Thursday, December 2, 2010

Minneapolis Singing Lessons - Making Your Own Music: Songwriting Basics

By Christine Jackson


Regardless of whether you are a teenager or are well into your golden years, it's never too late to explore your creative side, especially if you are interested in music. Songwriting is a superb method to express your thoughts and feelings and to communicate them to your family and friends, even if you have no aspirations of musical fame or fortune. If you're interested in selling or performing your songs, however, you need to bear in mind that it's a hard road and that very few songwriters achieve great fame or fortune, and especially not instantly. Nonetheless, if you have realistic expectations, you will find that writing music is a rewarding experience whether it is a hobby or perhaps a profession.

People write songs in lots of different ways. A few writers compose the music first, whilst other people first write the words. For a few, the words and the melody come to them at the same time, while others write the melodies first and write the words last. Regardless of what sequence you are comfy with, you'll eventually need to decide what the song is about. There are a wide range of different kinds of songs ranging from songs that tell fictional stories to songs that communicate deep personal feelings.

If you decide to write a story song, a good first exercise is to write about a news story or about something you have read in the newspaper. Doing this, you can make use of first song to hone your word choosing skills with no pressure of coming up with your own story. Nevertheless, if you already have an idea for a story to tell, you can write it out in poem form and try to make suitable rhymes and structures that assist communicate what happens in the song.

Since music is really expressive, numerous songwriters use their compositions to express how they feel, whether it be about a person or a situation or even geographic location. Writing these kinds of songs can be highly personal, therefore every person does it in a different way. When you have a strong feeling about something, write it down in a notebook and come back to it later. You may think of a good line that expresses an emotion really well, and if you remember it, you may be able to build an entire song around it. Having quiet time to think is always beneficial when you're trying to write a song.

Writing the actual music for a song can be done in lots of different ways depending on your musical ability and your focus. If you write mainly to communicate words, then a few well-chosen guitar chords might be all of the accompaniment you need. Nevertheless, if you are an instrumental virtuoso, your approach to writing music will be quite different. Many people think of a musical idea and play it over and over again until they think of a melody. Quite often, songwriters will construct whole pieces, melody and all, without even knowing what the song is going to be about. Once the melody is complete, the writer will sit down and think about lyrics that fit the feeling behind the music and will go from there.

As soon as you have put together your words and music, you might feel the need to perform your new song. It is always a great idea to play for friends and family first before trying to play to a large group. When you feel comfy enough playing your song, you should consider visiting an open mic night at a local coffeehouse or bar. At open mic nights, songwriters can play a number of their songs to an appreciative and attentive audience. Performers can discuss their craft with other writers, making it an enjoyable approach to learn much more about the writing process.






About the Author:



0 comments:

Post a Comment