YOUR BEST SOURCE FOR USEFUL SONGWRITING STUFF
Q: I usually get stuck on the first melody that I think of but all my melodies are starting to sound the same. How can I rewrite my melody?
A: Most of use know how to rework a song lyric to make it stronger but melodies are often left out of the rewriting process. Try these tips to work on your lead melody line:
1. Break up a series of similar lines into different lengths. Turn a long line into two shorter phrases or run two short phrases together by adding notes/words.
When I asked successful music supervisors how they manage to find the song they’re looking for among the thousands of song links, mp3s, and CDs they collect every year, they all told me they keep “song playlists.”
Music supes have to find songs quickly. When a film director or TV series producer shouts “Get me a quirky, upbeat love song!” the music supe has to scramble to find three to four songs that fit that description ASAP. A playlist of “Quirky, Upbeat Love Songs” will be just what’s needed. If they don’t have that, the chances of uncovering the right song in a few short hours will be next to zero.
Q: Arash asks… I have written a good chorus but the verse I wrote for it sounds like it doesn’t belong to that chorus musically.. What can I do?
A: There could be a few things causing this…
1. In today’s successful songs, the chords in both the verse and chorus are usually very similar. Check to see if your chords have changed too much, if you’ve moved too far outside the key, if you’re changing chords too frequently in your verse.
I regularly check through the top songs in the Rock, Country, AC, and Urban genres and, guess what… in all four genres a majority of the hits are collaborations. In the Country genre, in fact, ALL of the top songs are frequently collaborations!
Collaborating (co-writing a song with one or more other songwriters) has so many benefits that it’s worth putting some real effort into learning how to do it and finding compatible songwriting partners to work with. It may take some time, maybe a few false starts, but it can more than repay you in the long run.
REASONS TO COLLABORATE
Should you sing your own songs? There’s no rule that says every songwriter must be a good singer. You don’t have to be Adele or Bruno Mars or Ed Sheeran. You can write hits for other artists.
But don’t underestimate your natural ability. As the writer of a song, you can bring emotional authenticity and insight that a hired vocalist might miss. Many times it’s more about phrasing, presence, and character than hitting the pitches perfectly. Still, you can give yourself some help when writing your song and recording your track with these tips.
1) Figure out the highest note that you sound good on. Then figure out the lowest note. Try to keep your melody between those two notes. If you sing your own song while you write it, you can identify those places where you’re getting too close to your top or bottom notes then hange the melody at that point.
2) Emphasize your strongest vocal notes in your melody. If your high notes are weak, use them as passing notes only; don’t try to sustain them or use them for important words.