Jan 29, 2008
Songwriting is about solving problems
A man named Jeremy Yew who lives in Singapore, and runs the Songcraft songwriting circle has written a blog post.
In it he lists a lot of questions that he asks himself when songwriting. I think a lot of them are quite useful, and worth asking about your own songwriting. So here they are:
“Which direction should the chord progression go from here?
How do I fit all these lyrics into the melody? What about the lyrics that just simply can’t be fit in?
Should I modulate the song to another key towards the end? Is it really necessary for this song?
What’s the best chord figuring/bass note to use at this juncture?
What kind of interesting piano accompaniments can I come up with for this song?
How do I make the next lyric line rhyme when there are no logical rhymes to use?
Does this melody sound too similar to something else?
Is my key suitable for the singer’s vocal range, and if not, what happens if another key just doesn’t sound right?
This passage just doesn’t sound right…how should I change it?
I like the direction this melody is going…but how do I end it?!?
Is the melodic line too convoluted?
The bassline looks like it could be enhanced, but what’s the better alternative?!?”
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Thank you for the mention, Tom. I think your blog is fantastic, filled with great insights into the finer points of songwriting.
I’ll be sure to let the folks in my songwriting circle know about your highly informative and educational blog.
Cheers!
Why thank you, I’m glad you’re enjoying songwright.
How did you get on with your songwriting questions? Have you put any of them into practice yet?
Well, actually I find that I’m always subconsciously asking myself these questions (and maybe more) every time I write songs. I guess it’s just a natural subconscious process which I’ve grown to acquire over time.
I personally think that writing songs is very much a careful process of solving musical problems and making musical decisions.
I know what you mean. We like to think that inspiration does the work, that art comes from the muse, not hard work and careful thought. But I’ve never had a song just turn up, fully formed and needing no work.
Have you ever been so lucky? Have you got any tricks for getting inspiration flowing?
[...] two songwriting articles in question are “Songwriting is about solving problems” and “Chromatic chords – A few [...]
[...] two songwriting articles in question are “Songwriting is about solving problems” and “Chromatic chords – A few [...]
[...] linked to Jeremy Yew’s blog before, but now I shall do so again. Late last month he wrote an interesting post about the [...]