Monday, September 6, 2010

Singing Lessons - Bring Out The Songwriter In You

By Alexander Figgins

When I first obtained my guitar on my eleventh birthday, all I desired to do was play the songs by my favorite rock bands. I bought books that taught you the tabs and chords to play for all their songs. This was an excellent learning curve for me, and I never had a guitar lesson. Because of learning songs by my favorite bands, I had 'installed' the ingredients of a good song in my brain. I had the instrument, I had the knowledge. It was time to start writing some songs of my own.

Do you require an instrument to write a song? Well, I believe it helps. You can anticipate how the song will sound with the music, a whole lot better than perhaps, humming it in your head. Among the reasons I purchased a guitar was so that I could play the songs I was humming in my head. As well as guitar, a piano is an excellent instrument to use when writing a song. You can map out melodies much better with the keys, as well as playing the chordal patterns.

Should you write the lyrics very first, or the music? This really is often something I contradict myself with, and it all depends on the songwriter. When bands create songs together, they generally split the music and the lyrics between them. My problem is that occasionally, when you have written the music and lyrics as a stand alone, you can't tell. The words sound very broken and sometimes hurried, because the singer is trying to fit the lyrics and syllables into the music.

I find the best songs I write originate from jamming on a guitar or playing on a piano and singing along. Singing anything that sounds great to it. Even gibberish. As soon as I have the structure of the song, I then start adding substantial lyrics in place of the gibberish. Occasionally I even keep some of the gibberish. Take the band Sigur Ros. If you have never heard of them, I suggest you legally download a number of their music right now. They believe the vocals are an instrument, and they treat it that way. The singer sings utter gibberish, however it sounds good. It sounds completely improvised and natural.

Another good way to get tips for a song would be to start jamming with other people. Think about a little riff. It could be something at random. Get the other band members to join in with something that fits in.

Lyrics-wise, I believe you should do what I said. Use gibberish at very first to determine the melody and syllables, then when you have completed the structure of the song, write around the gibberish!

There is a whole lot of software obtainable that aids in writing songs such as Garage Band for the Mac, and Cubase for Windows.


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