3 Be able to carry out research Range of sources: primary and secondary sources eg books, journals, newspaper, video recordings, sound recordings, CD ROMs, internet, interviews Organisation: logging the research trail; keeping within deadlines Select: collect and audition material from a wide variety of sources, discard inappropriate or duplicated material; collect in a range of formats eg written, recorded, video, graphics, ICT; collate and prioritise in accordance with point of view, focus of topic, etc
Carrying out research from a range of sources
I have taken the time to find some songwriters that I know and think up a range of questions to ask them as part of my primary evidence. The questions I have thought up are:
1. When you write a song what usually comes first, the lyrics or the melody's?
1. When you write a song what usually comes first, the lyrics or the melody's?
Primary evidence from songwriters.
My first songwriter who I got in touch with as a part of my primary evidence is called James Laurence. He is a funk/jazz/soaul songwriter. I have asked him a variety of questions as you can see below.
When you are song wiring what tends to come first for you, The melody's and the chords or the lyrics?
The harmony and chords definitely.
But I generally write at the piano so it will consist of finding a good harmonic structure, followed by humming or singing random words to constitute a melody, then when I have the melody or draft gobbledegook lyrics I sit down somewhere away from the piano and redraft the lyrics
However when I'm writing I I'll always have the general lyrical of the song in my head before I start writing so I know the tone of it all.
What do you tend to write songs about?
Well a lot of the songs that I write are about, life and relationships. I do write a lot of songs about girlfrieds and things like that because it easy to relate to.
The harmony and chords definitely.
But I generally write at the piano so it will consist of finding a good harmonic structure, followed by humming or singing random words to constitute a melody, then when I have the melody or draft gobbledegook lyrics I sit down somewhere away from the piano and redraft the lyrics
However when I'm writing I I'll always have the general lyrical of the song in my head before I start writing so I know the tone of it all.
What do you tend to write songs about?
Well a lot of the songs that I write are about, life and relationships. I do write a lot of songs about girlfrieds and things like that because it easy to relate to.
James Handcock music
When you are song writing what tends to come first for you, The melody's and the chords or the lyrics?
I am a lyricist. So for me I almost usury write the lyrics first.
What do you tend to write songs about?
I think that my songwriting subjects are a bit unusual. I am fascinated by nature and wildlife. So that's what a lot of my songs are about.
I am a lyricist. So for me I almost usury write the lyrics first.
What do you tend to write songs about?
I think that my songwriting subjects are a bit unusual. I am fascinated by nature and wildlife. So that's what a lot of my songs are about.
AS apart of my research i also bought this book. I learned a lot about how contemporary musicians write there songs and what structures they use too.
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Books |
Research from -
http://mysongcoach.com/write-a-song-in-ten-steps/
On this website there is a 10 step guide to writing songs. I read this and i have leaned about about a the way a of songwriting that a lot of people find to be very effective. This method of songwriting, unlike a lot of outer methods actually starts with thinking about a snappy title that is on the topic that you want to write about, a title that is snappy and easy to remember. It then tells you that the the second thing to do when using this songwriting method is to write a list of three question that the title you have come up with makes to think about. You will be answering these questions in your song. They can be as simple as, how dose it make you feel, that kind of thing.
The next part of this method is a very important part of songwriting, it is choosing a good form and structure, one that is suitable for the genre you want your song to be. One of the most common structure in contempary music is the Verse Chorus Verse Bridge Chorus structure.
The next thing that you have to do when writing a song according to this 10 step guide is to start work on the lyrics. It says you need to answer one of the questions you wrote in the second stage of the process in every section of the song. One in each verse and one in the chorus. I think that this is a very good way of making sure that your song docent go of topic and that it follows a point and has a direction.
Step 5 is a very important step so you must take you time on this step. This step is of course the melody's. The melody's are what are going to get stuck in the listens head and are what is going to make your song catchy. So if you have good melody's in your song, the lyrics do not necessarily have to be as strong as for example a song that dose not have as good melody's and has very strong lyrics.
Step 6 is where i think this method of songwriting gets hard. In this part you have to merge the lyrics and the melody together and try and make them into a effective song. This method advises you to try a simple repeating pattern and not to try and over complicate things to start of. Step seven is making sure you have answered you question well and that it fits to the melody's in the first verse. The next step is step 8. In step 8 you have to try and link you first verse to you're chorus. One tip that i have been given from this sight is that typically the verse melody's are a lot lower than the chorus melody's.
The next step is step nine. At this stage the song is very nearly finished. Step 9 is all about building your second verse and bridge. The bridge is not always needed though, it all depends on what form and structure you have chosen for your song. The advice that is given to me in this stage is that you should always try and write the lyrics in the bridge as a summery of what has happened in your song. And try and keep it nice and short, because you don't really want most songs you write to be much over 3 minutes long.
The final step is to record a live demo of your song so that you don't forget it and then go back and listen to it and think about anything that you would like to change.
The next part of this method is a very important part of songwriting, it is choosing a good form and structure, one that is suitable for the genre you want your song to be. One of the most common structure in contempary music is the Verse Chorus Verse Bridge Chorus structure.
The next thing that you have to do when writing a song according to this 10 step guide is to start work on the lyrics. It says you need to answer one of the questions you wrote in the second stage of the process in every section of the song. One in each verse and one in the chorus. I think that this is a very good way of making sure that your song docent go of topic and that it follows a point and has a direction.
Step 5 is a very important step so you must take you time on this step. This step is of course the melody's. The melody's are what are going to get stuck in the listens head and are what is going to make your song catchy. So if you have good melody's in your song, the lyrics do not necessarily have to be as strong as for example a song that dose not have as good melody's and has very strong lyrics.
Step 6 is where i think this method of songwriting gets hard. In this part you have to merge the lyrics and the melody together and try and make them into a effective song. This method advises you to try a simple repeating pattern and not to try and over complicate things to start of. Step seven is making sure you have answered you question well and that it fits to the melody's in the first verse. The next step is step 8. In step 8 you have to try and link you first verse to you're chorus. One tip that i have been given from this sight is that typically the verse melody's are a lot lower than the chorus melody's.
The next step is step nine. At this stage the song is very nearly finished. Step 9 is all about building your second verse and bridge. The bridge is not always needed though, it all depends on what form and structure you have chosen for your song. The advice that is given to me in this stage is that you should always try and write the lyrics in the bridge as a summery of what has happened in your song. And try and keep it nice and short, because you don't really want most songs you write to be much over 3 minutes long.
The final step is to record a live demo of your song so that you don't forget it and then go back and listen to it and think about anything that you would like to change.
Research from -
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/columns/music_theory/how_to_write_rock.html
This is another source of information that i found when was searching in lo2. This is off a website that is all about guitar. I use this website a lot to learn songs. It turns out that they actually have a section of on how to write various different types of songs.
The one that i found most useful was actually one mans step to step account on how he finds is best effective to write a rock and roll song. Rock and roll is such a big part of music and there have been some iconic and heavily influential rock songs in the past so i decided this would be another good place to research songwriting.
This guy is saying that the most important part of a rock song and the part that sound be done first is writing the hook. Looking back through the history of some very successful rock and roll tunes i can see total where he is coming from. Take a look at, smoke on the water by deep purple, and smells like teen spirit by nirvana, and so many more. The hook needs to grab the listeners attention, so it needs to be something inventive and original.
The next part of writing a rock song according to this source of evidence is to build a strong foundation for your song. A rock song needs to be powerful this means that you need to write something that can easily be built up and made into a big loud song with energy. Weather this might actually be starting with chords instead of a riff.
The next part is very important. I am happy to see that this is so high up the adgender of his song writing method. It is to find a suitable structure for the track.
Step four of his method is the guitar solo.
step five is going back over what you have made and making changes in dynamics and changes in texture so that people don't get board.
The one that i found most useful was actually one mans step to step account on how he finds is best effective to write a rock and roll song. Rock and roll is such a big part of music and there have been some iconic and heavily influential rock songs in the past so i decided this would be another good place to research songwriting.
This guy is saying that the most important part of a rock song and the part that sound be done first is writing the hook. Looking back through the history of some very successful rock and roll tunes i can see total where he is coming from. Take a look at, smoke on the water by deep purple, and smells like teen spirit by nirvana, and so many more. The hook needs to grab the listeners attention, so it needs to be something inventive and original.
The next part of writing a rock song according to this source of evidence is to build a strong foundation for your song. A rock song needs to be powerful this means that you need to write something that can easily be built up and made into a big loud song with energy. Weather this might actually be starting with chords instead of a riff.
The next part is very important. I am happy to see that this is so high up the adgender of his song writing method. It is to find a suitable structure for the track.
Step four of his method is the guitar solo.
step five is going back over what you have made and making changes in dynamics and changes in texture so that people don't get board.
research from -
http://www.songwriterforum.co.uk/
If you have written a song and your not sure what to think of it then this is the sight for you. This web-sight is made for that there is a part of this website where you go and upload your new ideas and outer songwriters who are in the same place, maybe even having the same trouble will offer you up there advice so that you can make the best out of your song. It works with songs that haven't even been written yet too. There is a place on the site where you post anything as simple as a idea and the outer members of the sight will help you to Finnish it and will help you to make the song really good. I have actually sighed up to this website after finding it and i can see people on thee who have been given some great ideas to finish music the have written.
Researching some very successful songwriters -
Benjamin Frances Leftwich
Benjimin Frances Leftwitch is a singer song righter who wrights music on his acoustic guitar. He is a singer as well and he has released a album that I have really enjoyed listening to. The style of music that he rights tends to be very slow and reserved and very chilled out and very easy to listen to.
How dose Benjamin Frances Leftwich wright his songs?
The vast majority of the songs that he has written on his first album all have very standard structures. The structures are often verses-chorus-verses-chorus. Or... Verses-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus. Over half of his songs on the album are 3 mins long. The best way to enplane the reason that he rights his songs in that way is that popular music that people listen to often have that sort of structure so that means when they are listening to the song and the song gets to the second verse into the chorus they already know that he chorus is about to come. The chords he uses are always very simple with out any 7th or 9ths chord exstentions.
He also uses very repetitive lyrics. The reason that he dose this is so that they get stuck in the listeners head and the listener finds them self singing or humming that repetitive phrase. The effect that this has on the listener is that they get the song stuck in there head. And hopefully go and buy his album.
He also uses very repetitive lyrics. The reason that he dose this is so that they get stuck in the listeners head and the listener finds them self singing or humming that repetitive phrase. The effect that this has on the listener is that they get the song stuck in there head. And hopefully go and buy his album.
His use of melody
The melody's that ben uses in his music as you can hear if you listen to the YouTube video that I have put a link to above are often made up of not very many notes. There are only 5 different notes in the verses of the song and then I the choruses he extends the range and goes a bit higher up his vocal range to give the song and to give the melody's a felling like they are going somewhere. On the melodys in the end of the song he puts in a lot of harmony's to make the song feel like it has gone somewhere and give it a feeling like it resolves itself in the end. another thing that I have noticed about his song writing style is that the melody's that he uses are very repetitive and they often come back and you find yourself listening to the same melody's again with maybe some different lyrics or the chorus with piety much the same melody and some little tweaks o change it up a bit and keep the listened not knowing what's coming next.
Analysis of his songs -
1. Box of stones
My harbor has a boat in it
The water makes its way around it, When the sun shines down the hills, winds blow I miss you more You said I'm young, but I'm yours I am free, but I am flawed I'm here in your heart I was here from the start The forest had a rock in it Roots and animals were blocked by it, When they turned all their bones, they changed to stone They've lost their faith You said I'm young and I'm yours I am free, but I am flawed I'm here in your heart I was here from the start Then when the rain came and settled on your skin Not like before when you let it all in To your heart was the only part From the start you said upon. You said I'm young and I'm yours I am free, but I am flawed I'm here in your heart I was here from the start |
The first song that I have chosen to analyses and look and see how he constructs his songs is called box of stones of his album - last smoke before sunrise. I have chosen this song to analyse first because I think that it has a great structure that can be found in songs of all different musical genres.
The structure of the song I am analising is a simple structure with short verses and short choruses. The song is only about 2 and a half minutes long. As you can see from the lyrics on the left hand side of this paragraph it begins with the first verse and then goes strait into the chorus and then straight back into the second verse and then the chorus for the second time and then to the bridge and then it finishes of with a chorus. |
2. Pictures
If you crash your car into,
Your best friends house, Would you be quiet as, Words come out of their mouth. Stop..... dont do it I have been waiting for it, Stop..... I knew it would come. If you find a god next to, Your girlfriends bed, Would it be hard to, Sort out your spinning head. Stop.... dont say that dear, That you wanted him here, Stop.... dont give him a clear. Take a picture of them, Take a picture of them. If you are afraid dont be, I have the whole thing planned, We'll start in the ocean baby, And when we find the land, We will be thankful to, All of our friends, That they didnt leave us, As we got to the end. Take a picture of them, Take a picture of them, Take a picture of them, Take a picture of them. If you find your faith in, Your parents god, Dont be so quick to, Point out the flaws in it. Youve been around and youve seen, The way that things work, But you need a compass to, Get around your house. |
The song Pictures has a very common structure much like most of Bens music. it begins with the first verse, then the second half of the first verse and then it goes into the first chorus and the it goes in the second verse and then the second half of the second verse and then the chorus. Unlike a lot of his songs where he throes in a bridge here this song dose not change and in fact goes in to a third verse.
The melody's he uses in this song are also quite quiet to the songs that he has written in the past. Unlike a lot of his songs where he goes to higher and more powerful melody's in the chorus, he goes to a softer and lower melody in this chorus and the verses are in fact the part of the song that has more power and high singing in them. |
Studying the people who inspired Ben Frances leftwich
I thought it would be a good idea when trying to understand Benjamin Frances Leftwichs songwriting style to see who it was that inspired him. So i have done some research on the stylistic elements of the people that have inspired him so that i can look and see if there are any the same elements in his music from there music.
Elliot smithHe says that when he writes it stems from things that he Imagen's during the day and that for him there is no real method to writing. He dose not thing about the song as the lyrics, he this of the songs in the shape of chord changes. He basses his songs around chord sequences instead of around riffs.
He likes playing different intervals and not having to battle with conversion all the time and as he puts it "being unusual". One thing that he says that he dose a lot in his recent songs is putting a fifth not below the bass note of the chord because of the rich sound that it gives the song. The video on the right gives a good lesson on how Elliot Smith writes songs. I red in an article that Eliot, much like a lot of outer songwriters dose not necessarily write the lyrics or the melody's first. He just dose whatever it is that comes to him at the time. He dose whatever it is that feels comfortable to him. |
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