|
The Theory of Songwriting |
Coming up with a good song is little more than coming up with a nice chord change, a mean riff, or a neat rhyming couplet, right? After all, listen to songs like The Chemical Brothers' 'Block Rockin' Beats,' or Daft Punk's 'Around the World.' What could be easier than coming up with something similar yourself? And yet, when notes go down on paper/tape/hard drive, suddenly something seems missing. I'll tell you what is missing, and it is what separates amateur songwriters from the professionals: arrangement. The good news is that, unlike inspiration or hard work, it can be learned. The first thing I learned in writing this little article is how very little theory I know myself. So with that caveat out of the way, let us begin… The Golden Rules The most important thing to learn, codified by The KLF in musician's bible 'The Manual,' [available on this site from the Articles page] are the Golden Rules. Everyone knows the golden rules intuitively, whether they can write them down or not, for modern rock and pop is based so solidly on the foundation of these rules that even the most bizarre and fresh sounding songs often follow, when listened to analytically, these rules. You'll be wanting to know these rules then. You already know, but might not have seen them written down before:
Killer choruses The next thing to learn is chord progression. Usually you will have come up with something that sounds nice and you want to take it further and make a whole song out of it. Do not ruin your good work by making the verse so different from the chorus that they sound like they belong in different songs. If you have a good sounding chorus, perhaps along the basis of: F C F Bb F C F C Why not try for the verse: F Bb F C F Bb F C? It looks so obvious when written down. And yet so many bands torture themselves in the quest to be different with impossible looking chord structures like: A verse of:
A chorus
of: Do yourself - and your audience - a favour. Keep it simple. Complicated chord structures certainly sounds good when done right - a listen to the Beatles, Stevie Wonder, or Miles Davis confirms that - but, like the Golden Rule, it is easier to master the simple stuff first. A simple chord structure keeps the verses and chorus more coherent than just about anything else. Writing the Words Which segues neatly on to the next subject - vocals. The most important part of a song is the vocal melody - it wouldn't be called a song, after all, if it were any different (your intention may be to create a song with no words, in which case this point does not apply to you). But why sing at all unless you have something interesting to say? What is it you are trying to say in this song you have just written? Is it a random collection of bad rhymes, put together to fit a melody or chord structure? Time to change that. Are there any good phrases in the song you have that could be salvaged, give you an idea for a completely different song? Hear anything that tickled your fancy from your local patter merchant down the pub last night? Anything about the human condition that needs to be said? Just remember that no-one cares if your partner has just left you, or that warfare and famine are getting you down, unless you can connect to them in a new and refreshing way. Vocals are the one place where it is good to be different, to be daring, to open your heart. Repetition in vocals is ok, as long as it is of something interesting. There is another potential threat to vocals, one which can enhance your words in underlined red ink but if done wrongly, will dash all your hard work on grafting a cute rhyme to naught - band dynamics. Unfortunately for most bands, especially live, the vocal becomes the least audible part of the performance, as each instrument is cranked to full for maximum effect. The best way to go is usually the opposite. The vocals should be taken as the most important part, and everything else should flow from that. If you have taken the bother to write lyrics for your songs, it is only fair to let the audience hear them. It is here that the cruel irony of the rhythm guitar comes into play. The singer/songwriter often writes their songs with the aid of a guitar, but this occupies the same frequency range as the typical male voice, and many a lead singer will be drowned out by a noise often of his own devising - the rhythm guitar. (Female guitarists can keep playing rhythm). However, if the drums and bass are doing their job correctly, there should be no need for a rhythm guitar to keep the band tight. Which leads us to arrangement. Making the arrangement The fundamental point to note about arrangement - apart from the Golden Rule above - is that each instrument has a different frequency range. This is an important point - because vocals are usually the most important part of a performance, you don't want anything else with a similar frequency range, like guitars, keyboards, or brass instruments, interfering at the same time. You could turn the volume of these instruments down for a performance, but a more effective technique is to sparsen out the arrangement. There is no rule I have seen written down that says that every instrument must play all the time. Indeed, the very opposite is often preferable - bringing in instruments only when they are needed, and dropping them when they are not, will increase the impact not only of the individual instruments, but of the song as a whole. A great riff sounds even better when it is not having to compete with the vocals. Listen to the Kinks' 'All Day and All of the Night.' When the vocal line is continuous, the guitar is innocuous - only coming on with the great riff when the vocals are broken or static. This is the technique of 'call and answer' we hear all the time on blues records (Call:I woke up this morning. Answer:da na na na na nah). Another old trick is to bring on all the bells and whistles for a chorus or grand finale to a song, and that is only possible when something is kept in reserve at the start. Another technique you might want to try is to have each of your instruments playing a different melody to the main one. If the bass, lead, rhythm, and keyboards all shadow the same chords, the effect will be far reduced compared to just two instruments playing counterpoint. Try a different, funkier line for the bass compared to the other instruments. Let instruments in the same range as the vocals stab or play a continuous drone. Mood music Finally, we come to the mood of a song. Just by listening to other songs, we get an idea of how our song should sound. A reflective song should have a quiet accompaniment, a youthful song a loud, bouncy one. A serious point is usually better made in reflective mode, but subverting the mood and making it bright and breezy can bring an added dimension - think of OMD's 'Enola Gay'. Certain sounds lend certain atmospheres. Keyboard pads or flanged, reverberating guitars are atmospheric. Punk guitar and frantic drums are aggressive. A funky bass makes you want to dance. Phil Collins style drums are the least likely to make you want to dance and want to listen to the words, while Clyde Stubblefield (James Brown Band) style drums are the opposite.
I hope you've learnt something, even if the only concrete bit of good advice is the Golden Rules. But remember that though you can learn theory and arrangement, you can't learn original inspiration. If you have something to say, keep it simple, keep it unique and true to yourself. Listen to the people you respect, but ignore their advice completely if you disagree with it inside. As the artist Georgia O'Keeffe once said: "I can't do the job I want, I can't vote for what I want, and I sure can't sleep with who I want. I'd be a damn fool not to paint what I want." And perhaps that is the best advice of all. (C) 2001 Craig Weldon. All rights reserved. |