Posted on | April 20, 2009 | No Comments
Sometimes it’s difficult to know what options are out there for us as songwriters when we’re on the outside of the industry looking in. It’s true for any endeavor that the more immersed we become in the field or industry, the more options we see and the more we recognize what holes in that field are not being filled.
Recently I received an email from a workshop attendee of mine who described his frustration in securing an internship in the music industry. Many internships are reserved for students wishing to receiving college credit for their service, and I imagine companies benefit from that by the only compensation needed being the actual credit itself. But, whatever the legal and tax reasons behind that decision, it does bring up an interesting question about how we often pursue our goals. Do we follow what we assume is the path towards success, or do we forge a path of our own based on what we want to do at our destination?
I went to Nashville just after graduating with a music degree. There was nothing I wanted more than to write songs for a living. I began my own job search under the assumption that a job in the industry would afford me the opportunity to make connections. Connections, I had come to understand, was the fuel with which I’d get my songs into the right hands. This is absolutely true, but what I didn’t take into account was the types of connections I’d be making in various industry jobs. I had the opportunity to apply for a job at a performing rights organization as the person who calls and collects fees from clubs, bars, shopping malls, and anywhere else that pays fees for playing music. It seemed like a great job at the time with a salary, benefits, and supposedly placing me right there in the heart of a building I wanted to affiliate myself with as a songwriter. But what wasn’t so great about this job was the circumstances under which I’d be working for them. I’d be spending 40 hours a week forming relationships with accountants and lawyers, and others who provided the framework for that performing rights organization to be successful. Beyond that, my contacts would include small and large business owners who saw me not as a songwriter, but a low-level business woman. The fact that I would be working in the industry was smoke and mirrors. I would be no more connected to what I really wanted to do than if I’d have taken a job at the local grocery store. At least the grocery store would allow me to start up conversations with any songwriters who wandered through the check-out.
So as you’re looking for opportunities within the music industry, I encourage you to think strongly about where you want to end up. I eventually took a job in a non-profit office, working 30 hours a week with a team of people I learned so much from and enjoyed being around. The schedule was flexible enough that I could leave work early for scheduled co-writing appointments later in the afternoon. I had no work in the evenings stealing precious writing and family time. When I was seen and heard in the industry, it was as a songwriter and not as an employee of a label or publisher or PRO. All of my efforts were directed towards becoming a staff writer, and all those who met me knew it. There was no confusion about who I was and what I was trying to do.
If you’re struggling with what steps to take next, think about what situation allows you to do what you want to do most often. The more consistently you keep doing the thing that interested you in the music industry in the first place, the quicker you’ll get there and the less likely you’ll be sidetracked or forgotten in a job that doesn’t utilize your best skills and talents. Take heart knowing that when you feel you’re furthest away from your dream job, you might be closer than you think.
Andrea Stolpe
Posted on | April 7, 2009 | 1 Comment
One of the most important elements of any successful endeavor is focus. It’s no different for musicians, though it’s often us creative types that find ourselves flitting from one interest and opportunity to the next, overloading our schedules and budgets with more than we can reasonably handle. When I feel like I’m about to have a schedule-induced anxiety attack, I know it’s time to start trimming.
Every few months I make myself sit down and write out my goals. I also make a list of all the activities that spend my precious time. It’s interesting to see how my lists can contradict one another, even in the course of a few month’s time. The reasons usually are that slowly, I started saying ‘yes’ to opportunities that weren’t in line with my end goals, or projects I thought would be completed took longer than expected, etc. Eventually, I’ve got to dig myself out of the muck.
Sometimes it’s difficult to know how to get where we’re going when our goal is to be a paid songwriter. So you might start by listing the most obvious. To get paid to write songs, you’ve got to write songs. Making sure I carve out at least 15 minutes a day to write songs ensures that I’m doing that central part of being a songwriter. I know that if I just start the project, 15 minutes will turn into a half hour, and a half hour an hour on days I swore up and down I didn’t have time to write. What I really meant was, I don’t have time to write if it’s not going to go wellJ That kind of thinking doesn’t write tunes.
The next priority is research/learning. Taking a few minutes a week to meet new people and at the same time learn about the industry in your area is right up there with breathing if you’re going to be a paid songwriter. If you want to get your songs into the right hands, you’ll need to shake lots of them. Go to shows, read the music critic columns in your city paper, read articles on how to slip your music into film/TV, attend conferences, join your local songwriting group, and expand your circle of influence. You’ll gradually find yourself more knowledgeable about the industry and clearer on where you want to go and what you need to do to get there. Consider the road ahead like going to college. As a freshman you don’t necessarily know what you’ll major in – and before you graduate you may change that major several times.
If you’re doing these two things – writing every day or most days a week, and expanding your network of people, you’re doing everything you need to do to move forward in your music career. As you do move forward, you’ll be able to evaluate what you enjoy and what you don’t. For instance, do you enjoy playing with a band or performing at all for that matter? Do you prefer co-writing, and focusing on lyrics rather than music? Do you see yourself writing for other artists, or only for yourself? Do you have the quality of demos to pitch in the markets you write in? Do you need to improve on your instrument, or would your time be better spent writing? If you don’t know the answers to these questions, try exposing yourself to all these areas. Find out what feels natural and what doesn’t by immersing yourself in the culture of the music you love. After awhile you’ll begin to notice how your strengths play towards the kind of success you want, and you can keep returning to those strengths to stay focused on the goal.
I’ve had to recognize that I can’t do everything all the time. I can’t book shows, write solely without the help of any other musician, record all my own demos, promote my music, and pitch to all areas of the industry without help. Of course, I’d like to see all these things happening all the time, but I’ve got to get real. After all, I did choose a career in music because I enjoy it, right?
Prioritize and save your life. Do the things that matter most, even if they’re hard. Undoubtedly, it’s the hardest things that pay the biggest dividends in years to come.
Good luck -
Andrea Stolpe
Posted on | March 22, 2009 | No Comments
Great lyrics have the power to vault listeners into the midst of a compelling story within seconds and keep them there. Choosing good verbs, writing conversationally, and allowing our rhymes to fall naturally with convincing content are important elements of great lyrics. But the element of ‘how’ we sing our lyrics to the melody is just as important. I’m not talking about the emotion with which we sing, but the rhythm with which we sing the words. The English language has a natural ebb and flow, a natural phrasing that translates into the rhythm of our melodies if we’re allowing it. When we say a phrase out loud, we can notice the syllables over which our voice rises in intensity, and those over which it lowers in intensity. We call these points ‘stresses’, and phrases of multi-syllable words produce ‘stress patterns’ of strong, weak, and secondary stress points. When we retain the stress pattern as we sing the phrase, our listener will have no trouble understanding the words we’re saying. But, if we disrupt the natural stress pattern, our listener can become distracted from ‘what’ we’re trying to say and focus more on ‘how’ we’re trying to say it. In some instances, the content of the lyric can be misunderstood or mistaken for something other than what we intend.
Alanis Morissette uses improper stress settings throughout many songs on her release ‘Jagged Little Pill’. It’s true that properly stressed lyrics create a tight marriage between melody and lyric, as if they were born at the same time. With such smooth lyrical settings, we are left to focus on what the lyrics are saying rather than how they’re sounding. But I like to bring Alanis up because in her case, I find the result interesting rather than distracting. No doubt, so did millions of fans who gobbled up her tunes for years after her huge commercial break-through. So why is mis-setting lyrics in some cases okay, and not in others? How do we apply that information to our own songs?
When you consider what is important to you in a song, what ideas come to mind? Do you listen mainly to lyric, or are you captivated by a hooky melody? Do you prefer story songs, or do you like more repetitive messages? Do you gravitate towards a simple harmonic groove, or do you like picking apart complex arrangements? Look for these kinds of elements in your own songs. Understanding what makes your songs appealing to others is critical in determining how important lyrics, melodic ideas, harmonic ideas, etc. are to the final result – intrigued listeners. If lyrics are a critical element in your songwriting, then you might want to consider the value of setting your lyrics in a way that will not distract the listener from what you’re trying to say. In the case of Alanis, her music is everything but calm and reserved. Her image, her attitude, and the very title of her record all pointed to the same message – pushing the limit of what is acceptable and appropriate. That she would not conform her lyric to her melodic rhythms served to create prosody, the effect of musical shapes and rhythms emphasizing a lyrical idea and vice versa.
When we’re writing our own songs, it’s important to consider how we’re writing with intention. Are we making lyrical setting decisions to emphasize the meaning of our lyric, or are we lazily trying to cram the lyric into a rhythm it cannot fit?
When my first impression notices that a lyrical line of mine is not setting well, I immediately take note of it (except in those instances where I would rather deny the lyric isn’t fitting properly!). I have found that after I sing the line several times, I begin to convince myself that it’s really not that bad – when my first impression served me better as the voice of the listener. Many times the rewriting process can be simple, just omitting a word or syllable here and there, or asking myself how this idea could be said in another way. But my decision to keep a lyric as it is and change the melody, or keep the melody and change the lyric, is intentional as often as I can muster.
Try writing with your eyes and ears perked to how you’re singing your lines to your melodic rhythms. Are you emphasizing meaningless words like ‘with’, ‘for’, ‘the’, ‘at’, etc? Do you feel like any lyric is crowded or rushed? Do substantial meaning-carrier words get less stress than they deserve, such as nouns, verbs, and adjectives? Let your ears and your instincts be your guide. Very often we know where the issues lie, and just need to find the courage and resources to attack the issues with rewriting tools.
For more in depth study on stresses placement and content, refer to Writing Lyrics to Music, now enrolling for Spring Term.
Andrea Stolpe
Posted on | March 15, 2009 | 2 Comments
Recently a student of mine brought up a very interesting website and service, called Hit Song Science at http://www.hitsongscience.com/. The service offers the capacity to analyze any song and gauge its potential to become a hit single. It’s an intriguing idea to say the least, and one that has inspired interesting debate. The company appeals to independent musicians and songwriters by suggesting the service helps you to reach new fans, understand who those fans are, know the success potential within different markets, and choose the best channels and targets.
They describe the way it works like this:
Our algorithms start by analyzing a large and representative sample of music…The analysis application is able to “listen” to any CD and isolate patterns in many musical events, some of which are melody, harmony, tempo, pitch, octave, beat, rhythm, fullness of sound, noise, brilliance, and chord progression. Each song is then mapped onto a grid …and is positioned according to its mathematical characteristics. Each song is represented by a dot on the ‘universe’ and the songs on one end of the universe are vastly different from songs on the other end of the universe. Songs with mathematical similarities are positioned very close to one another…The HSS software compares the sonic characteristics of a new piece of music with a database of the analyzed data of music that has demonstrated commercial success in the past, either through record sales, digital downloads or radio airplay.
With commercial data such as sales, highest chart position, and release date, the program can help to gauge a song’s success potential. Songs are eventually given an overall score:
Overall score: the song’s main score, and how that fits into the selected hit database, in terms of overall “proximity” to the hit clusters.
A score of 7.30 or above denotes clear mathematical hit potential.
A score of 6.75 to 7.29 is a borderline score. This reflects a song whose mathematical patterns that will assure performance in the market but might require a little extra marketing thought and push.
Other scores probably mean your material does not have the optimal mathematical patterns that will assure performance in the market.
As I read through the website, I felt a variety of emotions. Part of me was offended that songs could be analyzed in such a fashion. Another part of me believed that this kind of analysis was indeed possible and useful. But there was one phrase that stuck out to me on the site that was particularly revealing. They say: we’ll guide you on the road to creating a hit. Really? Creating a hit? That insinuates two things – that I’m gaining the knowledge and tools to actually apply to my writing in the future, and that I have all the resources I need to have a ‘hit’ once I’ve written that clustered pixel of notes and words.
In a sense, as Berkleemusic.com instructors we’re doing the same thing by teaching the craft of songwriting. We’re breaking down the craft into tools that prove over and over again to sell songs. But we’re also breaking down the craft into tools that inspire great art that speaks to the very core of our souls. We’re learning how to apply these tools so that we can use them where our intuitions guide us in the future. If our goal as songwriters is to merely write the most commercially viable songs we can write, then this service would absolutely seem to be useful. If we’re focused on leading the trend instead of following the trend, and using our own unique voice as writers and artists to inspire audiences all over the world, then I’d predict this service may not the vehicle for getting there.
What the song analysis won’t do for us as independent songwriters and artists is make connections. If we know we’ve got a hit on our hands, that’s wonderful information to have…but then what? There is no solution for getting out and meeting people better than getting out and meeting people. We can have all the talent in the world, but without enough diligence and persistence to develop connections and a fan base, we’ll still be sitting in our living-rooms.
The gatekeepers of the industry are becoming fewer and fewer, and it’s up to us as songwriters and artists to reach the ears of those who will believe and invest in our music – particularly our fans. There is no substitute for doing the work. Tools don’t write great songs, you do. Data doesn’t sell songs, you do.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on these ideas –
Andrea Stolpe
Posted on | March 1, 2009 | No Comments
Writing a song from start to finish can be a daunting task without tools and strategies. I’d like to share with you one tool for outlining our song ideas stemming from an understanding of the structure of our songs.
When I say structure, I’m talking about the form. Verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/chorus is perhaps the most common and widely used structure there is, highly effective in getting right to the main point without much dallying around. Verse/prechorus/chorus/verse/prechorus/chorus is another common structure, that short prechorus connecting the main message with the story development in the verses. These structures often omit the bridge, depending on how long the song is getting after that second chorus. If there’s time, the structure may include a bridge, or may end with one more repetition of the second chorus.
Other structures include verse/refrain/verse/refrain/bridge/verse/refrain, or as it’s often called, AABA. In this structure, the refrain line is the title capping off the most important position of the verse – the last line. Sometimes songs with choruses have an extra verse at the end. In this case, the third verse often provides a break-down, taking the dynamic of the song back down to a simmer before the last chorus takes us up again for one last burst of energy. Look for these forms used by your favorite artists. Commercial songwriting rarely incorporates a form outside of these typical structures, so they should be easy to find.
These forms are common because they’re so effective. They are what we’re used to hearing, and what get the message of the song across with clarity and a pace that keeps the listener compelled. So our question might be, how can we use these forms to increase the interest our listeners feel in our songs?
You might have had the opportunity to be in the audience during an open mic where songwriters showcase their new and often rough material. Perhaps you noticed yourself getting bored, impatient, disinterested, or even confused. When we listen with a critical ear to songs, we can use what we know about form to diagnose some of the major elements that can cause these negative or apathetic reactions from our audience. Let’s look at what some of those elements are.
Power Positions
The function of a chorus is to drive home our main point. The section as a whole should speak with clarity towards one main idea, and within the section, the power positions should hold the title. Power positions are often the first and last line, and sometimes the middle line depending on the structure. When we use repetition of a title, we are clearly showing the listener what message is most important. If we have varying messages in the power positions, what we’re showing the listener is that we’re not sure what our main message is. Watch for instances where you might have dueling titles. Two titles don’t make for a stronger message, but a more diluted song idea.
Verse Length
The function of the verse is to set up the foundation of the story. We’re drawing a convincing argument here towards why the listener should invest emotionally in our song. We might provide a more personal viewpoint in this section, drawing from real-life detail, describing a specific moment or event. Consider the length of this section, and how each line adds interesting and valuable new information. If you find yourself redundant, or expressing yourself in vague, abstract language, the listener may wander off for lack of understanding. Finding a good balance between concrete information and an explanation of that concrete information as it relates to the thoughts and feelings of the characters is important. You can read more about this in, Popular Lyric Writing: 10 Steps to Effective Storytelling. Verses that last too long, or too many verses before the chorus section delays the main message. It’s like a conversation in which one person talks and talks and talks. We begin to forget where we’re going, and though the words may have value on their own, they have little context within the bulk of the message.
Repetition
There is a reason why commercial songs are so repetitious. Repetition makes a song easier to remember, even after just one listen. Repetition also clarifies the main point of the song, and allows for melodic and harmonic hooks to burn themselves into our unsuspecting brains. Consider whether you’re putting too much pressure on yourself to write ‘smart’, or offer the listener a new title with each line of your chorus. Challenge yourself to repeat the title in the first and last line of a 5-line chorus. Or, repeat the title in the first and third line of a four-line chorus. Give yourself permission to write a four-line chorus where each line is the title. If we’ve set up the story in our verses, the chorus doesn’t have to do the work of giving that title value – it’s already been done.
Bridges
The function of a bridge is to change the lyrical perspective, lift the melody or break the dynamic down one last time, and add interest and energy to the last chorus. Beware of bridges that are too long, as we lose our direction heading towards the last chorus. Short two-line bridges can be very effective, giving us the contrast we need to make that last chorus really pop.
I hope these brief descriptions on form are useful as you write your next tune. As you become more versed in writing these forms, you’ll discover areas in which you can break the mold, stretching the forms and allowing other elements such as production quality to help emphasize any structural decisions you’re making.
Happy writing -
Andrea
Posted on | February 22, 2009 | No Comments
A fellow writer and blog reader of mine recently brought to my attention a valuable and artful marketing tool he uses to promote his songwriting. Always in the mood for new ways to spark my own creativity and suggestions on how to reach more lovers of music, I asked Dave to share in detail about his experience with this tool. He was kind enough to oblige. As he explains, one marketing tool alone grows stale and ineffective after too much use, but a multi-pronged approach can be just what we need to keep fans following our latest music and entice new listeners to get on board. Read below how Dave Shiflett brought new sparkle and ‘vision’ with videography to some of his original songs.
-Andrea Stolpe
If you’re a member of the vast unknown horde of songwriters, the big trick is getting recording artists, music supervisors, or publishers to actually listen. My experience as an unknown has been that getting someone to agree to listen to a song is not a huge problem. Yet my assumption is that much of the time, if not most of the time, the song never gets listened to. .
Recently, I tried a new approach that seems to have vastly expanded the listener-ship for two songs I’ve been circulating for over a year. I created videos on my computer to “illustrate” the songs. Early indications are that videos greatly increase chances of getting heard.
I had never made a video before. I’m a world-class computer klutz. Besides that, I’m not a photographer or videographer. So, if I can do this, anyone can.
The first video was for a song called “All the Good Men.” This is a “reality of war” song based on my experience as the father of a soldier. Grim material, to be sure, but I really believe in the song and the recording, which was done in a studio. I had sent the song around and had small success with some folk DJs. But for the most part there was very little response from music industry “weasels” (Eric Beall’s excellent term).
So, I decided to try to make the package more appealing by creating a video, even though I had no idea how to proceed or little money to spend. Fortunately, I discovered that my computer, which runs on Windows XP, includes a video-making program called Movie Maker. Even better, the program is made for idiots like me. Best yet, making the videos hasn’t cost a cent. Without even reading the tutorial I soon figured out how to import a copy of my song to Movie Maker and begin adding visual material to accompany the music.
This particular song tells the story of a soldier’s body coming home in a flag-draped coffin. I went online and found a couple of sites that offer free photographs, including a source for U.S. government photos (http://www.unclesamsphotos.com)
and another site that offers thousands of photos in the public domain. (http://people.uwec.edu/koroghcm/public_domain.htm).
After a few minutes of trial and error I began transferring a wide selection of photos to my computer and began matching them to the lyrics. Within a few hours, I had a pretty good video, which you can check out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuySpA6wuvQ.
I posted the video on YouTube – which is very computer-idot friendly – and sent out emails to friends and music-industry contacts directing them to the site. The response has been encouraging. I have heard from people who never responded when I had sent the songs – when requested — on CDs or had sent along links to sites where they are posted. In another interesting response, a DJ got back in touch to say he was so taken by the video that he went to my songwriting site (http://www.Daveshiflett.com), downloaded the song and played it on his show that week.
I’m assuming a few people stumbled across the video on their own, yet I never did anything to promote it. Getting lots of hits isn’t the mission. Getting the “right” hits is. Within a couple of days, I had more viewers than had been on the original email list, suggesting that most of those I contacted had bothered to view the video, and perhaps suggest it to friends and contacts. I also created a free widget with ReverbNation, which is quickly approaching the number of hits the songs have gotten on Myspace over the course of a year.
A few weeks later I made another video (which, as it turns out, I like even more) about a song called “My Beautiful Friend.” This is a song about going through hard times, so I went back to the public domain site and found a huge collection of photos from the depression (see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOE8sCmWeIQ).
In another interesting response, a label titan to whom I had send a CD copy of the song many months ago, responded almost instantly to say how much he had enjoyed the song and video. It was clear he had never gotten around to spinning the CD.
Of course, none of this guarantees anything more will happen with these songs, but at least the songs are being heard. My only note of caution would be to make sure you don’t overuse the video option. All things grow old. Choose your songs carefully, and try to make sure the video is at least as compelling as your tune. Perhaps a rule of thumb should be this: Think two or three times before submitting any song you wouldn’t spend a few extra hours turning into a video.
Dave Shiflett is a writer and songwriter who lives in Virginia. His columns and music are posted at http://www.Daveshiflett.com
Posted on | February 15, 2009 | No Comments
Oh, the horror of coming to the end of a line and knowing we’ve got to rhyme with ‘door’. I’ve been on the ‘floor’ so many times in my lyrics, it’s remarkable I end up with completely different song plots. I’d like to share with you some simple and effective tools for letting your content roam free despite the need to rhyme, and also ways to increase the usefulness of that rhyming dictionary
As Pat Pattison explains in the online songwriting course Tools & Strategies, and the information I’ve stolen from him in Commercial Songwriting Techniques, there are five rhyme types. I’ll briefly review them here, but for the sake of improving your writing in the long run, please refer to Pat’s book ‘Writing Better Lyrics.’ No serious writer should leave the house without that book.
The rhyme type we’re all familiar with is perfect rhyme. These are rhymes like ‘cat’ and ‘hat’. No magic there.
The second type is family rhyme. These words are related, though not born of the same DNA like our fraternal twins, perfect rhyme. Examples of these are ‘trade’ and ‘grate’. The ‘d’ and ‘t’ sound are related sonically, by voiced and unvoiced qualities, and so they are completely acceptable as rhymes. Notice that the vowel stays the same.
The third type is additive/subtractive rhyme. It’s just like it sounds – take something away and you’ve got subtractive. Add something and you’ve got additive. So ‘track’ and ‘packed’ are additive. ‘Glued’ and ‘hue’ are subtractive.
This might be grating on your ears a bit, as we’re well aware that there is something missing or something added on making the union imperfect. But, in the context of a song, this union is completely effective to bond two lyrical ideas together.
The fourth type is assonance. Here’s where rhyme gets a little tricky. Assonance rhyme is where the vowels match but the consonant endings are different. So ‘spade’ and ‘rail’ are assonance rhymes. The ‘d’ and ‘l’ are not related by family, but completely distinct sounds. However, the vowel sound creates a connection here and so the rhyme works in many situations.
The last and weakest type of rhyme is consonance. I think of it like the opposite of assonance. The vowels don’t match, but the consonant endings do. ‘fight’ and ‘bought’ are examples of this type. In many instances we may not feel the rhyme strongly at all, and therefore, we need to be careful when using this type that it creates the kind of closure we’re looking for at the ends of our sections.
The trouble with rhyming dictionaries is that they list perfect rhyme only. We’ve got to sift through lists of words we wouldn’t dream of using in our song, only to come up with the obvious. Now, sometimes we don’t think of all the obvious, and it’s helpful to have that list handy. But, other times we run to the rhyming dictionary and come up with the same old words, cornered in that typical content we always write.
That’s where a good understanding of the rhyme types comes in. I rarely go to my rhyming dictionary anymore because I’ve got all the tools I need right there in my mind when I sift through the different types. The more you practice using these types and noticing the different types in songs you listen to, the quicker you’ll become at thinking of interesting rhymes on the fly.
If you want to use your rhyming dictionary, try approaching your rhymes one at a time by type. Let’s say you need to rhyme ‘stay’. Perfect rhymes include ‘gay, hey, stray, fray, may,’ etc. Family rhyme produces the same list because there is no consonant ending with which to produce a sonic relationship. But if I move to additive rhyme, I get ‘wait, made, hate, fade, break,’ etc. There is no consonant to subtract, and so subtractive rhyme is not an option here either.
Now that I’ve got some additive rhyme ideas, I can go to my rhyming dictionary for pairs. Anything listed as rhymes for ‘wait’ or ‘made’ or ‘hate’ or ‘break’ will work for a rhyme for ‘stay’. I just need to brainstorm to get that first rhyme pair and then I can move to the dictionary to find all other pairs in that grouping.
Use this same technique to find assonance and consonance rhymes. For assonance, the entire list of words with the same vowel sound will work. For consonance, you’ll need to get creative again. You’re not matching the vowel, but the ending consonant. So this time, just filter through your own list in your head, replacing the vowel and keeping the ending consonant the same.
Be careful with trying to rhyme feminine words with masculine words. It’s the stressed syllable of a word that is rhymed, and so when we try to match unstressed and stressed syllables, we’re going to be upsetting the natural stress pattern of one of the words. For more info on this, refer to Pat Pattison’s Writing Better Lyrics, and Essential Guide to Rhyming.
In all cases, keep searching for rhyme that enables you to say what you want to say. Don’t ever let rhyme determine the content, unless you’re using it to brainstorm. Listeners can hear through rhyme chosen for the sake of sonic connection rather than what the word itself has to say.
Happy rhyming –
Andrea
Posted on | February 10, 2009 | 2 Comments
I am a new songwriter (I am 17 and have been doing it for a little under a year) Do you have any tips for “turning off the editor “. I have found that I am too frustrated to write because I am way too hard on myself. How do I write material that I will enjoy playing?
For many of us, we write songs because we enjoy the art of writing, singing, playing, performing, or simply fooling around on an instrument and pairing words with chords to express ourselves. I can remember a time when just listening to music I enjoyed was enough to vault me into a new dimension of satisfaction and joy. Sometimes music was my escape from a difficult environment, a comfort, and a healer in good times and bad.
I remember writing my first song when I was in my teens. I remember the feeling of being quite impressed with myself, very proud of the fact I could construct a verse and a chorus that was as beautiful (to my ears) as the verses and choruses I loved on the radio. I approached the song with a certain knowing, though I was not educated in any of the tools and strategies I now use to write tunes. I knew what I liked, and I knew what I thought was beautiful. And that was enough for me to take pride in what I had created.
Now when I write songs, I can very easily slip into the worry that what I’m writing isn’t good enough, marketable enough, cool, slick, dumbed-down (for certain markets), or smart enough (for other markets). I have a clear idea of where I’d like the song to go, like an insecure parent hoping to find my own success in the accomplishments of my ‘children.’ If I’m not successful at finding that song a home on a big record somewhere, I have obviously failed at my job.
This kind of thinking will eventually always lead to burn-out. When my writing becomes something I expect will serve and love me instead of me serving and loving my writing, it becomes a reminder of all I am failing to accomplish. 17 years old is much too young to come to this place, but it’s certainly a sad place for us to be at any age.
There is a fantastic book I highly recommend on the subject of allowing ourselves to love our art of expression again. Written by Kenny Werner, the book with included CD is called Effortless Mastery. Kenny is a highly regarded jazz musician, whose love for playing extends beyond almost anyone I know in the industry. But it wasn’t always that way. So to begin your process of softening your opinions of yourself and your art, I recommend starting with that book.
We all go through periods where writing is difficult. Maybe the ideas don’t come easy; maybe we’re in a phase where nothing sounds original. When I find myself in that place, I make special effort to simply keep writing, giving myself permission to write what I doubt is ‘good’ songwriting. I write 10 poor songs, full of clichés, embodying some of my most boring ideas. I start object writing or destination writing, and do it for 10 minutes every day. I sit down for a week and only write melodic motifs, record them, and file them away on my computer for a rainy day. I allow myself to let go of what drives me to critique my songs so harshly - even if it’s just for 5 minutes while I write out some lyrics.
Consider that those you are writing for need only to be reached at soul-level, to believe that what you are saying in your songs is true and real. I’ll be trying to do the same every day, whether it’s for 10 minutes, or 2 hours.
Good luck – and get that book!
Andrea Stolpe
Posted on | February 1, 2009 | No Comments
Mapping out the direction of our song before writing any actual lyrics can be a great way to keep a tight reign on that final version. I find that drawing up a simple outline helps to iron out any potential issues that might come up as a result of under-thinking and over-thinking my title idea. To get started, take your title and think about the main message of the song. Try to summarize in just a few sentences what that main message is – and frame it in the title. If my title is, ‘Running with the Wind’, I might summarize like this:
Chorus:
‘Running with the wind,’ I’ve let it blow me where it will. But I’m tired of ending up where I feel I don’t belong, so from now on, I’ll stop ‘Running with the Wind.’
It’s a simple idea about taking control of my life and changing the future. So, now that I know my overall point, I’m going to approach the verse sections. In my course Commercial Songwriting Techniques, I introduce a few short-cut tools for determining the direction of our verse and bridge sections. One option is to use time to determine where to move to. So, I’m going to start my first verse in the past. Here goes:
Verse 1:
I grew up with the cornfields, with thunderclouds and flat land, and deep dark nights with the brightest stars I’ve ever seen. But I got restless there in that small town and one day I thought I saw my future on the horizon, and I took off.
Now, in the prechorus I’ve got to connect the ideas between my chorus and verse. To do that, I’m going to ask myself ‘does it have to be this way?’ or ‘was there hope?’
Prechorus: I thought I was breaking free, becoming who I was meant to be.
Chorus:
‘Running with the wind,’ I let it blow me where it will. But I’m tired of ending up where I feel I don’t belong, so from now on, I’ll stop ‘Running with the Wind.’
The end of that chorus section clearly explains that I’m tired of running, so my second verse might jump off that idea. I’m going to try to explain what happened that made me tired, and all the places that I didn’t belong. Again, I’m talking about the past, however, a more recent past than verse one.
Verse 2:
I’ve been so many different places I can’t recall. I skimmed the surface, I changed direction, always thinking I’d find what I was looking for around the next corner. A rumble, a flash of light, a little rain, and I’d be gone.
Notice how I tried to incorporate ideas linked to the ‘stormclouds’ and ‘wind’ ideas of the first verse and chorus? That metaphor came from that crucial word in the title, and so I’m going to be sure to use that throughout the song to give it a cohesive identify. The title will then be inextricably linked to the content within the song, and that strengthens my main message.
Now for that second pre-chorus. Again, asking myself the question ‘does it have to be this way?’ or ‘is there hope’?
Prechorus:
I could grow some roots, slow down, finally see what went blurring by when I was…
Chorus:
‘Running with the wind,’ I let it blow me where it will. But I’m tired of ending up where I feel I don’t belong, so from now on, I’ll stop ‘Running with the Wind.’
Now in the bridge section, I could write about what the future will look like to contrast with the present and past that I’ve described in my other sections. Remember how I said I would use ‘time’ to direct the plot? By moving between the past in the verses, and present in the chorus, and the future in the bridge, I’m doing just that:
Bridge:
Someday I’ll look back on the places I’ve been, and I’ll know that I couldn’t have found where I am if I hadn’t been…
Chorus:
‘Running with the wind,’ I let it blow me where it will. But I’m tired of ending up where I feel I don’t belong, so from now on, I’ll stop ‘Running with the Wind.’
With a few ideas about how to develop the plot, I can better organize the lyric ideas I gather while Destination Writing. A great idea would be to write a few different plot progressions for the same title. Challenge yourself to become flexible with your outlines, letting go of ideas you cling to, and fearlessly writing down what you think isn’t your best material. The outline above may not be my best work, but that’s not important. What’s important is that I’m flexing my creative muscles to arrive at stronger ideas in the future. Give it a try yourself – you might be surprised the quality of material that slips out when you least expect.
For an in-depth audio lesson on writing second verses and outlining the plots of our songs, please visit www.songwritingtechniques.net and click play on the music player.
Happy writing,
Andrea Stolpe
Posted on | January 25, 2009 | 1 Comment
I fear that if I approach this topic spotlighting the lyrics of any legendary songwriter I might get bludgeoned from all sides by fans. But, I’m going to take the risk and start right at the top with some lyrics by the legendary Bob Dylan. In an interview with 60 minutes, Dylan talks about some of the lyrics to his tune ‘It’s Alright, Ma:’
Darkness at the break of noon
Shadows even the silver spoon
The hand-made blade the child’s baloon
Of this classic, Dylan says “There’s a magic to writing something like that…I did it at one time…I can do other things now, but I can’t do that.” For Dylan, these lyrics must have sprung from a wellspring of creativity, as he calls it. For the rest of us, we may find the words taking root deep within and blossoming into some greater meaning, or leaving little imprint at all. How we react depends on, in my humble opinion, many factors such as our own musical preferences and values, our perception of the artist, the story behind the song, and the relationship his music has had to our life throughout the years.
For songwriters, I think this idea of ‘magical’ lyrics does bring up an interesting point. In the world of songwriting, there seems to be this unwritten rule that if you’re not a fan of Dylan’s music, you don’t know what good songwriting is. We might extend that to other legendary artists such as the Beatles or Joni Mitchell. But I wonder sometimes when we songwriters use the qualities of these artists to defend our own musical and lyrical choices. It’s as if we believe ‘their poetry had magic, so my abstract poetry is magical too; or they only used four chords, so my simply-structured music shouldn’t be any less compelling.’
Some lyrics read like a good book, every event playing out in specific and very conversational language. Other lyrics leave us breathless, the very sound of their syllables connecting us to the artist whether we’re completely sure of the meaning of the words. We can find examples of both types in many hit songs across many genres. But I think to rely on these examples in order to justify our own lyrical choices is to forget that we are unique artists ourselves with unique abilities to connect with our audience.
Several times during my lyric writing process I have to ask myself, ‘what am I really trying to say?’ If I can’t answer that question, then how can my listener? Abstract lyrics can be a beautiful thing in certain situations. But they can also leave our listener confused and disinterested. Perhaps the best way to tell whether our lyrics (and music) are effectively reaching our audience is to ask the audience. Next time you perform or play your songs for eager ears, find out what element grabbed them the most. Where did the listener lose interest, or where did the listener sink completely into your song? The world already has a Dylan, and at the risk of sounding a little cheesy, maybe what the world needs now is you.
Andrea
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