Friday 30 November 2012

New Tickets To Write!




Here are six brand new songwriting tips from the Beatles. You can check out 52 more right here

T53 Write A 'Jazz-Style Intro' Verse

Whether you use a verse/chorus structure or a tradition AABA form, try kicking off the proceedings with an introductory section that differs from the other verse sections

Honey Pie, Here There And Everywhere, P.S. I Love You, Do You Want To Know A Secret, Julia, also - I Got Rhythm (Gershwin), Night And Day (Porter), That Old Black Magic (Porter), The Lady Is A Tramp (Gershwin) Here At The End OF The World (Matt Blick), and in a strange way, For Those About To Rock (AC/DC)

T54 Unify Your Lyrical Imagery

Draw all your metaphors and similes from a narrow pool of concepts

Julia - sea and sky,
also - There Goes The Moon (Matt Blick) – moon

T55 Let Two Become One

Got lots of song fragments lying around? Join two (or more) separate incomplete song together to make one whole song. Good for co-writing (A Day In The Life) or just using up your own random ideas (I Am The Walrus).

I Got A Feeling, A Day In The Life, Dig A Pony, I Am The Walrus, Happiness Is A Warm Gun, You Never Give Me Your Money, also - Layla (Derek & The Dominos), Zooropa (U2)

T56 Write Your Melody Over Phantom Chords

Create musical tension by writing a melody over a chord or progression and then sing it over a different one. It will push you into new melodic territory.

A Day In The Life (verse – I just had to laugh), I Want To Hold You Hand (bridge - and when I touch you)

T57 Use Rhythmic Displacement

Repeat a melody or riff, but start on a different beat. The 3 over 4 hemiola (T29) is a small example of this approach. More info here

Why Don't We Do It In The Road?, Something's Gotta Give (Mercer), Fascinating Rhythm (Gershwin) Something's Coming – West Side Story (Bernstein) Cult Of Personality – riff (Living Colour), Black Dog – riff (Led Zeppelin), Kasmir – riff (Led Zeppelin) Walk This Way – riff (Aerosmith)

T58 Write a Descant

Have a second vocal melody singing more or less the same words, at the same time as the main vocal line. Takes a lot of skill to make it work, but can sound awesome

Help, It Won't Be Long Now, She's Leaving Home, Hello Goodbye, also - Good Vibrations, Sloop John B (Beach Boys), California Dreaming (Mamas And The Papas)


2 comments:

  1. I would like to hear more about T56!

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  2. Yeah it's a cool idea - I think it's where some of Lennon's weirder harmonisations come from - I'll try to put a basic post up soon

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