Songwriters in Seattle

Tag: songwriting

  • Surrendering My Music

    I have written a couple hundred songs over the years.  And it’s important to me that they find a way out into the world.  At my age, I know I won’t have a career as a performing songwriter, but I want the songs to have a life outside my computer.  It would be lovely if they were covered by established recording artists or bought for synchronization in TV and/or films.  I think that is probably unlikely.  But, it is not without possibility.

    I don’t have the money to go into a studio to pay musicians, arrangers, engineers and producers to record my songs the way I hear them.  I don’t have the money to then have them mixed and mastered.  And I don’t have the money to print hundreds of CD’s or vinyl records for distribution.

    Nevertheless, right now I have fourteen 6-song EP’s that can be found on all the major online music stores and streaming services, like Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, Amazon Music, iTunes, Tidal and the like.  I have four more in the works.  You can audition my music on Bandcamp (https://davidguilbault.bandcamp.com/). 

    So, how did I get my music recorded, distributed and (somewhat) heard?  I surrendered the process to multi-talented musicians I know who are arrangers, producers, engineers and multi-instrumentalists, all wrapped up in one.  I have relied on the talents of folks like Chris Klimecky, Paul Beaudry, Colin J Nelson, Jeremy Serwer, Matthew Emerson Brown, Karl Benitez, Griffin James, Eric Padget, Jason Goessl, and now, JD Cotton.

    This is how it works.  I find six of my songs that I believe hold together in some lyrical theme.  Then I think of one of these folks who might have a particular ear for the essence of that music.  Maybe they would bring a country feel, or a pop sensitivity or a dark tenor to the music.  Living on a fixed income, I negotiate a flat fee for them to arrange, produce, record and mix the six songs.  In most cases, they play all the instruments.

    I give them scratch guitar and vocal tracks recorded to a click track.  I either do that at home on my computer or, preferably, I come to their project studio to lay down the scratch tracks.  Then I essentially wash my hands of the project.

    Because I am not paying them what they should rightly earn playing the multiple roles of musician, arranger, producer and engineer, I give up creative control of the final arrangements.  They are free to produce the songs any way they hear them.  I don’t meddle in the process.  And there is no deadline for them completing the project.  I have had some EP’s take up to two years to complete.

    When these masterful musicians have laid down all the instrumental tracks, I come back and do a final vocal on a good mic, trying my best to capture the feel of the music they have created with my singing.  Many times I am surprised by arrangements that I would not have expected or would not have created if I were doing the songs myself.  In only one case (with none of the folks mentioned above) have I been disappointed.

    I still have to pay to get the final mixes mastered, but there are now algorithms online that can do that for very little money.

    Like I said, the crux of these deals is that I surrender the music to the producer.  Since I am not paying them market rates, I am not going to waste their time asking for revisions.  What I get is my song matched with their musical talent.

    What that means is that each collaboration has a unique sound, reflecting the tastes and talents of the individual producers.  The downside of that is that I haven’t established my personal performance style across these recordings.  But, this process is about getting the songs recorded professionally and out onto the Internet, and not about developing and promoting a profile as a recording artist.

    I use DistroKid as my distributor.  You upload your music to them digitally and they get the albums in all the major stores.  Getting folks to find the songs, however, listen to the songs and buy the songs is another ball of wax altogether.  For the most part, my music is still unheard.  Which is another reason not to spend ten thousand dollars on a studio produced CD that few radio stations are going to play and few people are going to buy.

    So, I am grateful to the lovely and talented collaborators who have been generous and kind with their time and talent in taking on my cut-rate projects and producing them with such feeling and expertise.  For better or for worse, I have at least a third of my repertoire out there in the ether.  And, if my music should ever catch fire and actually make money, I have every intention of sharing the proceeds 50/50 with these wonderful musicians.

    I hope you find a way to get your music out into the world.  In the meantime, please be safe and well, and keep on writing and performing.  Music is indeed a labor of love.  Getting paid for that labor would be sweet.

  • 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.

  • Song Critiques: Why You Need Them, Why You Should Do Them

    Song Critiques: Why You Need Them, Why You Should Do Them

    Song Critiques: Why You Need Them, Why You Should Do Them

    There are two crucial steps that many amateur songwriters overlook in their quest to improve their craft and take their songs to the next level. First, they fail to subject their songs to a critique by other songwriters, and second, they fail to critique their peers’ songs. Many songwriters are also singers and/or musicians, and often spend months or even years studying music and practicing their instrument of choice. But when it comes to the art and practice of songwriting, many potential songwriters don’t realize that the same amount of study will improve their ability to write great songs. That ability can be honed, in part, by having your songs critiqued and critiquing others’ songs.

     

    Why You Should Have Your Songs Critiqued by Other Songwriters

    It will save you time, money, and energy. Before you shell out big bucks to get a song professionally recorded, or before you even present it to a wider audience, it’s important to run it by other people. If your song is not getting the response you would like, there is likely some work that still needs to be done. If you are made aware of your song’s weak spots, you can find solutions to make it stronger. One person’s opinion is easy to dismiss, but if three or more people all point out an aspect of your song that they believe makes it weak, you should pay attention. No song is perfect, but even your best songs can be tweaked and finessed before you invest in having them professionally recorded, mixed, mastered, and distributed. Plus, you’ll discover that different people often have radically different opinions about your song – knowing what kind of people appreciate your work will help you focus your promotional efforts better.

    Your song is being compared to professional works. When you are presented as a songwriter to a wider audience, the expectations are a lot higher. Anytime you play a gig (even an open mic) or submit your song to someone in the music industry for consideration, your song is being compared to professional songs in the audience’s mind. Professional songs released by a record label have already been scrutinized and reworked – sometimes by dozens of people – before they are marketed to the general public. You usually only have one opportunity to catch someone’s attention with your song. If people don’t like what they hear the first time around, they won’t bother to tell you why, or suffer listening through revised editions. You’ll simply be ignored and left to sort out on your own why your work is not commanding more positive attention.

    You are biased about your own work. You naturally “critique” your own song as you go through the process of taking it from a nebulous idea to what you consider to be its completed form. You tweak your melody, edit your lyrics, and basically make sure you’re not embarrassed by your own work. But you have a blind spot when it comes to your song: it may have taken you hours, days, weeks, months, or even years to write it. You may have agonized over the perfect lyrical phrasing, the best chord progression to fit your melody, and whether or not to include a harmonica solo or a gospel choir between the chorus and the bridge. Any shortcomings your song has will be subconsciously diminished in your mind by how hard you have worked on it. You also know exactly how you felt and what you meant with each note you played and word you sang. But you have to play it for others to know if you really have communicated your musical and emotional ideas effectively.

    Your friends and family are biased about your work. Don’t get me wrong, friends and family are a crucial support system and often your most devoted fans, but they are not usually in a position to offer unbiased critiques of your song. They are predisposed to like your song, or at least give it a fair listen, because they like you. They probably don’t view you as a professional songwriter (yet!), so they are more likely to be impressed with whatever you produce. What’s more, if your friends and family are not audiophiles, songwriters, or musicians themselves, they will not be able to express an informed opinion. Let’s face it, most people don’t know their brass from their oboe, so the response will likely be limited to either “I like it” or “I don’t like it.” And while those opinions may give you an emotional high or low, neither response really gives you the kind of feedback you need to improve your song.

    The producer, sound engineer, and studio musicians you hire are biased about your work. Why? Because you are paying them. Many producers will often suggest ways to make a song better, but at the end of the day, the person who pays is the person who has the final say. They’re not going to suggest major changes to your song and then wait two months for you to do a rewrite when they could have money to pay their bills now. Besides, it’s not their job to make you a better songwriter. Their job is to make the songs you bring them the best they can be in terms of arrangement and sound mixing. They’re not going to turn away work just because they think your song is mediocre. And they are not likely to say anything negative about your song at the risk of you taking your business elsewhere.

    It makes you grow a thicker skin. It can be intimidating and emotionally draining at times to have others objectively scrutinize your work. After all, your song is a tiny representation of you and your creative energy, and therefore is dear to you. But your fellow songwriters are offering their thoughts on your song to help make it stronger. If you can take feedback from those who are genuinely trying to help, you’ll develop a thicker skin. And a thick skin is essential in the music business, where many people don’t have the time or desire to help, and don’t care if you succeed or not.

     

    Why You Should Critique Others’ Songs

    It creates good karma. You can’t expect others to critique your songs if you aren’t willing to help them in return. While you can avoid critiquing others’ songs by spending $30 or more getting your song critiqued via on-line review sites and self-proclaimed specialists, that stage usually comes after you have produced a good quality recording. If you want people to critique your songs before you invest heavily in recording what may turn out to be a “beta” version, you need to return the favor. Nothing in life is free, but reciprocal song critiques are a lot cheaper!

    You become more aware of your own weaknesses as a songwriter. When you critique someone else’s song, you’re not emotionally attached to it, so it’s easier to notice all the little flaws and inconsistencies. But the more you notice the flaws in other peoples’ songs, the more you’ll soon recognize it in your own work as well. And you’ll start feeling like a hypocrite when you point it out to someone else when you know you’re guilty of the same sort of transgressions.

    It helps you overcome your genre biases. You may have a soft spot for country tunes, an affiliation for aggressive punk rock, or prefer industrial death metal bluegrass, but studying songs in other genres will help you discern what makes a song work no matter what genre it fits under. Furthermore, you’ll begin to incorporate these universal principles of good song writing into your own work as you are more easily able to recognize them regardless of genre.

    It hones your ear to discern what really makes a song work (or not). It’s easy for a casual listener to be deceived by slick production, flawless musicianship, and powerful vocals, but a great song will still stand on its own even when it’s stripped of all those other features. Sure, a song’s delivery contributes to its overall effectiveness, but the best vocalists, musicians, and producers in the world can’t redeem a weak song on performance alone when the problem dwells in the very fabric of the song. As you critique more songs, your judgment will no longer be clouded by these peripheral elements. You’ll no longer confuse flawless delivery with excellent songwriting.

    It expands your knowledge of different kinds of songwriting. When you are exposed to songs by people who write in different genres and have different perspectives, styles, and approaches to songwriting, you’ll gain a wider perspective which you will then bring back to your own craft. Whether you’re impressed with another songwriter’s beautiful lyrics, unusual chord progressions, or syncopated rhythmic motifs, studying others’ work can further inspire you to take your own craft to the next level.

    It trains you to really focus on the problems so you can offer solutions. Remember when I mentioned that most people won’t be able to articulate a response to a song other than “I like it,” or “I don’t like it?” Well, when you really critique someone else’s song, you can’t say that (or you can’t say only that). In fact, your own personal opinion about the content or genre of the song is irrelevant. You must articulate what you feel works toward strengthening the song, or weakening it. Naturally, if you can find concrete examples of what you think works or doesn’t in a song, you can often find the solution to help improve the song. And as you start approaching all songs with that mindset, you’ll be able to view your own work in the same light.

     

    In conclusion, both having your songs critiqued by others and critiquing others’ songs makes you a better songwriter. Listening and studying your favorite artists’ best songs can be educational, but those songs are usually subjected to many critiques before reaching your ears. You were not privy to the process of finding the initial problems and working out solutions, and critiquing songs that are still works-in-progress will help you develop that skill. Good songwriting appears to be effortless. It’s only when you study your own and others’ attempts that you realize it’s a process of editing and refining with the help of several people’s ears and input.

  • 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.

  • Songwriting: Your First 50

    I remember very little about the first song I wrote…I was in sixth grade, and I know it was a cheesy breakup song in A minor about my first “girlfriend” in fifth grade. I don’t think any recordings of “The Love We Shared” exist (mercifully), and it wasn’t until a year later, when my older brother started writing some lyrics with a little more meaning and purpose, that I started down the serious road of songwriting and recording.

    Over the years, I progressed from 4-track demos to college studios, to professional studios, to producing in my home studio, writing and recording going hand in hand – refining a sound and showing real evidence that improvement was happening. It wasn’t until I had written and recorded between 50-60 songs that I really felt I could output at a consistent quality level. None of those “First 50” songs were ever released and they hide in my archives only for my personal nostalgia.

    This gets to the heart of my point: songwriting takes time and repeated, focused effort. No single song is precious, especially in your First 50. I know the feeling, “Whoa, I wrote a song and it’s really cool, and I need to copyright it and show everyone!” It’s hard not to be precious about your baby – your special creation! But if you can put that feeling aside and write your next 5 and then see how you feel about that previous one. Then write 10 more and see if you still feel the same way. I still “throw out” about one in ten that I thought was completely great when I wrote it and demo recorded it. When I “bulk write,” like for February Album Writing Month, where my approach is to sketch lots of new ideas, only ~2 of 10 survive. Sometimes there’s a re-write opportunity or smaller edits that can take a song to the next level, but sometimes you just have to let them go! After you’ve written your songs (or while you’re in the process of writing), I can’t recommend recording them highly enough. If you make that part of your songwriting/editing process, it helps tremendously not only in refining your vision of the song, but you can actually step back and analyze it a bit. You can critique yourself a lot better. You can experiment with different grooves and approaches, then leave it for a little bit, move on to other songs, and come back with fresh ears. Over time, you are also strengthened and motivated by the real progress and growth you will clearly hear. Be patient – it takes years.

    While Songwriters in Seattle offers specific classes to help move your songwriting forward as well as critique sessions and opportunities to share new songs with audiences (another great way to hear your song in a new light and get instant feedback), what we hope to help you achieve is far greater than any single event. We offer a framework for you to be motivated and supported to write more songs! This is the best way to improve your songwriting! Songwriters in Seattle is a friendly audience with like-minded people – it is a tremendous opportunity to experiment, share new ideas, then go back to the drawing board and try again. I wish I had an organization like this to accelerate my first 50!

    Now, the more experienced songwriters who may be reading this could probably even expand the idea to the first 100 or more, and I couldn’t disagree – there is always room to improve. Personally, while I am proud of my earlier released albums with songs that are now permanently in the public ear, I really only continue to play a few songs from them. Not only do newer songs represent where I am now as an artist, but from my current perspective, they are just better songs. At some point, there is bound to be argument about “better” being highly subjective, but ultimately you are your best judge and as long as you can create some distance (through time and recording), you will find you are a pretty good judge. You will almost always be biased toward your new songs, no doubt about it, but I think that also represents growth as an artist and songwriter. If nothing else, I use that as a motivating factor – I know I will love my next song, it’s going to be that much better, so I want to get on with writing it! I hope you can get to that point, too, if you’re not already there.

    I am far from prolific, but I make it a goal to show something new at every SiS monthly networking meeting. Professionals who are songwriting full time are writing every day – many who are in the licensing business are producing and posting something finished for their catalogs every day! Think about how that would add up and create a body of work. That is how you get to be a better songwriter. If you’re a beginner (still within your first 50), don’t worry about your copyrights (to be frank: nobody cares) and making each song perfect – it’s not going to be and that’s okay. No need to be self-deprecating about it, either, you can be proud of it – it is cool and no doubt some people will like it! Learn what you can from it and move on. Write another song. And another – get in the habit of consistently writing and recording. It’s a great habit and I bet you will find more fulfillment in creating a body of work than in trying to create singular masterpieces. I look forward to hearing your next 50!

  • Top 10 Songwriting Insights From Durango

    Twice a year for the last six years or so, I have attended the four-day Durango Songwriters Expo. The people that attend this intensive confab are publishers, film supervisors, performers, and most of all songwriters of all ages. I’m going to break with my usual MO here and not drop any names, but I can tell you that the pedigree in attendance is pretty noble and the level of songwriting craft is pretty high.
     
    Starting at 9 AM each morning (and going to well past midnight for most of us) we perform and attend panels, discussions, and workshops about the songwriting industry. But the main focus of this event are the song critiques.
     
    Twice a day, we break off into groups of 20 or so for two hours and subject our songs to the industry luminaries and ask for their guidance in exchange for smiles and gratitude. Every session starts out with the disclaimer that these are just opinions and are to be taken as such. You’re not necessarily encouraged to change the song that you were sharing, but take the ideas and feedback and apply them to your next song. I did the math here and figure that over the course of my participation, I have probably listened to more than 500 song critiques. And although we tend to get specific and come up with unique ideas and feedback for each song, there is a thread of recurring criticism. So I thought I would share and highlight what I sense are the top 10.
     
    1. Understand your role. Not so much a critique as an important distinction, the role of a songwriter as opposed to that of a singer-songwriter is good one to understand. As a singer-songwriter you will be able to get away with lyrics that you can explain in your performance intro or that goes along with your image and story. You have a bit more leeway since these are personal. Writing as a songwriter only, you are more beholden to the craft and use of direct language and form. You are now writing something personal for someone else. You not only have to win the heart of the audience, you have to win the heart of the performing artist.
     
    2. Don’t chase the industry. Write from your deep place and your experiences. If you are still working your way into the industry there is a good chance that the market will have changed by the time you get there with what you think is the current trend.
     
    3. Don’t write in an outdated style. This one comes up a bunch for us older types who are told we just wrote a hit song … if it was 1985! Again don’t set to chase the current styles but it is a great idea to be aware of the latest trends … and the old ones too.
     
    4. Show not tell. This is the big one. We know you are sad, or in love, or ready to dance. But don’t just tell us. Paint a picture, give an example, create a mental image of your emotion. Think of it as a 3-minute movie and you have the camera.
     
    5. Keep the lyrics conversational. Use as much common language as possible. It’s not poetry. Would we say that line, or use that lyric in everyday conversation?
     
    6. Avoid the curse of the second verse. You have a killer first verse, but you said it all and now the second verse is just a rehash of the first. Learn to peel back the fruit and expose the story a little at a time, kind of like those Russian nesting dolls. I have also seen songs dramatically improved by switching the first and second verse.
     
    7. Know when to throw out the best line. You know how you are working on a song, let’s say about sunshine, and you come up with a killer line. But it really doesn’t fit into your song about sunshine. But you keep trying to force it in. Experienced writers will be able to see what’s happening and pull that line and start another song with it.
     
    8. Create lift. The idea here is that the songs needs to keep getting more interesting and pull the listener in as it goes along. The observation goes something like … the verse and chorus sound the same. Create lift and interest by raising the pitch of the chorus melody. Or lift by double timing or increasing the subdivisions of the rhythm. Or lift by increasing the energy of the lyrics or the cadence of the lyrics.
     
    9. Keep your subject focused. The more narrow and specific you can be with your idea, the more powerful it will be. It will then be easier for the listener to know exactly what is on your mind. Frequently we have seen two songs being written as one. Create a statement or a short paragraph as to what the song is about. A little storyboarding can really help.
     
    10. Can you think of another way to say that? Watch out for the over used and cliché lyric. There have been so many songs written that it seems by now that there can’t possibly be anything that has not been said or used in a song. But we have to keep trying to come up with fresh ideas … or old ideas and make them seem fresh.
     
    I know these are short explanations for each. And I know that many creatives can be leery of the rules of craft. But as one of my favorites teachers years ago said, “You have to know the rules so that you know which ones you are breaking.”
     
    We will be going over these ideas and much more at my Songwriters in Seattle workshop on February 25th in Greenwood.  
     
    Click here to sign up!

     

  • SiS Podcast: David Guilbault

    David Guilbault
    Classic Americana singer/songwriter David Guilbault is interviewed by SiS Organizer Chris Klimecky. David & Chris go in-depth about David’s latest experimental project: Giving his songs to 4 different producers to let them do what they will.


    Click the play icon above to stream, or click here to download

    Click here to read more about this podcast from Chris’s blog archive.

    Subscribe to the SiS Podcast on iTunes

  • SiS Podcast: Erin Jordan

    SiS Podcast: Erin Jordan

    Erin Jordan
    Retro-cabaret singer/songwriter Erin Jordan is interviewed by SiS Organizer Chris Klimecky. Erin shares songs from her new album with the band Bakelite 78, insight into her original sound and songwriting process, and performs a new song, “Jim.”


    Click the play icon above to stream, or click here to download

    Click here to read more about this podcast from Chris’s blog archive.

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  • SiS Podcast: Rebekah Ann Curtis

    SiS Podcast: Rebekah Ann Curtis

    Rebekah Ann Curtis
    Singer/Songwriter Rebekah Ann Curtis is interviewed by SiS Organizer Chris Klimecky. Rebekah shares new, unreleased tracks along with stories about her songwriting and performing history. She performs “What Goes Up” live to finish the show.


    Click the play icon above to stream, or click here to download

    Click here to read more about this podcast from Chris’s blog archive.

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  • SiS Podcast: Jabi Shriki (aka Tobias the Owl)

    SiS Podcast: Jabi Shriki (aka Tobias the Owl)

    Jabi Shriki
    Pop/Rock musician Jabi Shriki is interviewed by SiS Organizer Chris Klimecky. Jabi shares tracks from his new album, Puzzle Pieces, and the philosphy behind them as well as a new tune played live.


    Click the play icon above to stream, or click here to download

    Click here to read more about this podcast from Chris’s blog archive.

    Subscribe to the SiS Podcast on iTunes