Ideas and Advice for Real Songwriters (formerly songwright.co.uk)
Category
Form in songwriting
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04.13.10In Praise of the AlapThe term Alap comes from North Indian Classical music, and refers to an introductory passage that is slow, semi-improvised and underscored by a drone. Now, I'm no expert on Indian Classical music, so I'm not going to talk about that specifically. But Indian music has had an influence on Western pop since the Beatles and several very famous and effective songs have had introductions that have shared musical elements that make them Westernised alaps in all but name. The characteristics of an alap are: No clear meter or pulse Drone backing Improvised or semi-improvised melodic elements Slow movement Why might you use one? Because it lacks a clear ...
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03.14.10No Song is an Island – How to put your album or live set togetherHow does your song fit with those around it? No song is an island, entire of itself (what? Paraphrasing John Dunne like that is silly?), it will always stand as part of a live set, mixtape, song-cycle or even (dare I say it?) an album. There're all sorts of interesting debates going around about the album. Is it commercially viable? Have single song downloads and our attention span 2.0 ruined the album? In this day and age, mixtapes and playlists are perhaps more prevalent than ever. Every listener has the option of creating their own playlists. Do you want your songs to ...
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03.08.10Song Formulas – The Stadium RockerDo you dream of playing to huge crowds in huge venues? As a life long rock and metal fan, I've always had those dreams and there's a type of song that fits them, a type of song that only makes sense when a crowd of tens of thousands sings along. Bon Jovi, Iron Maiden, Bruce Springsteen, Metallica and many other rock bands have written them: songs with melodies that demand to be shouted out from the middle of a packed arena, every member of the crowd screaming in out-of-tune unison. Of course there's a formula that you could follow if ...
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02.21.10Troubleshooting Your Pop SongWriting a standard pop song? Something not quite right? Let's try going through some basic troubleshooting to see if we can find out what the problem is. 1. Have you used a pop song structure? The standard pop song is an extension of the older 32 bar song structure. Or if you like, a compound AABA structure with each A containing a verse and a chorus. What am I talking about? The pop song basically states the verse and chorus material, restates it, then contrasts this with a B section, then returns to the (verse and) chorus material. Have you done that with your song? AABA? ...
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01.16.10Song Formulas – The AnthemThe word 'Anthem' usually refers to a song designed to bring people together - it's the piece that everyone sings along to. The particular kind of anthem I'm refering to in this article is the moderately paced, string laden singalong ballad that have provided hits for bands such as Snow Patrol, Kings of Leon and Take That; and that have become a ubiquitous part of TV mission documentaries. Lyrically, these songs tend to be relatively bittersweet - triumphant yet sad at the same time. My favourite set of lyrics for this sort of song is atypical: Motorcycle Emptiness has a wonderful ...
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11.21.09Random Songwriting ThoughtsWhilst watching performances by Westlife (I know, I know) and Jack's Mannequin, several songwriting thoughts occurred: If You're Following a Formula, Tweak It The Westlife song followed the pop ballad formula perfectly - short verses, soaring anthemic chorus, contrasting bridge, drop chorus then a key change chorus to finish. But it followed it to the letter. Result? Too predictable! There's nothing wrong with using a standard formula, but you've got to understand what you're using. Bonjovi's Living on a Prayer uses that formula too, pretty much. But when they come to the key change they skip a beat out of one bar, then ...
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10.12.09Are you writing songs like a 12 year old?I've a pupil who, in UK education parlance, is 'gifted'. He's an incredibly talented musician, who leads ensembles, plays percussion instruments, sings and plays the guitar. He has a fantastic ear for melody, a great sense of rhythm, a true passion for music. But there's one thing he lacks, and it's something that really stands out to me - he can't remember structures, or hold a whole piece of music in his head. He truly excels at is leading our school samba band, which is a kind of music based on cues, grooves and calls. You don't need to remember exactly how ...
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09.26.09Songwriting Form – Stealing ideas from Michael JacksonOne of the most popular posts on this site is about the 32 bar song structure. That structure is quite old fashioned, but lots of modern forms developed from it. Compound 32-Bar structure. The standard 32 bar follows an AABA structure, with B providing a contrast to the A sections. It's pretty much a ternry structure, with the first a section repeated. The usual pop song structure, (verse chorus verse chorus middle 8 chorus) can be seen as a variation on this. Instead of one musical idea in the A section, it can be divided into two, the verse and chorus. A Verse Chorus A Verse ...
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09.20.09How to write an introduction to your songA few days ago I received an email from a reader named Martin Andersson. Martin writes: Do you write on request? I sure do Here's a topic I'd like to see covered a bit more indepth, but seldom run into, although it's one of the most important parts of making a song: the Intro. Do you have any tips on that one? I usually have no problem whatsoever writing words and chords, but when it comes to writing intros I more often than not find myself in a state of lack of inspiration. Sure, it's always possible to vamp for a while, or just play a ...
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06.01.09Quick Tip – Don’t be a Slave To Songwriting ConventionMarking students coursework at my school, I came to a song that I gave almost full marks to. One reason for the high marks was the song's fantastic, subtle playing with songwriting conventions. - The Bridge - The bridge happens after the second chorus, right? Not according to my student. Instead she put it between the 2nd verse and 2nd chorus. Right at the point I was expecting to hear the chorus again, I instead heard a contrasting minor key and a new bridge I hadn't heard before. This the effect of creating a pleasing, balanced feel despite it being a short ...
