Favorite Form of Sheet Music?

At some point, you really must move beyond guitar tablature. Yes, I said it.

For those of you who don’t know, guitar tab is really, really easy to read. (See below.)

This looks somewhat like standard musical notation, but instead of the usual 5 lines on the staff, it has 6, one representing each string on the guitar. The bottom line represents the lowest string, the low E. The next line up is the A, and so forth. The numbers on each line represent the fret on which you play that particular note (when a number 0 is placed on the line, that indicates an open string). 

How simple is that? Musical notation that tells you exactly where to put your fingers, brilliant. Well… to a point. 

I use tab frequently when I want to learn a song quickly, just getting the basics down. I enjoy playing by ear anyway, so often times I will look at the tab for a song to get a decent starting point (Internet tabs are usually flawed), and then work out the rest on my own. However, there also exist official music books that contain tab for your personal ease of use. So tablature can be accurate. However, there is a problem.

Tab spoils you. I discovered a few years back that, despite having played the guitar for several years, I couldn’t read standard musical notation for anything. Oh, I could peck out a song, after saying “every good boy does fine” silently to myself every other note, but there wasn’t any kind of speed or accuracy. More recently, I’ve been working on going back to the basics, so to speak, and re-learning how to read music. REAL music. There are advantages to this…

For example, knowing how to read music opens up all kinds of new genres to explore and play around with. Not everything you want to play is going to have a tab version of it out there, so you are severely limiting yourself if that’s all you can read. If you can read music, you can learn to play anything.

So what’s my favorite form of sheet music? I’m still gonna have to say tab, because it’s so amazingly easy and quick, but I’m very glad I can read standard sheet music better now as well. It opens up all kinds of new doors.

Late-Night Musings

As I sit here eating Nerds (the Tiny, Tangy, Crunchy Candy!) from a jumbo-sized container, I am wondering what makes anyone bother to try to market their songs anymore. 

Think about it.

How many years has music been around? I’m goin to venture an estimate of, oh, thousands.

Thousands of years. 

True, music has changed a lot in thousands of years, but at some point, won’t we use everything up, totally run out of new ideas, new things to do? True, there are new genres emerging on a regular basis. But anyone who can give me a worthy argument as to why the new forms of rap, depression-laden emo, and large quantities of recent pop should be counted as being truly worth something in the history of music, please leave me a comment. I’m not saying that these “genres” aren’t entertaining (necessarily), or aren’t money-making machines. I’m simply saying that they don’t really move society forward musically.

So back to that question… will we eventually run out of things to write about? Honestly, after reflecting on that question for a bit, I don’t believe we will. Yes, most songs are essentially the same at heart. They are either about relationships, or hardships, or possibly making fun of someone or something. But the thing is, our world doesn’t remain static. If society stayed the same day to day, year to year, then yes, we would run out of things to write about. But even if the basic formula for song writing never changes, the varying world scene will continue to provide us with “new” material. As long as there continues to be news, there will continue to be material for new songs.

In addition to that, there ARE, every once in awhile, decent new genres that emerge, genres that are truly unique and musically diverse. As a result, a song that has essentially been written and performed in one specific form may be re-written in a new genre and appear completely different. Even the EXACT same song may be covered by various bands, and become enormously popular each and every time.

So, in the end, there may not be much “new” music out there, but recent releases will likely continue to be different enough, or at least entertaining enough, to continue to be profitable. And THAT is why people continue to market their songs.

Hey, I figured it out.

Finally, Back to Those Scales and Modes

The past few posts have deviated from the technical aspects of song-writing, but I intend to fully make up for that lack with this post. So strap yourselves in, because we’re gonna talk about modes.

The very idea of modes (or diatonic scales) has long been foreign to me. I was never really sure, for the longest time, what exactly a mode WAS, much less how to use one in playing or writing music. But I’ve been able to simplify the idea enough to understand it personally, so the following is the idea broken down a little further than most references present it:

To understand modes, we must first understand scales. Or, to break things down even further, we must first understand steps. As covered previously, the musical alphabet consists of 7 letters, representing 7 basic tones: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. In between these notes are various sharps and flats. From each tone to the next, including the sharps and flats, is a “half step.” Two half steps equal (what else?) a “whole step.” Let’s get a quick visual of this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(The corresponding notes on the guitar fretboard are included for a basic frame of reference.)

Generally speaking, traveling from each whole note to the next (C to D, D to E) is traveling one whole step. However, there are two exceptions: B to C and E to F are always half steps. (Look at a piano keyboard, and this will become more clear.) With this information in the back of our minds, let’s take a look at the above musical staff.

Notice that, since this scale is in the key of C, there are no sharps or flats (reference the previous post on the circle of fifths). This scale is diatonic. “Diatonic” refers to a scale that contains all the letters of the musical alphabet, but no sharps or flats. 

Isn’t that just another way of saying “the key of C,” you may ask? Not quite always.

Here is where modes come into play. Modes are diatonic, meaning they contain the tones A through G, all in their natural form. However, each of the seven modes differs in that each one is based around a different keynote, typically the note the scale starts on. This being the case, those two half steps (B to C and E to F) will occur in a different place in each of the different modes, since they each start on a different keynote. The modes are as follows:

• Ionian
• Dorian
• Phrygian
• Lydian
• Mixolydian
• Aeolian
• Locrian

Two of these modes we know very well, although by different names. The Ionian mode is commonly called the major scale, while the Aeolian mode is referred to as the minor scale. Using the example of the C scale, the Ionian mode runs from C to C, and sounds like, well, the C major scale. Because it is the C major scale. Simple enough. However, looking at the Aeolian mode, we see that this scale runs from A to A. It contains all the same notes as the C major scale, but in a different order. This scale is commonly knows as the A minor scale.

Confusing, yes. But let’s review to clear things up.

Modes are, essentially, diatonic scales. They contain no sharps or flats, but all 7 of the primary tones: A through G. The modes can be used to build all manner of other scales, useful for every aspect of song-writing. 

To avoid creating too long-winded of a post, we shall reserve the next step in forming new scales for a future post. Until then, keep looking at those modes. They’re not as scary as they seem.

Rant Time!

I promise we’ll return to songwriting tips soon, but first, feast your eyes upon my:

Rant o’ the Week

Here’s the million dollar question: Who told everybody and their mother that they could write songs?

‘Now hold on,’ you may be saying. ‘Haven’t you been trying, in your own pathetic little way, to tell us how to write songs? Aren’t you trying to tell us how rewarding it is, and how we can do it ourselves with just a few little tips?’

Why yes, I have been saying that. What I have not been saying is that everyone should go attempt to market themselves and make money off their songs. Personal songwriting often results in a bunch of songs that are simply gripe-festivals, a few mopey songs over our pathetic lot in life, and a few more songs that make good coffee-shop fare, to be played for a few small groups of people. This kind of songwriting can be very fun, and personally rewarding, maybe even bringing a few choice, uber-talented people some local fame.

This does not mean that the world as a whole would like to hear your little masterpieces. They probably all sound the same, and honestly, over half of them probably suck. Bad. I know lots of mine do… that’s a major reason why I’m writing this blog, to improve my own songwriting skills along with other people’s.

So where is this rant headed?

I’ll tell you where. It’s headed directly to bashing the idiots who post utter crap on every website available, thinking that they’re God’s gift to the music world. I mean, listen to this mess. Or this. Or this.

What is that?! ANY of that?!?! It’s the scourge known as “emo.” At some point in the past, this may have been an actual valid genre of music. Maybe. But now it’s an excuse for every little whiny teenager with a myspace to post their little whiny, mindless drivel. Just because you have a 40-dollar Wal-Mart guitar and a built-in microphone on your laptop does NOT mean that you are a songwriter. If you feel that way, I’m sorry, but you are sadly mistaken. That kind of musical content is a joke. 

What we need is more real songwriters, people who have actual, dare I say, SKILL. Not just a cheap guitar. Or a myspace. Or a youtube account. Please.

So this, my friends, is why I am doing the research I am doing on songwriting. If I can do just a tiny part to inspire someone to write good quality music, then I have made the world a slightly better place.

The Recession and the Music Industry

While this blog revolves mainly around song-writing for individual benefit, several other related topics merit discussion. For example, what’s on everyone’s mind right now?

(Don’t answer that, who knows what kind of answers I’d get.)

I’ll tell you what’s on everyone’s mind: the economy.

Not only are people losing their jobs, but entire industries are beginning to suffer as a result of the worsening economy. Especially affected are “non-essential” industries, such as entertainment. The music industry hasn’t been immune to these negative affects.

2008 saw a 14% drop in album sales compared with 2007 (and that even takes into account online downloads of entire albums). Legal digital downloads, while contributing somewhat to the ailing industry, by no means make up for the deficiency in overall music sales.

However, the problems don’t stop at declining revenue for the record industry. Just as fears of a recession bring frivilous spending largely to a halt in society as a whole, a worsening economy means less spending for everyone involved in the music business, including record labels. These labels tend to be more inclined to cut the overall budgets even of big-name acts, resulting in fewer music videos, less advertising and marketing, etc. For bands with less of an initial budget, further cuts in funding often mean poor quality touring conditions, barely breaking even each night at performances… and the list could go on. In all such cases, the possibility of the band producing new music declines sharply, which means even less money coming in, and the vicious cycle begins.

So what does this mean for you, as a budding songwriter?

Honestly, that it is very possible that your songs won’t make you any money.

If multi-million dollar music acts are slashing costs, the odds of little start-up musicians hitting the big time are quite low. Depressing, right? Not necessarily.

The simple fact that most songwriters don’t make the same annual salary as U2 shouldn’t stop you from writing and performing your songs. Here’s a handy tip: stop thinking so much about the cash you’re bringing in and focus more on the mental and emotional payoff you receive from performing your songs for even small audiences. Now, this means you likely can’t quit your day job. Music may need to stay in a secondary position, at least for awhile. However, your life will undoubtedly feel more fulfilling after playing a few personal gems of music for a small coffee shop crowd. Try it, you’ll see!

So yes, the economy is bad. But it hasn’t spelled the end of the music industry just yet, and if we keep working at it, it never will.

 

(statistics taken from the following article: http://thesil.ca/?tag=economy)

A Diversion

The original plan for the week was an extended, in-depth study on modes and how they are utilized in chord theory, soloing, etc. However, I decided that, not only does that information need to be split up into several posts, but also that I need some more time to wrap my head around everything so as to make it all make sense to myself, much less everyone else. As a result……

This week I want to focus on musical genres, as well as give some examples of them, and thus hopefully make it slightly easier to determine which genre you might want to specialize in during the course of your writing (or at the very least, which genre(s) you best connect with).

In all honesty, many singer-songwriters these days tend to lean more towards the indie-rock style of music. Indie (technically short for independent, but now representative of a whole range of music) tends to sound more musically simplistic, perhaps minimalistic, when compared to other genres of music. This quality by no means takes away from the quality or depth of the music overall, but it does make it somewhat easier to write in this style. Simple chord progressions, basic melodies, and the prominence of “stripped” arrangements (lone acoustic guitars are fairly common) result in a reasonably short learning curve. In case you happen to still be wondering what exactly indie music IS, check out Indie103.1’s youtube channel. While not an exhaustive list or sampling of all the styles of indie music, this site provides at least a basic representation of what indie rock is.

If you desire a little more in-depth approach, you may enjoy studying and writing in a bluesy style. This allows for an incredible depth of feeling, especially in lead work. While the lead in blues may not be the most complicated, nor the chord changes the most varied and exciting, the blues is all about emotion. Take a look at this incredible jam session with some masters of the blues, Eric Clapton, BB King, Buddy Guy, and Jimmie Vaughan. Some of it is complex, some is simple… the lyrics are CERTAINLY simple, which leaves more emphasis on the music. So if you favor feeling and emotion of music over lyrical depth, the blues may be your thing.

Yet another fairly common genre in which people choose to write, especially the younger group of songwriters these days, is the alternative rock style of music. While not generalizing all songs in this genre, the fact remains that a fair amount of alternative (and punk) songs of all time periods employ power chords as their base rhythm line. These chords consist only of the first and the fifth notes of the chords, and can be played on as little as two strings of a guitar. This simplicity allows for a heavier focus on lyrics. On the other hand, some alternative music contains complex chord structures and intricate lead work. Thus, alternative allows for a great variety of music styles. A local radio station here in the Dallas area, KDGE 102.1, provides some good examples of this type of music. 

Listed above are merely three of the countless genres of music available to you to write in, listen to, or both. What I would now like to invite readers to do is this: look at these few genres, then think about any other types of music that appeal to you. Then feel free to comment on what you prefer. That way we’ll have more of a discussion here…

In any case, hopefully by next week those modes will be a little less fuzzy, and we’ll get back into some of the technical aspects of song writing.

Don’t Just Take My Word for it…

Over the past few weeks, I have presented some basic ideas that I feel are helpful in writing music. However, my opinion is clearly not the only one that counts in this endeavor. I wanted to get someone else’s input on this subject. So I decided to talk a little about the song-writing process with a friend of mine, John, and get some of his insights. He has been playing the guitar (among other instruments) for about 10 or 11 years, and has been writing music of his own for about 4 or 5, so he has a fair amount of experience in the field of music. He enjoys playing a huge variety of music, from good old-fashioned rock to alt-country to indie, but he told me when he writes songs, they usually end up leaning more toward the alternative rock style.

One of the main areas I was curious about going into our conversation dealt with the method John uses when he is writing a song, so I asked a few questions about that. He mentioned that he focuses mainly on the lyrics over the music in the overall song-writing process, but I found his overall process to be intriguing. To quote him:

“I formulate an idea that I want to centralize the song [around].  Then I find some progression that would go well with the topic that I have chosen.  Finally I end up creating lyrics for the progression that I have.”

So, in other words, this method involves some brainstorming first… Decide what general idea you want the song to be about; create an overall mood. Next, develop your basic chord progression based on the topic and related mood. Finally, fill in the lyrics so that they fit with both the idea and the music. In this way, everything will remain tight and concise throughout the entire process.

John and I discussed some musical strategies as well. For instance, he tends to lean toward minor pentatonic scales for soloing, since he grew up around a lot of blues. I tend to utilize similar scales, because despite being fairly easy to remember and learn, they are still very diverse, allowing great freedom of expression and style.

However, the matter of lyrics remained a primary focal point, so I asked if there was anything that he has found helped in the process overall. He responded that solitude is a huge aid in producing quality work. This seems to be a fairly common feeling among song writers. While some people work well in noisy, distraction-filled environments, the fact remains that, to focus on most anything, solitude and peace are two primary factors that will make your job far easier.

In the end, though, a wealth of tips and pointers is not nearly as memorable as a single tidbit of information. So, to summarize, I have included John’s closing bit of wisdom that makes the song-writing process not only easier, but much more enjoyable as well: “Focus on one thing that you want to write about and do it.  Put your whole heart into it and make like a child to you.”

Well said.

Lyrics – Part 2

The previous post outlined some basic steps to writing lyrics that are fairly “universally” appealing. However, honestly, a “five-step process” to composing good lyrics seems a bit formulaic. So I’ve taken the liberty to gather a few more general ideas that will help in writing lyrics and songs, no matter what your approach may be.

First, as with any form of writing, the old adage “practice makes perfect” applies, except for the fact that you will never be perfect at writing songs. So perhaps “practice makes for improvement and higher levels of self-confidence” would be better (if only it wasn’t so wordy…). In either case, the important point is this: write a lot. The more often you write, the better you will get, and the more comfortable with writing you will feel. One method that many use to make sure they don’t start slacking off is to set aside a particular time each day to write lyrics, and stick to that no matter what. Even if you just write for a few minutes, it will still help keep you fresh and keep your mind sharp.

Another good point to keep in mind is that there’s no pressure. Unless for some reason you’ve been hired by a passing stranger to come up with an award-winning song by dinnertime, you probably don’t have a hard-and-fast deadline for your composition. So, that being said, don’t worry excessively about time. Write down a few lines here and there as you think of them. Always keep a notebook handy. Occasionally, piece together ideas you’ve written down into more cohesive thoughts. Just don’t pressure yourself, and eventually you will have a whole storehouse of ideas from which you can assemble a good song.

But what if you happen to have a particular gift for writing music and melodies? Maybe you have dozens of melodies floating around in your head and your notebooks, but no decent lyrics to match them. In a perfect world, we would all be able to craft incredible songs on our own, but it’s not a perfect world now, is it? So what happens when you just can’t seem to come up with passable lyrics, and you’re just tired of trying? One word: collaborate. If you don’t want to take the time to work on your lyric-writing skill yourself, it probably isn’t very difficult to find someone who is your opposite — someone who excels at writing lyrics but leaves much to be desired in the melody department. True, it doesn’t always work, but a pair of minds like that may be the perfect formula for good quality songs.

Well there are a few more tips on writing lyrics that will be enjoyable not only for you, but others as well. Put these to work, and stay tuned for more song-writing insights in the days to come.

We Write the Songs…

Since chord theory is pretty dense, I’ll shift focus a little bit and focus on something more interesting, or at least not as confusing: lyrics.

That being said, I must qualify that statement.

Writing lyrics may indeed be the most complicated part of writing songs, because, unlike the actual music, there are no hard-and-fast rules that govern lyric-writing. However, there are a few general guidelines that will make the lyrics you write more universally appealing, which I have organized into steps:

1. Select what you want to write about, and the reason you are writing the song.

Strictly speaking, this can be ANYthing… anything from relationships (the old standard), joy, loss, or the search for happiness to food, dogs, or going to the bathroom. Whatever you select, make sure it is something you personally relate to, and which means something to you, on whatever level you see fit.

2. Pick a structure for the song.

For example, select whether you want a formal structure with a rhyme scheme, or a more loose structure with no particular order to it.

3. Look back at the topic you chose; think seriously about whether it fits with the structure you selected, and whether you honestly think it will make a good song.

4. Begin writing the lyrics. Do most of your writing in conjuction with music.

This point changes depending on who you ask. Some say the music should be written first, some say the lyrics should always come first. I, however, firmly believe that SOME music should accompany the lyric-writing process. This may be something as simple as strumming some chords on a guitar while you play around with the melody, but it is very difficult to find a real flow for lyrics when they are just being read on a page. Lyrics are meant to be sung to music, so sing them to music!

5. Look back at your topic again, and look at the lyrics closely. 

This is not, by any means, a science. Most, if not all, of this process is entirely subjective. However, to make your lyrics truly universally appealing, they must fit into two seemingly opposite categories:

– They must be truly personal and meaningful to you (on whatever level that may be).

– They must be general enough to allow any number of other people to relate to them.

 

And here is where the list breaks off momentarily, because this is the primary point.

 

It all comes down to the reason you personally have for writing a song. If the song on which you are working is solely for a significant other, and no one else, ever, then make it specific. Use the other person’s name, if you wish. However, those very aspects of a song can easily kill it if you desire to market the song elsewhere, or even have others truly relate to it. The more specific a song is, the more tailored to a single individual it is, the less universally appealing it becomes. True, a song with more “narrow” lyrics may be a very “good” song, but by nature it will not appeal to as many people. So, at that point, it pays to focus more specifically on the “target market” for the song, so to speak. If you have written a song that is meaningful, yet you find it may be too specific, generalize some of the aspects of the song. This is easier said than done, but may help in the end.

So, I’ll leave it there for now. More on writing lyrics is coming soon.

Side Point: Excellent Guitar Theory Link

This guy, Paul Zimmerman, has compiled one of the best resources I’ve seen on general guitar and chord theory. It looks a little dense at first, but it’s organized well, and simple enough to be very understandable. Check it out:

http://www.harmony-central.com/Guitar/chord-and-theory-chart.txt