Can You Fix a Tin Ear?

by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website:
__________

Whether you call it “having a tin ear” or “being tone deaf”, many musicians feel the great frustration of not being able to accurately label the sounds they’re hearing. It’s a sophisticated activity when you think about it: we’re essentially listening to the air vibrate, and then identifying what that was. But if those kind of listening skills are in short supply, is there any hope for you?

I teach aural skills at university, and I’ve changed my view on this over the years. While there is a window of opportunity that is wide open in childhood, slowly closing as we age, I believe that adult musicians can make great strides in training their ear, and I’ve seen it happen.

A big step toward improving your ear is to learn a bit of basic music theory. Even if it’s just the nuts and bolts of being able to name notes on a musical staff, and learning how to write out some simple scales, this knowledge will get you going in the right direction. It’s part of basic music literacy.

Beyond that, I strongly believe that transcribing music will strengthen your aural skills more than any other musical activity. Here’s what I get my own students to do: I give them sound files of different pieces: solos, duets, trios, and so on. I give them a month per song to write down what they’re hearing. I encourage them to sit at a piano, or with their guitar, and find the notes they hear. Most students find this frustrating at first, but then become surprised by how much they are learning.

This kind of transcription exercise is a bit like learning a language by speaking it. At first, you feel that you’re getting no where, and then – you realize that you’re getting better and better.

I like transcription exercises more than simple “identify the interval” or “identify the chord” exercises, because it presents real music in a musical context.

The older you are, the slower progress can be, but you mustn’t give up. I have seen people of all ages improve with these kinds of transcription exercises. If you are in your late teens or early twenties, the window of opportunity is definitely closing, but it is not closed, and you will be surprised by how much progress you can make. There are lots of sites that can play intervals and chords for you, and tell you if you’re getting close.

Singing is also a great ear trainer, especially singing that requires you to match other singers, like in a choir. And singing in choir is great because you can couple your singing training with your ability to sing what you are seeing printed on the music in front of you.

It is normal for ear training to be a long, slow process, even at the best of times. So be patient, and you will see improvement.

___________

Gary Ewer has written six songwriting e-books designed to get you writing the songs you’ve always known you could write. Read about those e-books here.

It’s Hard to be Unique if You’re Using the Same Tired Formula

by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website:
____________

Structure is everything in songwriting; without structure, you’ve got a song that listeners just won’t understand and can’t get into. It’s why we talk so much about the form of a song. An easily discernible form makes it more likely that listeners will remember a song. Because song forms aren’t usually unique (often, some variation on the verse-chorus-bridge format), it’s the method, or formula, you use that will make your song distinctive or not.

If you start the composition process the same way every time, you may notice a “sameness” in the results. If you’re looking to be unique, you need to break out and find new methods of putting a song together.

For example, with students of mine who start the songwriting process with a chord progression, I notice a similar backing rhythm and tempo in all their songs, coupled with what sounds at times to be an uninteresting melodic shape. Those who start with interesting poetry often place the emphasis there, and other song elements can feel disorganized.

Where you place your focus at the start of the process can often determine how the song proceeds from there. And that is where the sameness can happen.

It’s important to note that there is no one right way to start a song, and that’s actually the point of this posting. As there is no one right way, you will reap the benefits of starting your next song differently from the last song you wrote. By choosing a unique way to start your song, you have a better hope of developing a new songwriting formula. And that new formula will likely take you in a unique direction.

If you feel comfortable starting your songs with the chords, and then adding the other elements, it’s time to break out and try something new. Try creating a melody that has shape and direction, and you’ll likely notice that that melody is implying an underlying chord structure you never considered before, and you’ve just started something unique!

Songwriting partnerships are a great way to ensure that you have a better chance of creating something fresh and distinctive. Two or more people throwing ideas into the pot may seem complicated and frustrating, but if you’ve got a partnership where all partners treat each other’s ideas with respect, you’ve got the potential for something great to happen. And in my opinion, some of the best songs in the world have come from these kind of partnerships.
_____________

Gary Ewer has written six e-books for songwriters, designed to get you thinking in a new way. If you want to really get your songs sizzling, let these e-books challenge you. Right now, his “Chord Progression Formulas” is a free download with any other purchase. Read more about these songwriting e-books by clicking here.

Stimulating Your Other Senses to Help Cure Writer’s Block

by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website;
__________

Every songwriter goes through a rough patch, when writing the next tune seems all but impossible. Despite our best efforts, it happens. And even though you may do the things most people – including me – will offer as solutions (setting a regular time for writing, writing fragments instead of full songs, etc.), the creative part of your brain can and will let you down occasionally. At those times, you should back away from trying to write, and find ways to stimulate your other senses.

As a creative person whose main outlet is music, you may not consider it very useful to try other forms of artistic expression, but there’s a great reason for it: writer’s block is enhanced by fear of failure. The same fear grips athletes who go through scoring droughts. They start to wonder if they’ll ever score another goal, and the fear becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.

By turning temporarily to another means of artistic expression, you’ll find that the pressure to be successful is not as intense. At the same time, you’ll find that other forms of art can serve as an allegory for writing. If you listen to visual artists describing the creative process, you’ll hear many of the same terms in their descriptions: colour, intensity, vibrancy, energy, and so on.

So if writer’s block has you in its grip, try some of the following, either spontaneously, or add them to your life as a regular, exciting creative outlet:

• Visit an art gallery;
• Buy some art supplies, get a book from the library, and start drawing, sculpting or painting;
• Take dance lessons;
• Take cooking lessons;
• Do flower arranging (Don’t laugh.. there are many parallels between arranging flowers and arranging music!)

And there are other things from the music world that will get you away from thinking about your own songwriting, and focusing on someone else’s:

• Offer to produce someone else’s CD;
• Design a CD cover;
• Organize an open mic night in your community or university;
• Listen to other people’s music (this one can cure so many problems, and will often open the floodgates for you with new and interesting ideas.)
• Take piano or guitar lessons;
• Give lessons.

Whichever activity you choose, remember that the purpose is to get you to think creatively in a new direction. Try not to pressure yourself, but enjoy the experience. You’ll find that by stimulating a different part of your creative mind, you will reap the benefits eventually in the form of songwriting.

___________

Gary Ewer’s E-books will help open up your creative mind and make songwriting enjoyable again! Read all about them here.

What Your Song’s Bridge Needs to Do

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website.
____________

When I adjudicate performers at festivals, I love pointing out that good music is often more about what’s about to happen than what is currently happening. And when something great is happening, performers need to be thinking about what they can do to build on that, create a sense of forward motion and expectation. As a songwriter, you must do the same thing, and the bridge is a wonderful way to take musical energy to a new level and pull the listener along with you.

The bridge usually occurs after the second chorus, and there are several things your bridge needs to do. Its main purpose is to build energy beyond even what an energetic chorus can do. It provides new melodic, harmonic and lyrical information that expands on ideas already presented. In doing so, it allows the impending return to the chorus (or occasionally a new verse) to feel fresher.

Here are some things you’ll want to keep in mind when composing a bridge:

1. The melody will often sit higher than the chorus melody.
2. Melodic phrases can be shorter, which will help build energy. The general direction of melodic lines should be upward.
3. Verse lyrics set up situations, and chorus lyrics tell the listener the emotional impact of those situations. Bridge lyrics will combine both qualities. Think of the lyric here as being several lines of “emotional short-snappers”: a situation, then your immediate emotional response; then another statement, and another response, and so on. This way of writing builds energy and pulls the listener along with you.
4. Harmonic choices should ideally be in the opposite mode to your chorus, for contrast. So if your chorus focuses on major key harmonies, start your bridge on a vi-chord, or a IV-chord that moves quickly to vi-chord. (IV-V-vi, for example). Use the last half of the bridge to get your harmonies ready to make a smooth connection to the return of the chorus.

A bridge will allow you to control the overall energy plan for your song, while providing new material for the listener to focus on. Not all songs need a bridge, and in fact you can substitute an instrumental solo in its place. Another thought: try doing a verse 3 that builds on the energy of the second chorus, and changes some notes of previous verses by moving them higher.
_____________

Gary Ewer is the author of several e-books for songwriters. They can show you how to turn your own songs into winners. Read more about these e-books.

Composing from the Chorus Backwards

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website.
_____________

It’s not unusual for songwriters to get the chorus of their new song working before any other section. After all, it’s the hooky part that often coalesces before the other sections become apparent. But once you’ve got that great hook, how do you work backwards through a song, ensuring that it pulls the listener forward?

So the job is not just to compose something that relates to the chorus, but something that calls for the chorus. The verse needs forward momentum. Here are some ideas:

• Melody
  Chorus melodies generally sit higher than verse melodies, so make note of the basic tonal framework of the chorus. Think of tonal framework as meaning the outer boundaries of your melody. Compare the most often occurring high note with the most often occurring low note, and you’ve got the framework. The verse’s outer boundaries should be lower than those of the chorus. So, for example, if your chorus resides mainly in the half-octave middle C to G above, consider a framework of the G below middle C to C or D for the verse.

   

  To enhance forward momentum, consider adding a pre-chorus that moves that melody upward, and you’ve now got a verse that calls for the chorus.

• Harmony
  Chorus melodies often use stronger harmonies (i.e., harmonies that more obviously point to one key exclusively) than verse harmonies. So make sure your chorus harmonies sit solidly in one key, and feature at least some adjacent chords whose roots are a 4^th or 5^th away from each other; this strengthens most progressions.

   

  To create harmonic progressions for a verse that partner well, consider the basic tonality. If your chorus is solidly in A major, and use mainly major chords with just a few minor ones (A D A E Bm E A, for example), try creating progressions from A major that focus mainly on the minor side of the key (F#m Bm F#m Bm C#m D E F#m). All of those chords come from A major, but actually emphasize the natural minor (i.e., Aeolian) part of the key. Your pre-chorus could then concentrate on the move to the dominant chord (Bm E, or D E, or F#m E), setting up the chorus nicely.
  

• Lyrics
  Chorus lyrics usually tell us how the singer is feeling about a certain situation, while verse lyrics explain what’s happening. So if you’ve got a nice lyrical hook in your chorus (“I need you back in my life..” type of lyric), you need to use your verse to explain how you got to that point. Your verse narrates, and your chorus emotes. So use verse 1 to set up a scenario that the typical listener will relate to, and that can relate to the chorus emotion: lover was unfaithful, lover has to leave for a while, you’ve met someone new, and so on. The pre-chorus phrases might need to be shorter and head higher, and start to mix in more of the emotions of the situation.

It may seem weird on paper to be writing a song backwards in this manner, but in fact it happens more often than you might think. What’s important is to remember that with a typical chorus, you’ve got to have the listener roped in to the emotion of your story. That emotional high can’t come out of thin air, so your task when working backwards is to ensure that energy builds as you go forward.
________________

To learn all the secrets of what makes a song work, check out Gary Ewer’s e-books for songwriters. They clear up the songwriting process, and get you writing great songs by looking at hit songs from the past and showing you how and why they work. Including hundreds of chord progressions, sound files and a glossary of musical terms. Read all about those e-books by clicking here.

Song Analysis: Regina Spektor’s “Eet”

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. Gary is the author of several songwriting e-books that will get you writing better songs. Read more about them here.
_______________

When we write music, we often find ourselves fixated on the melody, chords and lyrics. But it’s the controlling of musical energy in Regina Spektor’s second single from her album “Far” that captivates and keeps listeners focussed and hooked. Add to that the way verse ideas are balanced with contrasting elements in the refrain and instrumental break, and “Eet” is a song that succeeds on many levels.

Here is a formal analysis of “Eet”:

 

Melodic Analysis

Though in Db major, the vocal melodies created for the song are largely pentatonic, positioned between the dominant notes of Db major, avoiding the 4^th and 7^th notes of the key. In general, the vocal lines consist more of ascending patterns than descending ones, but during the instrumental break descending patterns largely predominate. This kind of contrast is crucial to the form: vocal ascending lines moving generally from the 6^th note of the scale upward, and instrumental descending lines moving from the tonic note downward.

Harmonic Analysis

There are some lovely harmonies in this song: The opening Bbm includes an added Eb note, and gives the impression that it’s a sort of inverted pedal (a note held through several chords.) But in fact it’s the Db of this chord that acts as a sustained note through several chords, and adds delicious dissonances throughout the verse.

In the instrumental break, pedal notes still abound, but this time they’re in the bass, and this bass pedal contributes a pleasantly airy effect to this section: Db Dbmaj7 Gb/Db Db It’s a perfect demonstration of the basic principle of “whatever you do to one section, find a different way of doing it in another.”

Formal Energy

The symmetrical form of “Eet” (material from the beginning reappearing at the end) is supported by the carefully controlled energy. Spektor uses octave displacement of the melodic lines (“You spend half of your life..” versus “It was so easy..”) to help build energy, as well as instrumental backing and rhythmic pulse. She shows how easy it actually is to control the energy output of a song: add instruments and make them louder when you need to build energy, and reduce to simple piano accompaniment when you want it to dissipate. But without that fluctuation in energy, the song, I believe, would die.

One of the hallmarks of great writers is their ability to create something beautiful and engaging with very simple materials. “Eet” is a perfect example. In the balance between simplicity and complexity, simplicity will almost always win out.

Does Learning Music Theory Help or Hinder a Songwriter’s Imagination?

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website.
________________

Part of my job at Dalhousie University is teaching an entry-level music theory class. Many of the students who take it are non-music Arts students, many of whom are songwriters, taking it as an elective. And so if you don’t want to take my word for it, you might consider theirs: most of the students tell me that learning music theory has opened their minds to new concepts and ways of thinking. But there are still songwriters out there who are skeptical of the whole thing, and think that studying theory stunts musical creativity.

Those who fear that learning music theory leads to a stifling of the imagination are denying centuries of music history. The Western world’s greatest composers were all experts, not just in the field of music composition, but also in music theory. And in fact, much of what we study in theory class today comes from those composers and their music: J.S. Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and so many more. I think it would be simply bizarre to accuse those composers of being stunted in musical creativity by their knowledge of music theory.

Music theory does not close the mind; it opens it. By learning to read music, you have an entire world opened up to you. You can read other musician’s creations; you can express your musical thoughts in a way that other musicians can understand. When you hear something that dazzles your mind, you now have a hope that you can identify what that was, write it down, recreate it for yourself, or modify it. Music theory gives you a precise way to do that.

Think of this analogy: Architects don’t suffer from stunted imagination because they know how to read a blueprint. The blueprint is simply a communication tool. Similarly, reading music doesn’t stunt your imagination.

Music theory was never meant to tell you what to write. And if you use music theory for that purpose, then you are allowing theory to limit your choices. Music theory simply helps you identify the structures of music, and teaches you how to communicate those structures to others. And then, armed with that knowledge, you can extrapolate and create your own ideas. Those ideas may even break the “rules” of theory. But that’s OK, because those rules were never meant to tell you how to write music. If all we ever did was write according to rules, we’d be simply duplicating the music that’s been written before.

The truth is that a knowledge of music theory will give you tools you can use to expand your musical mind. If you’re afraid that it will stunt your creativity, you are severely misunderstanding the use of that knowledge. Theory will open your mind, not close it.
___________

Gary Ewer is the author of “Gary Ewer’s Easy Music Theory“, a CD-ROM based course in music rudiments, as well as “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” suite of songwriting e-books.

Get Control of Your Lyrics – Try This Rewording Exercise

By Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. Try Gary Ewer’s songwriting e-books to get yourself writing better songs. Read more about them here.
_________________

As musicians, we’re all familiar with the concept of practicing to improve. Too few of us, however, practice enough when it comes to songwriting. If we did, we probably wouldn’t suffer from writer’s block as much as we often do. But practicing songwriting skills on a daily basis is vital if we want to improve our craft. To improve your lyric-writing skills, try this rewording exercise.

Choose a lyrical phrase from one of your songs as an example to work with. It doesn’t need to be a phrase you’re unhappy with, since this is just an exercise to stimulate your lyrical imagination. Now, think of as many different ways of saying the same thing as you can.

Think also of phrases that mean almost the same thing, a sort of “partner line” that might appear in the song in some other verse or segment of the song.

Since the point of this exercise is to come up with something that might serve as a song lyric, try to keep your words natural and easy, and don’t obsess over creating poetry.

Here’s an example:

ORIGINAL LINE: “I want to have you in my life..”
REWORDINGS:
“I need you by my side;”
“Be with me forever”
“Hold my hand”
“I need your love to guide me”

The purpose of this exercise is to open up your mind and find new and interesting ways to say the same thing. I’ve only listed four rewordings in my list above, but you should try for a dozen or more.

If you find that you’re stuck with a lyric that doesn’t seem to be working, this exercise might be the ticket to opening the floodgates and get you writing something that finally works.

It’s also a great way of avoiding the trap of using the same way to verbalize an emotion that you might tend to use for every song. You’ll find that incorporating this as a daily exercise will help keep the creation of lyrics fresh and imaginative.

__________

“The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” will help you with every aspect of your songwriting. Get back to writing the songs you’ve always known you could write. Click here to get started.

Balancing all the Elements of a Song

Written by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website. Gary is the author of six songwriting e-books designed to get you thinking about how you write music. Click here to read about those e-books.
____________________

Someone recently drew my attention to a great article that Suzanne Vega wrote several months ago for the New York Times, called “What’s a Melody For?” In it, she makes the observation that some really successful hit songs have rather constricted, flat melodies. So why do those songs work? Mainly, it’s because of the balance that exists between the various components of the song.

So if you need to hear me say it (after all my rantings that melodies need shape to be memorable), it is sometimes possible to have a melody that is very flat and dimensionless, and have it work quite nicely. But how could a melody that mainly dwells on one pitch be at all desirable?

What really works in a song is balance. Songs are made up of three main components: melody, harmony and lyric, under which a rhythmic structure provides an important base. No one of those elements exists on its own; they all integrate with each other in important ways.

One of the songs Suzanne Vega refers to in her article is Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side”, the verse of which features a meandering, rather unremarkable melody. She also mentions Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone,” which barely moves from the note C. So how did these songs really make it?

You’ll find that for unremarkable melodies to work well, they need one other component to step up and become more important. In both “Wild Side” and “Rolling Stone”, it’s the lyric. Both songs feature repetitive, strong chord progressions, and the narrative becomes the main entrée.

But that still doesn’t answer why a songwriter would choose such a flat melody. The great thing about a melody that doesn’t move much in any direction is that they serve as very good conduits for lyrics that feature determination, dedication, forthrightness. The static melody is a great vehicle for lyrics of social justice or politics (Dylan) or for lyrics that recount a sassy, irreverent story (Reed).

But in all of this, balance is a key ingredient. A static melody needs a strong progression to give it the stability that it needs, and needs a lyric that draws the listener in.

One more thing: the melody that dwells on one note is very distinctive, so don’t expect to do several songs on your next album that feature this particular construct. Think of it as a technique, and one that will get tired quickly if used too often.

_______

To read more about song, and how to ensure your song’s elements are balanced, read about Gary Ewer’s songwriting e-books. Right now, “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting: Chord Progression Formulas” is being offered free with any purchase. Click here to read more about these songwriting texts.

How to Make a Strong Progression More Creative

by Gary Ewer, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting“. If you’re frustrated because you just can’t get your songs working, and can’t seem to finish any of the songs you start, you need to take a fresh look at the structure of the word’s most successful songs. Gary’s e-books were written to get you writing! Read about those e-books here.

________________

There is a certain amount of predictability in chord progressions that work well. It shouldn’t surprise us, however, that “predictability” is a word that won’t sit well with most songwriters. For most, that word conjurs up other words, such as “boring”, “humdrum” and “uninteresting.” But the truth is that chords need a certain amount of predictability. Without at least some predictability, songs don’t click with the listener. And that makes strong progressions a crucial part of good songs.

There are several factors that make a chord progression strong. One is the existence of common tones between adjacent chords. The progression C F G C is very strong. There is a common tone “C” between the chords C and F, and a common tone “G” between the chords G and C. But common tones alone will not make a progression strong. For example, oscillating back and forth between the chords C and Eb will not produce a strong progression, even though the note “G” is common between both chords.  I like to call these kinds of progressions fragile, because, like glass, you have to be careful how you use them. And also like glass, they can be the source of something beautiful, and good songs can make good use of fragile progressions.

A second factor involves root movement. When the root of the second chord in a progression is a fifth higher (or a fourth lower) than the first one, this strengthens a progression all the more.

And there is a third characteristic of strong chords: exclusivity of key. When a chord progression can only be found in one particular key, that progression is considered to be strong. The progression C F G C can only reasonably be found in the key of C major; it points to that key, and that key alone. By comparison, the progression Dm Em Am, while having strong elements, could be found in various keys, including D minor (natural form, actually aeolian mode), A minor, and C major.

Songs usually need strong progressions, and they work particularly well in the chorus, though they can be used anywhere. The reason for their good use in choruses comes from the solid, predictable effect they produce, which goes hand in hand with the “conclusive” kind of lyric one usually uses in that part of the song.

But if you find that the predictability that comes hand-in-hand with strong progressions is a bit too… predictable, here are some suggestions for adding a touch of uniqueness:

1. Use pedal tones. (For example, C  F/C  G/C  C). Keeping one note in the bass while all the chords above it change will give you the best of both worlds. The progression retains the strength of the original progression, while the common tone gives you a bit of the unexpected.
2. Use inversions. (For example, C  F/A  G/B  C). A couple of bits of advice here: avoid using an inversion if the note after the slash is also in your melody. And avoid using too many inversions in a row; you may find that the progression weakens too much.
3. Add rhythmic variety. If you are changing chords every two beats, experiment with anticipating the next bar by jumping in an 8th note early, or leaving beat 1 silent and having everything hit on beat 2.

__________________

If you want to learn more about chord progressions, “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” suite of e-books includes hundreds of progressions you can use right now, as is, or modify if necessary for your use in your own songs. Download them here.