Songwriting: Music Creation In a Popular Idiom by Brian Zeller - PDF document

Songwriting: Music Creation In a Popular Idiom by Brian Zeller bzeller@rhcsd.org NYSSMA Winter Conference Rochester, NY December 5, 2015  Form o Encourage students to use common forms o 1 st form – Preamble (followed by AABA, usually) o 2 nd form – VCVC…IC o 3 rd form – VCVCBC o 4 th form – VLCVLCBC (lift=prechorus, 2-6 lines) o 5 th form – AABA o 6 th form – CVC(musical interlude)BC – Rondo form (ABACA)  Harmony o Common chord progressions are useful to beginning, intermediate, and advanced songwriters.  Beginning songwriters can use common chord progressions to provide harmonic structure  Intermediate songwriters can substitute other chords into common chord progressions, experiment with new sounds  Advanced writers still make use of common chord progressions, but should be encouraged to make more modifications o Progressions  I-V-vi-IV and its variants  Different starting point  Different order  Other Progressions  Rhythm changes (I-vi-ii-V)  Blues  I-VI-III-bVII (minor)  Descending fifth sequence (vi-ii-V- I…)  Pachelbel progression (I-V-vi- iii…)  Descending/ascending bass (I-V6-vi-I6/4-IV-I6-ii-I)  Minor descending tetrachord (vi-V-IV-III) o Harmonic Variation Strategies  Modal mixture/Relative or parallel major/minor

 Alternate bass notes  Passing chords – diatonic planing, diminished chords, etc.  Hybrid progressions  Modulation  Melody o Melodic and instrumental hooks are essential to a song o Crafting a Strong Melody  Repetition, repetition, repetition  Should be singable  Emphasize steps or small skips over leaps  Keep within reasonable vocal range  Notes in melody should compliment harmonic choices  Interaction of melody of lyrics  The melody and lyrics need to work together  As lyrics get busier, melody gets simpler  Melody should reinforce strong and weak syllables of lyric  Be aware of rhythmic and melodic accents  Working with student songwriters o Creative Process  Varies from writer to writer. Encourage students to experiment to find their method.  Melody/lyrics: which comes first?  Save every idea – don’t trust memory o Great songwriters are great editors o Social Concerns  Reluctance to share - Creating and sharing anything can make a student feel vulnerable.  Share with teacher individually or in small groups – minimizes social risks for students  Ask students to provide positive feedback about each others’ p ieces  Over time, work to create an environment of trust and openness in songwriting groups.  Personal topics - Some students find songwriting to be an outlet for expressing feelings and emotions difficult to express any other way. These autobiographical songs can be especially difficult to share with others. o Encourage students to create a character and write from the voice of that character. o Song can draw on personal experiences and emotions but with detachment, and thus protection o I also try to exercise restraint in asking students where they got the idea for a song. o Musical Concerns  Rhyme scheme  Student presents song with incoherent rhyme scheme

o Ask students to analyze lyrics of 3-5 of their favorite songs, circling and linking rhyming words, then specify rhyme scheme (e.g. ABAB) o Strongly encourage students to maintain rhyme scheme for all similar sections in song (i.e. all verses) o Encourage use of rhyming dictionary and thesaurus (many are free, available online)  Melody  Student presents song with rambling, run-on, or otherwise or unmemorable melody  Lack of repetition o What is student’s favorite part of melody? o Can this become the basis of a new, more unified melodic idea?  No Hook o Prioritize writing a memorable hook. o Identify most memorable part of melody in several favorite songs. What makes it memorable? o Have students write hooks and sing them for each other. Can they remember each others’ hooks after a few minutes?  Harmony  Student presents a song with harmonic issues o Melody does not match chords  Point out problem areas, propose specific solutions with less experienced writers o Chord progression eccentricities  Unusual chord progressions, if they work , are okay  Such progressions make writing more difficult  Encourage less-experienced writers to use standard chord progressions, perhaps with simple modifications  Building on songwriting o All musical building blocks of songwriting – form, harmony, melody, et al. o Arranging o Recording and production o Notation o Composition o Suggested resources  Murphy, Ralph J. Murphy’s Laws of Songwriting . Nashville: Murphy Music Consulting, 2011.  Jordan, Barbara L. Songwriters Playground: Innovative Exercises in Creative Songwriting. Booksurge Publishing, 2008.  Pattison, Pat. Writing Better Lyrics: The Essential Guide to Powerful Songwriting. Cincinatti: Writers Digest Books, 2009.  Pattison, Pat. Songwriting Without Boundaries: Lyric Writing Exercises for Finding Your Voice. Cincinatti: Writers Digest Books, 2011.