How Musical Anticipation Builds Song Energy

Suddenly dropping instruments from the mix can create song energy by increasing anticipation.

____________"From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro"

Purchase “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, and get this eBook FREE OF CHARGE: ”From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro”.
_____________

P!nk, Nate Ruess, Just Give Me a ReasonIn music, creating a sense of anticipation helps to create energy and momentum and keep listeners hooked. But getting this right is like walking a tight rope. If you put too many elements in your music that are too predictable, it creates boredom as your audience can tell what is going to happen with too much certainty.

One way to build a good sense of anticipation is to drop instruments temporarily from the mix. As such, this is not so much a songwriting issue as it is a musical arrangement issue, but there are ways to transfer this effect to your songwriting.

Ebbing and flowing of energy is common in pop music, where instruments are added in a chorus, then taken away for the verses. Ebb and flow is a machine, of sorts, that creates listener interest.

In “Just Give Me a Reason” (Pink ft. Nate Ruess), you hear a long, gradual energy build throughout the song as instruments are added. The build is largely a “straight-line build”, with no spots (at least until the final choruses) where the instrumental energy dissipates to create the normal ebb and flow effect.

Right after the bridge, all instruments are rather unexpectedly dropped, leaving unaccompanied voices with drums. The sudden dropping of instruments from the mix has two rather paradoxical effects: 1) It reduces instrumental energy; and 2) It increases song energy through the listeners’ anticipation of the dropped instruments soon returning.

When the instruments return, it has the effect of boosting the perceived energy of the music even more.

There are other ways that you can incorporate the same kind of principle of ebb and flow at the songwriting level:

  1. Be sure that the different melodies for the separate sections of your songs explore different ranges, some high (ideally the chorus and bridge) and some low (ideally the verse).
  2. Be sure your chord progressions use the tonic chord (i.e., the one that represents the key) as an important goal. As the progression moves away from the tonic, anticipation is built; as it approaches the tonic again and then reaches it, energy is released.
  3. Use verse lyrics to pose questions and describe situations and people, and use the chorus lyric to give an emotional response. Use the bridge to offer a final comment, moving back and forth quickly between lyrics that describe and lyrics that emote.

______________

Gary EwerWritten by Gary Ewer. Follow on Twitter.

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, which currently includes a free copy of “From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro”.

1 Comment
by garyewer on May 17, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in songwriting
Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Posted by garyewer on May 17, 2013

http://garyewer.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/how-musical-anticipation-builds-song-energy/

Post 1000 – And On We Go…

After 1000 posts, it’s still all about musical curiosity.

____________

Purchase “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle TODAY, and claim your free eBook “From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro”.
_____________

Gary EwerI noticed this morning that I’m about to click “Publish” and post my 1000th article for this blog. You might wonder how anyone can find 1000 things to say about anything, let alone songwriting. If you’ve been a long time reader, you know that some topics here get done many times, simply because I get a lot of email referring to those topics: How do I write a verse? Why can’t I get my chords to work? What can I do to my chorus?

My first blog article, back in January of 2008, was called “Get Curious!” It dealt with a quality that I find present in the best songwriters I know – the best of anyone in any field I know. If you read interviews with top-level songwriters, they are as likely to talk about music that excites and influences them as they are to talk about their own songs.

I believe that curiosity is the best trait a songwriter can possess. Nothing is as important to the development of a musician because in the world of the creative arts nothing happens in a vacuum. You may feel that your music is unique, exploring new territory, and I hope to at least a certain degree that that is true.

But it is more likely that the ideas you conjure up are being influenced by all the music that has come before you. The broader that experience, the more your music will benefit because of it. Curiosity means that you are always asking, “How do I?”

Curiosity also means that you are asking, “What was that?” whenever you hear something different. Curiosity makes you listen to others. As I say, the broader that experience, the more your music will benefit, and the better your music becomes.

The fact that my first post dealt with musical curiosity was purposeful. To me, curiosity is the root, the very foundation, of success in songwriting. If you aren’t curious, get curious! That quality can take you to the top.

I have no plans to stop any time soon, so who knows, maybe in another 5-and-a-half years I will be writing Post #2000. In the meantime, I wish you all the best. And if any of these thoughts, opinions, analyses, and other musical investigations have at least made you think, and made you curious… that delights me.

______________

Gary EwerWritten by Gary Ewer. Follow on Twitter.

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle: $95.70 $37.00 (and get a copy of “From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro“ FREE.)

3 Comments
by garyewer on May 16, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Uncategorized

Posted by garyewer on May 16, 2013

http://garyewer.wordpress.com/2013/05/16/post-1000-and-on-we-go/

Creating a Melody by Getting a Jump-Start From An Existing Song

Use a favourite song to help create a new melody – and no one will ever know!

____________"From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro"

Purchase “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, and get this eBook FREE OF CHARGE: ”From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro”.
_____________

Musical line drawingYou’re sitting with your guitar, or at a keyboard, trying to come up with your next song, but everything you try just sounds random and aimless. You need help. Here’s a fun exercise that allows you to borrow from an already-written song in a way that will not sound like the original. No one will ever know that you used someone else’s song to create it.

When we listen to melodies, we’re listening to specific pitches, rhythms and lyrics, all working with an underlying chord progression. For many, it’s getting that melody to work in the first place, and can be a source of great frustration.

All melodies proceed after their first note by moving up, down, or staying the same. If you sing a well-known melody, or recite the lyric, most listeners should recognize it. But if you were to simply describe the basic up and down movement of that melody (e.g., “I’m going to sing a melody that starts on a note, moves up, up, up, down, down, up, down, up, stays the same…”), no one would ever know that you are describing the verse of The Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive.”

So if you’re looking for a fun, quick way to break yourself out of the melody-writing doldrums, try the following:

  1. Take a favourite song, draw a dot at the middle of the left side of the page that represents the first note.
  2. For each note that happens, draw a new dot that either moves up, down, or stays the same, depending on what happens in the original tune.
  3. When you’re done, you’ll have a page that looks like musical note heads without the musical staff underneath. Now connect the dots.
  4. Forget about the original song, and create a short chord progression; play it through several times to get your ear used to it.
  5. Using your drawing, try creating a melody that moves as the dots move – up, down or staying the same.

You might want to use graph paper to do your drawing. Do whatever makes it easy; you’re looking to create something that represents the melodic direction of a well-known song.

It’s completely up to you how much you stick to the pattern you’ve pilfered from the original song. You may find that after getting a few notes matching up with your chord progression, ideas are springing to mind, and you’re off. It’s a bit like getting a jump-start from a working car when your battery has died. Once your car is going, disconnect from the first car.

Other ideas:

  1. Turn the pattern upside down.
  2. Invert the pattern (i.e., move up if the next dot moves down).
  3. Do the pattern from right to left (retrograde).
  4. Start in the middle.

Unless the originating tune has a very distinctive melodic outline, no one will ever identify the original tune, because you’ll be moving up and down by different intervals, using different rhythms. You will also be using a different chord progression. You’re simply using note direction from the original tune, and that’s usually not enough for listeners to be able to identify it. Put simply, melodic direction is not protected by copyright.

If you write a song this way, feel free to provide a link in the comments below, and mention the originating tune from which you took the melodic direction.

______________

Gary EwerWritten by Gary Ewer. Follow on Twitter.

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle: $95.70 $37.00 (and get a copy of “From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro“ FREE.)

Leave a Comment
by garyewer on May 15, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Melody, Writer's Block
Tagged , , , , , , ,

Posted by garyewer on May 15, 2013

http://garyewer.wordpress.com/2013/05/15/creating-a-melody-by-getting-a-jump-start-from-an-existing-song/

Sending A Song Over the Top With the Right Key Choice

Experimenting with a song’s key, tempo, instrumentation and basic feel can reveal a hidden hit.

____________

Purchase “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle TODAY, and receive your free eBook “From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro”.
_____________

John Lennon - The Beatles - Don't Let Me DownWhoever said, “You’re not selling the steak, you’re selling the sizzle” could have easily been talking about musical performance. In the world of songwriting, I’m someone who believes that getting the notes, chords and lyrics right does not  mean you’re finished and ready to move on to your next song. There is so much that needs to be done to ensure that your song is the best it can possibly be.

If you aren’t spending any time experimenting with key, tempo, instrumentation, backing vocals or basic feel, you’re probably missing out on the possibility of sending your song over the top.

You may think that getting your song’s key right is easy. Every song has an easily identifiable vocal range, so it’s a simple matter of choosing a key that makes all the notes possible.

But pushing the range higher, beyond your normal upper limit, can give great results. “Don’t Let Me Down“, sung by John Lennon, would have lost most of its angst-ridden energy if, instead of choosing the key of E major and requiring John to scream out high G# over and over again, the song had been placed in a safer key.

Recently finished writing a song? Try these experiments:

  1. Try your song at different tempos and styles.
  2. Hand-in-hand with point #1 above, as you try faster tempos, experiment with a higher key, even if it requires you to scream out a note or two at the top end.
  3. Slow the song down, and try a lower key and quieter performance style.
  4. Try a different time signature.
  5. Try a different performance technique (e.g., if you’ve made a strumming guitar your basic backing sound, switch to finger-picking, or a different instrument completely.
  6. Try switching modes. If your song is primarily in minor, see what you can discover by switching to major, and vice versa.

The lesson here is: don’t fall in love with what you’ve written to the point that you fear making any changes at all.

YouTube is a great tool for seeing the power of experimentation, and what a new tempo, key and feel can do for a song. As one example, compare Willie Nelson’s version of “You Were Always On My Mind” to a completely different take by the 80′s group Pet Shop Boys.

By the way, when I watch videos on YouTube, I don’t usually read the viewer comments, because they don’t add a lot to the experience (to be polite about it.) But one comment by electri926 about the Pet Shop Boys version compared to the original Willie Nelson version is worth mentioning here:

The original song is good, but it sounds like the singer has given up on the relationship. In this one, it’s as though he still has hope for the future, and it’s nice to hear a break-up song that takes that route.

That’s exactly what a different tempo, instrumentation, key and approach can do for your music. It creates a subtext for the music, an inner meaning (or extra meaning) that can be exciting and fresh.

______________

Gary EwerWritten by Gary Ewer. Follow on Twitter.

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle: $95.70 $37.00 (and get a copy of “From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro“ FREE.)

Leave a Comment
by garyewer on May 14, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in songwriting
Tagged , , , , ,

Posted by garyewer on May 14, 2013

http://garyewer.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/sending-a-song-over-the-top-with-the-right-key-choice/

The Power of Simplicity in Songwriting

If you want to put a smile on a listener’s face — simplify your music.

____________"From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro"

Purchase “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, and get this eBook FREE OF CHARGE: ”From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro”.
_____________

Happy person listening to musicAsk someone to name the greatest composer who ever lived, and you will no doubt hear the name Beethoven. His reputation as one of the greats is certainly justifiable. It may surprise you, however, to know that in his own lifetime, Beethoven’s music — particularly the music he wrote later in his life — was thought of by many as loud, confusing and perplexing.

In a way, that criticism had some merit. By the time Beethoven reached his so-called “late period” (from about 1813 until his death in 1827), his compositional style had definitely become more intricate, and much harder to understand by average listeners.

His famous Symphony No. 9 was an example of just how complex his writing style had become. But nestled in the final movement of that symphony is a lovely little theme – the very well-known “Ode To Joy” melody that almost every schoolchild knows.

That melody is a textbook example of simplicity at its finest. It uses only the notes of D major scale, no altered tones. The rhythm is comprised of quarter notes with occasional half notes. The formal design is as simple as it can be: AABA.

Why, at a time in his life when Beethoven was experimenting with musical complexity did he build an entire movement on something so simple? The answer is evident when you look at the subject matter of the text: an ode to joy and jubilation, to friendship, to kindness and happiness. He wanted a melody that could be sung by everyone, loved by everyone, and understood by everyone. He succeeded!

Songwriters need to learn this lesson of the power of simplicity. Complexity in music has its place, but if you want to touch the heart of the people you are singing to, simplicity is vital.

If your song lyric is one that you hope is transmitting a message of universal love, hope, peace or joy, that message can get clouded or lost if the melody and chords don’t partner well with it. Keep things simple, which in musical terms usually means using basic, strong chord progressions, and a melody that can be easily sung by anyone and everyone.

______________

Gary EwerWritten by Gary Ewer. Follow on Twitter.

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle: $95.70 $37.00 (and get a copy of “From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro“ FREE.)

Leave a Comment
by garyewer on May 13, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in songwriting
Tagged , , , , , ,

Posted by garyewer on May 13, 2013

http://garyewer.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/the-power-of-simplicity-in-songwriting/

Stimulating Your Creative Mind

Are you a curious musician? You need to expand your musical palette!

____________

Purchase “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle TODAY, and receive your free eBook “From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro”.
_____________

Your favourite magazinesImagine that you’re walking into a store that sells newspapers and magazines. There’s a little coffee shop at the back with a few chairs, although you’ve never bought a coffee there or sat in the chairs. There’s a postcard rack, a stand for selling stationery items, and even a few framed pictures for sale. At any given time there are  lots of people browsing for various items through the store.

You go there because they’ve got those three or four magazines and newspapers you like to read. You might take a glance at some of the other publications they sell, but that’s not the reason you go there. You might buy a pen once in a while, but you’ve never bought a framed picture.

Now imagine that right next door to that magazine store, a tiny little shop that has opened up. They sell only those three or four magazines that you read – nothing else. There’s no coffee shop at the back, and there are no other publications for sale other than the ones you usually read. No postcards for sale, no pens, paper or pictures.

In short, it’s got everything you need: your favourite four magazines, and nothing else.

Question: Which store are you likely to visit?

There’s something very practical about a magazine store that sells only those items of interest to you. You don’t have to wade through the hundreds of magazines just to find the three or four you want.

But I am guessing that most people would (at least most of the time) choose to visit the store that offers the larger selection of magazines and publications, most of which you don’t intend to buy. Why is that?

One reason is that large magazine stores are analogous to the societies in which most of us live, and so we feel “comfortable” there. Societies offer a huge array of interesting people, cultural experiences, merchandise and more. Nevertheless, you do not know most of the people in your city. If your city is large, you probably don’t go to most of the concerts. There are many stores you’ve never set foot in. The grocery stores are filled with items, most of which you don’t buy.

But you love your city, and the variety of experiences it offers, even if you don’t  partake in most. You love the hustle and bustle, even if once in a while you feel the need to get away from it and “take a breather.”

There’s another reason you might choose the larger store that sell items you don’t normally buy: curiosity. Every now and then you happen upon something that jumps out at you. In fact, it’s the potential for that kind of unexpected discovery that you look forward to. You make an impulse purchase, and your life becomes richer for it.

As a songwriter you have the same kind of choice to make. Like your trio of favourite magazines, you’ve got those three or four bands or singer-songwriters that you love to listen to. Most of the rest of music may be of little immediate interest.

But as in the magazine store scenario, you can choose to visit the little store that has just those items of interest, or you can browse through the larger store and open your mind to the possibility of coming across a pleasant surprise.

Sadly, many up-and-coming songwriters don’t have the curiosity to expand their musical palette beyond their immediate area of interest. Like a person choosing to only visit the small magazine store, they’re missing out on a great opportunity to expand their view and understanding of the musical world — the potential for an unexpected discovery.

If I’ve just described you, the solution is simple: branch out, get curious, and start listening to music you don’t normally listen to. I guarantee that you will come across something interesting every day, something that will expand your understanding and enhance your songwriting abilities.

Limiting yourself to one genre, and the three or four performers that you prefer, means that you have little chance of growing as a songwriter. Almost no chance of stimulating your creative mind. And definitely no chance of writing something remarkable or unique.

______________

Gary EwerWritten by Gary Ewer. Follow on Twitter.

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle: $95.70 $37.00 (and get a copy of “From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro“ FREE.)

1 Comment
by garyewer on May 9, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in songwriting
Tagged , , , , , ,

Posted by garyewer on May 9, 2013

http://garyewer.wordpress.com/2013/05/09/stimulating-your-creative-mind/

What Comes First, Words or Music?

GUEST POST by MARKUS RILL

Markus Rill, Singer-SongwriterMarkus Rill is a singer-songwriter from Germany. He has just released his 8th album “My Rocket Ship” on Blue Rose Records and tours all over Europe and the US. Music at markusrill.bandcamp.com. More info at www.markusrill.net, in the blog at rocknrill.tumblr.com, www.facebook.com/markusrill, www.twitter.com/markusrill
__________

One of the most commonly asked questions of any songwriter must be “What comes first when you write a song, words or music?”

The truth of the matter is, song ideas come in all kinds of ways: Sometimes a phrase you read or hear sparks an idea, sometimes there’s a subject matter you want to explore, other times there’s a melody or a chord progression that you feel is worth pursuing.

Another truth is: there are no rules about songwriting. Any way that leads to a good song and works for you is a good way.

Here’s the way that works best for me and maybe it’ll be worth a try for you: I always try to develop the lyric and the musical part of a song together. No matter what that first kernel of a song idea may be, a lyric snippet or a guitar lick, I never push it past its initial inspiration. It may be just a phrase I jot down, it may be a few lines or a melodic movement but if I don’t have the time or opportunity right this moment to pursue it past this initial spark, I write it down, sing or play it into my phone and revisit it when I have time to sit down with my guitar, pen & notepad.

I have tried to write lyrics to an existing musical composition and I have tried to come up with appropriate music for an existing lyric. Both of that can work and if it’s good enough for Dylan, I can’t really argue with it, can I?

However, when I work that way, I inevitably feel that the pre-existing part conditions the other part. In other words, if the melody is already written, it forces me to mold the lyric a certain way or the finished lyric demands a particular melodic development. It’s very hard to make that kind of work seem natural and effortless. And that is, after all, the goal: A song in which music & lyric supplement and support each other and are in perfect harmony.

Now, to me, perfect harmony is rarely achieved when words like “force”, “demand”, and “condition” come into play – which is why I like to develop the words & the melody together. I feel it gives me greater flexibility. I feel it makes it much easier for me to follow the song where it wants to go rather than exert influence as a songwriter. If at a certain point in the song, the lyric wants to move someplace, the music can support that development. Or else if I feel the music needs to change now, I can adapt the lyric. I can stop & turn on a dime and the other part (since it isn’t already finished) can easily follow. It may be that the melody leads the way in the segue from verse to chorus and later on in the song, it’s quite possible that the lyric suggests where the bridge needs to go musically. All I need to do then as the songwriter is to listen closely and read the lyric closely and that’ll eventually tell me how the song wants or needs to develop. If I’m able to do this well, the end result will be a song where words & music are equal, supportive partners rather than stuck in a relationship where one partner made the other bow to its will.

-Markus Rill

3 Comments
by garyewer on May 8, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged , , , , , , ,

Posted by garyewer on May 8, 2013

http://garyewer.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/what-comes-first-words-or-music/

Songwriting Without Inspiration – How’s That Done?

5 ideas for writing without waiting to be inspired.

____________"From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro"

Purchase “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, and get this eBook FREE OF CHARGE: ”From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro”.
_____________

Rock ConcertIs it possible to write music without feeling inspired? And if you’re writing songs without feeling particularly inspired to do so, what’s making you do it?

There’s a bit of confusion surrounding the term “inspiration.” Most believe that any musical idea that appears in the mind happens as a result of inspiration. You “get inspired”, as the expression goes, and then the ideas start to flow.

But research shows that that’s not exactly the way it works. In fact, psychologists who study human creativity now know that most of the time, it works the other way around: the ideas start to happen, and then inspiration occurs.

So how is that possible? Can you actually be walking down the street, and have musical ideas suddenly appear without trying to conjure up those ideas? Yes, and with many musicians it happens all the time. It’s part of what it means to be human. It’s an ability that’s not shared with other species on the planet, certainly not to the extent that we can do it.

To reiterate, research shows that most of the time, inspiration comes from an initial spark of creativity. You think of a great bit of lyric, or a catchy, hooky melodic fragment, or a combination of both, joined together by an appealing rhythm, and it excites you. That excitement is what we otherwise call inspiration. Inspiration then stimulates you to enhance those ideas, or create new ones, and on it goes.

The period of time between the spontaneous creation of an idea and feeling excited or inspired can be very short – so short, in fact, that it can often feel as though inspiration is what generated the idea. But in fact, most of the time it’s the other way around: you  think up a musical idea, and get excited by it almost instantly.

If your regular gig is writing film scores, then you know that it’s not possible to sit around waiting for inspiration. You’ve got to be writing almost constantly. So how do you do that?

Here are some tips for writing songs when you don’t feel particularly inspired to do so:

  1. Create a songwriting schedule and stick to it. Don’t waver, and don’t miss. It should be daily (at least 5 out of 7 days per week), and should be anywhere from 0.5 to 1 hour per day.
  2. Work on several projects at the same time. Don’t feel that you must complete a song in one sitting. If ideas get a bit stalled on one song, switch to another.
  3. Make listening a daily activity. Listening to other songwriters’ music can help bolster your interest and excitement. And don’t just listen to your favourite genre. Listening to music you don’t normally listen to can help you create ideas that are unique and fresh.
  4. Do some songwriting exercises. These are activities and games that are meant to simply get your creative brain working without necessarily leading to the creation of a song. And if doing a few of these games is all you manage to do on a day, that’s not a bad thing. It may have been the break you’ve needed. (Need some ideas for songwriting games? Try these.)
  5. “Punish” yourself for missing a songwriting session. Research shows that writers with writer’s block more often than not solved their problems by agreeing to certain punishments for missed deadlines. In experiments conducted by Dr. Robert Boice in the ’80s, those punishments were monetary, but they could be anything that you find effective. So if you miss a day of writing… no chocolate for you!

______________

Gary EwerWritten by Gary Ewer. Follow on Twitter.

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, which currently includes a free copy of “From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro”.

1 Comment
by garyewer on May 7, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Writer's Block
Tagged , , , , , , ,

Posted by garyewer on May 7, 2013

http://garyewer.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/songwriting-without-inspiration-hows-that-done/

Pairing Up Major and Minor Progressions

Moving from minor to major chords strengthens song structure.

____________

Purchase “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle TODAY, and claim your free eBook “From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro”.
_____________

GuitaristOne of the nicest and easiest ways to create really nice contrast between verse and chorus is the place the verse in minor and the chorus in major. But this of course can’t be done randomly; the chorus needs to feel like a natural follower, not forced or contrived.

For every major key, there are 7 chords that exist naturally. You find those chords by playing a major scale and then building 3-note chords (triads) above each of those notes. If you do that in D major, for example, the 7 chords are: D Em F#m G A Bm and C#dim.

You’ll notice that some chords in that list are major, some are minor, and one is diminished. So the easy way to provide nice chord-based contrast between verse and chorus is to predominantly feature the minor chords in the verse, and then switch to focusing on the major ones for the chorus.

Here’s a short list to get your imagination going. The following five progressions use mainly minor chords which then switch to major for the chorus. Experiment with the progressions by repeating the verse progressions before moving on to the chorus, or repeat parts, or even shorten sections before moving on:

  1. VERSE: Bm  A  Bm  A  F#m  Em  F#m  A ||CHORUS: D  G  D  A  F#m  G  A  G  D
  2. VERSE: Em  D  Em  G  F#m  Bm  F#m  G ||CHORUS: D  A  Bm  G  D  D/F#  G  Em  D
  3. VERSE: Bm  Em  D  Em  Bm  Em  D  Asus4  A  ||CHORUS: D  Em  F#m  G  D  A  Bm  G
  4. VERSE: Em  D  Em  Bm7  G  F#m  G  A  ||CHORUS: D  A  D/F#  G  D/A  A  Bm  A
  5. VERSE: F#m  Bm  G  Em  Bm  F#m7  Em  F#m  ||CHORUS: Asus4  A  Bm  G  D  G  D  A

As you can see, just because you’re choosing to take advantage of the minor chords in the verse does not mean that you must limit your chord choices to only minor. But you’ll notice that in structurally-important spots (like the first and fifth chords of each progression, for example), the predominant feel in the verse is minor, and major in the chorus.

______________

Gary EwerWritten by Gary Ewer. Follow on Twitter.

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle: $95.70 $37.00 (and get a copy of “From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro“ FREE.)

Leave a Comment
by garyewer on May 6, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Chord Progressions
Tagged , , , , , ,

Posted by garyewer on May 6, 2013

http://garyewer.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/pairing-up-major-and-minor-progressions/

Song Lyrics Need to Stimulate the Imagination

How to get an audience thinking what and how you want them to think.

____________"From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro"

Purchase “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, and get this eBook FREE OF CHARGE: ”From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro”.
_____________

Bruno Mars - GrenadeAs a song moves from one section to another (e.g., from verse to chorus, chorus to bridge, etc.), several things change with respect to the way you write the lyrics. You’ll want to make note of two things in particular:

  1. The kinds of things you write about will vary depending on where in the song you are;
  2. The kinds of words you use will depend on whether they’re verse, chorus or bridge words.

It’s almost always the case that verse lyrics are the toughest to write, and the reason for that pertains to those two points just listed. A verse lyric is going to develop the storyline, the circumstance and/or the general theme of your story. That’s got to be done in a way that stimulates the imagination. So the difficulty with writing a good verse lyric is that you’ve got to give the listener creatively-constructed images that spark the imagination while telling a story. That’s point number 1. The kinds of things you’ll write about in a verse need to be unveiling an interesting story with a captivating topic or theme.

Contrast that with the kinds of things you’ll write about in a chorus. The chorus is not where you’ll usually amplify a story line. In fact, it’s where you’ll usually describe an emotional response to the story. If you think of the verse as pulling your listener into your narrative using images and descriptions, the chorus is where you emote alongside the listener.

The second point listed above naturally flows from point number 1. The chorus will use different kind of words, the kind that are meant to elicit a passionate kind of response from the listener. By using effective imagery in the verse, your chorus uses exclamations (“Ooh”, “yeah”, “Oh”, etc.), and words that refer directly to emotions (“I love you…”, “I’d do anything…”, “I can’t live without you…”, etc.).

A textbook demonstration of this comes from Lennon & McCartney’s “She Loves You“, where the verse tells the story (“You think you’ve lost your love/ Well, I saw her yesterday/ It’s you she’s thinking of…”), while the chorus gets you to emote along with the singer (“She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah…”).

A more recent example from Bruno Mars’ “Grenade” shows how the verse can still describe emotions while pulling the listener along through the story.

Verse:

Easy come, easy go
That's just how you live, oh
Take, take, take it all
But you never give
Should've known you was trouble...

..

Chorus:

I'd catch a grenade for you (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Throw my hand on a blade for you (yeah, yeah, yeah)
I'd jump in front of a train for you (yeah, yeah, yeah)

One of the most important aspects of what you see in good lyrics is the common, everyday nature of the words used. Even lyricists known for the excellent lyrics understand that if you want to make a connection to the audience, you need to use the kinds of words you’d hear spoken in the local Walmart. If you’re trying to find a way to fit “acrimonious” into your lyric, you’re dangerously close to losing your audience.

______________

Gary EwerWritten by Gary Ewer. Follow on Twitter.

Download “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle, which currently includes a free copy of “From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro”.

12 Comments
by garyewer on May 2, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in lyrics
Tagged , , , , , ,

Posted by garyewer on May 2, 2013

http://garyewer.wordpress.com/2013/05/02/song-lyrics-need-to-stimulate-the-imagination/

« Older Posts
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 413 other followers