Monday 4 August 2014

Ticket 39: Don't Start The Melody On The First Beat


Use an anacrusis (starting the melody with a 'pick up') – e.g. the "hey" in Hey Jude. This requires some confidence as a vocalist to pull off. Alternatively start the melody after the 'one' – e.g. Come Together. This is much more common, as hearing the chord before you sing provides a 'safety net'.

Before

A Hard Day's Night
All My Loving
Blue Jay Way
Can't Buy Me Love
Dear Prudence
Don't Let Me Down
Happiness Is A Warm Gun
Hey Jude
No Reply
Penny Lane
Strawberry Fields Forever - chorus
Yellow Submarine
You're Going To Lose That Girl


After

Come Together
Here Comes The Sun
We Can Work It Out
You Never Give Me Your Money


also

Before

Angels – chorus (Robbie Williams)
Beauty And The Beast (Ashman/Menken)
They Can't Take That Away From Me (Gershwin/Gershwin)
You Do Something To Me (Paul Weller)

After

Great Balls Of Fire (Jerry Lee Lewis) 
Imagine (John Lennon)

See also

Ticket 11: Play The Vocal Rhythm
Ticket 13: Make The Vocals Stay On Non-Chord Tones
Ticket 22: Bluesify Your Melody
Ticket 50: Stay Off The Root Note In The Melody


See the full list of songwriting tips here - Tickets To Write

1 comment:

  1. It seems like Mega City Four are big fans of using this technique!
    Before:
    1988 Awkward Kid (0:00)
    1988 Miles Apart (0:00)
    1993 Iron Sky (0:00)

    After:
    1992 Desert song (0:01)

    The pillows:
    Before:
    1990 Boku wa kakera (0:00)

    After:
    1999 No Self Control (0:00)
    1999 Bran-new lovesong (0:00)
    1999 Midnight Down (0:00)

    Other artists:
    Before:
    Johnny Thunder & the heartbreakers - It's not enough (0:00)

    ReplyDelete