Songwriters in Seattle

Author: James Linderman

  • Getting Out of the Four Chord Rut

    Many would consider a four-chord-song to be a song with one completely unnecessary chord in it, and it is true that there are many brilliant three-chord-songs.

    Country songwriter Harlan Howard famously stated that all he needed was “three chords and the truth” and my mother-in-law used to joke that she only knew how to play three chords and a thousand songs, and that I seemed to know thousands of chords but only three songs.

    It would be fair to say that there are definitely a lot of ways, both simple and complex, to decorate our songs with harmony, and it is well worth our time to explore some options and detail some of the rules of the road when it comes to “chording up” our tunes.

    One of the first determinations, when looking for the greatest number of chord options for our song, is to establish what key that song is in. Determining key is easier with the help of the following chart which lists the names of the keys in the left column, lists the number of sharps and flats in the right column, and displays the chords indigenous to that key in the rows between. When attempting to establish which key a particular song is in, there are lots of criteria that music theorists factor into the equation, but in most cases we can simply state that “majority rules”. In other words, whatever key most of the chords are in, is a pretty good key to work within.

    If we determine that all (or at least most) of our chords are in a given key, then we can add, remove, shift, or replace any of the chords in our song with other chords from that same key. Although we are not guaranteed to like the result of every choice, we might find some chords that fit to our liking and some of those good choices will provide a foundation to work from as we add chords to the other parts of the song.

    As we continue to edit, we can then start to focus our chord selections by applying one of the many chord substitution techniques that are built right into the key system. A substitution technique that is fairly straightforward and easy to apply involves relative chords. The general concept of harmonic relation acknowledges that chords are considered similar to one another by having the most notes in common and therefore offer the greatest likelihood for success during substitution.

    For instance, a C chord is a relative to Am due to the two notes they share in common (c, e) and therefore they can substitute for one another almost always and with very little, or perhaps even no adjustment to the melody. Likewise, a Dm chord is related to an F chord and an Em is related to a G, all within the key of C. Numerically, we can more broadly state that the I chord is related to the vi chord, the ii to the IV chord, and the iii to the V chord in every key, which gives us a substitution platform that we can apply to any key we choose to write in.

    A terrific way to test drive this concept of relative harmonic substitution is to take a song you have already written in the key of C (or any other key using the chart above) and swap out the relative major and minor chords. You would then listen and assess the effect of each of the alterations. This may not necessarily increase the number of chords in our song but it will definitely get you more used to hearing your song framed in a new chord system that might challenge your initial choices as well as challenge the general feel of the song as well. Think of this as the training camp of chord substitution.

    As far as using relative substitution to increase our chord count, a great technique is to use the relative major and minor in each section that previously featured only one of the two chords. For instance, in a bar where we had previously been playing just a C chord, we would now try a split bar of C to Am, then try Am to C, and determine if either of those options is more likable than the original chord choice.

    I often teach the concept where we consider our songs initial chord progression to be an unchallenged ‘plan A’ until we have tried replacing the chords with at least three other progressions (plan B, plan C, plan D) to determine if there is a better progression available, at least with the options from this primary substitution concept of related majors and minors in splits and/or swaps. There are a few more ways to substitute harmony that are only slightly more complex than relative major/minor substitution that offer even more chord options. Let’s save those for another time.

    In the end, the goal of this exercise is to ‘rule in’ or ‘rule out’ that the best progression for our song is the 4-chord box pattern that we often initially use to bring our songs into existence.

  • How to Write a Protest Song

    Perhaps two of the only things left that we can all agree on is that we live in a world divided, and it is now a time of protest. Whether people are protesting truth to power, or power to truth, protesting a certain ideology, or defending it, it appears that protest and social justice songs will be in demand soon, perhaps before we can even get them written.

    This article is not going to be about the validity of anybody’s particular viewpoint or about our politics, but about how to craft an ideological protest song that will offer the greatest representation of your views, should you choose a guitar over a placard when your cause takes to the streets. If your cause has already taken to the streets, then you had better get writing because as the Bob Dylan song goes, “Your old road is rapidly aging, please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand”.

    Here are 10 points you’ll want to know before you start singing angry stuff all over the place.

        1. Research your Topic.
          You may have a very strong passion for a certain social or political view but there is a difference between being passionate about a cause, and being well informed. School yourself up on both sides of the argument and write a lyric you can defend.
        2. Write to the Center.
          When writing your lyric you will convert more uncommitted listeners if you craft some nuance into your viewpoint. This does not mean you have to acknowledge a personal validation of the opposing view, but writing as if the issue is above debate will inevitably work against you. You do not want people to get the impression that your song was written in an ideological vacuum because that will make it easy to argue against and satirize.
        3. Write to your Passion.
          Considering the point in #2 taken, do not compromise your passion for the cause, and write with the bravery and conviction that your view deserves.
        4. Use a Traditional Song Form.
          By using a traditional song form, you will allow your protest song to tap into the historical representation of the protest songs that have preceded it and give your song some grounding in that tradition. This also helps your protest, or social justice song, retain some simplicity and help the listener stay focused on the lyric ideas dedicated to your cause.
        5. Write into a Metaphor.
          Songs that are based on an abstract or written as a parable are more powerful and illustrative than songs that are directly teachy or preachy. Bob Dylan knew what the answer was, my friends, and could easily have stated it in plain language, but he chose to let us know that it was “blowing in the wind”. The lyric was a metaphorical invitation to get out there and find the answer for yourself.
        6. Refrain from NOT using a Refrain.
          Some of us have never even written a refrain since the chorus took over the world about 50 years ago, but the refrain is a great convention for the kind of song you want to write here. For a great example of a refrain we look again to, “The answer my friend is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind”.
        7. We Want 5 Notes, We Want 5 Notes…
          Protest and social justice songs need to be easy to chant, and as “sing along” friendly as possible. It is advisable to write a simple catchy melody that primarily uses the 5 note pentatonic scale. This will make your song easy for your crowd to learn and easy for them to remember for the next rally.
        8. What the Anthem?
          Anthems are historically a celebratory kind of musical work but, of course, when you protest one side of a cause, you are also celebrating the side of that fence that you reside on. Study anthems. There are national anthems, songs like Queen’s “We are the Champions” and “We Will Rock You”, and other songs that tap into a sense of belonging to your certain faction of society. You will find that some of these songs have a chorus but notice the use of lots and lots of repetition and how the chorus melody and lyric ties in with the verses.
        9. Dude, Where’s Your Song?
          Once you have written your song, make certain that organizers who work for the cause know you have written it. It does you no good if nobody hears your timely song, and for those who share that view your song may be considered an essential element that was previously missing from their movement.
        10. To Sing… or not to Sing!
          Once the song is written and ready to go, determine if you are the right voice for the song and for the movement. There is a lot to be said for the honesty of the songwriters rendition, but it can also be argued that having the right performance can also be a huge factor in having your ideas gain traction and produce the greatest impact. Try to not make this decision with your ego, or your own ambition, and let the song win the day.

    Above all other kinds of songs, protest songs and social justice songs have been able to influence culture. Some have even become the soundtrack to seismic shifts in how people feel about one another by providing the words and music to that particular moment in human history.