches? - or have you varied the rhythm of the words in your lyric section to section - all of these adding to the element of contrast that make songs more varied and appealing to our senses. Does It Take Chemistry To Come Up With The Chords? With chord construction you have another chance to bring variation to your song by various techniques of which many are quite simple to grasp and apply. When you and your co-writer(s) are looking at a song as it's written out with its chords for each section if you notice that you have the same chords in practically the same order section to section there may well be opportunity to make some cool changes. For example Jai goes into considering taking a look at the opening chord in each section - let's say the verse and the chorus - are they both the same chord? - could they be different and still sound cool and capture the vibe of your song just as well? It could be as simple as making one chord a minor chord and the other a major chord or one a triad (three notes) and one a 7th chord (typically noted with a "7" after the chord like A7) or one chord with a different note in its bass like instead of an Ab with the usual Ab as its bass note how does an AB over an Eb sound? (written AB/Eb vs. Ab by itself that typically implies it has an Ab for its bass) Jai goes into depth on all of this and in an easily understandable way that the most ignorant musically can at least get the idea of each concept he discusses and he uses contemporary songs to illustrate all of his concepts to make it all the more clear. Is There More Than One Way To Get Your Groove On? Groove may be the most important aspect of a song's appeal and may also well be the most overlooked aspect of song construction in my humble opinion. Before I studied with Jai I was definitely guilty of this big time. This is one area where today's technology has made it so easy to come up with rhythms with no drums or drumming or percussion experience necessary. Today you can simply get a loop program or any number of sequencer programs (programs that you can record with) of which many have accompanying loops or tracks of percussion in various styles - off the top of my head PG Music's Band-in-a-Box Real Band combo and Acoustica's Mixcraft come to mind. Just load up a number of different tracks and try them out to see what lyric lines might come up or run your existing lyric by the beat and see if you come with a different way of speaking or singing your lyric as after a few attempts you'll likely be having your words match the track you're auditioning. Try slowing down or speeding up the tempo of the track too to see what feels just right and if it's just not working then move on to another loop or style of grouped percussion instruments. Jai goes into all of the basic foundational grooves that make up today's pop music and how you can utilize them to bring more impact to your songs in his audio program Getting In To The Groove. Make Music! |
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For Inspiration And Thought On Your Path To More Songwriting Success:"Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach. It's the end you're after." -- Anthony Robbins
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