Song writing from scratch A resource for KS3

1. Song writing from scratchA resource for KS3

2. The Delia Smith approach to song-writing: Simple ingredients done well All you need is: • A pencil and paper • A chord instrument – guitar, keyboard, autoharp etc • Something to record with – either manuscript paper, pencil and rubber, or a mobile phone, voice recorder, midi keyboard etc (from now on, ‘record’ means write notation or record audio)

3. Choose Key and Style Choose A Key where you know at least these chords; Major key I IV V vi (eg. in C: C F G Am) Minor key i bIII bVI bVII (eg. In Am: Am C F G) Choose A Style Imagine a band you like, performing a song you haven’t heard before. This will give the tempo, singing style, characteristic chord changes, strum pattern, phrases, instruments etc. Or choose a song or musical style to copy

4. Where to start Most songs follow this structure Verse1  Chorus Verse2  Chorus Bridge Verse3  Chorus (with an optional Intro using Verse or Chorus material; Verse 3 is sometimes omitted) So we just need to write: • Verse • Chorus • Bridge

5. Thinking about the structure Initially, start with the melody: let it suggest the chords, and add the lyrics last. If you choose to start with chords (a common approach), it’s hard to resist the melody following them . . . so the melody ends up without a distinctive character or quality A melody is built up from phrases so choose a simple phrase – borrow one or imagine your own (see example 1) It can come from anywhere – rock, classical, folk, hiphop, guitar solos... originality doesn’t matter – when you’ve finished, it won’t be recognisable Just ONE phrase - work out which beat of the bar it starts on Record it

6. Creating the Verse melody • Generate more phrases from the first • You can: • Copy the phrase verbatim • Add notes to the phrase • Subtract notes to make a melody (see example 2), working one or two bars at a time • Add Chords to this couple of bars: • Hum the melody so far and try chords I IV V vi (major) or i bIII bVI bVII (minor) • Try chords until you have a sequence you like (see example 3)

7. Use these options to add more phrases Copy – original or modified version, and Add or subtract notes (see example 5) Alter timing – move timing of some notes (see example 4) Alter pitches – move pitches of some notes (example 5) Shift timing – move timing of whole phrase (example 5) Shift pitches – move pitch of whole phrase (example 4) Answer the phrase (example 5) After adding each new phrase, add chord/s as you go Choose custom or stock chord changes (see next slide)

8. Stock Chord Changes - Major I vi IV V Blue Moon, Beautiful Girls, Stand By Me, Every Breath You Take, Complicated, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Bleeding Love I vi From Me To You, Buffalo Soldier, My Sweet Lord, That’s Entertainment, The Locomotion I V vi IV I’m Yours, No Woman No Cry, Torn, Fall At Your Feet, With Or Without You, Let It Be, Since You’ve Been Gone I IV I V Lion Sleeps 2nite RockinAllOverTheWorld I bVII IV Sweet Home Alabama, Sweet Child O’ Mine, Can’t Get Enough, Back In Black, Won’t Get Fooled Again

9. Stock Chord Changes - Minor i bVII bVI All Along The Watchtower, Don’t Fear The Reaper, Stairway To Heaven, Rolling In The Deep i bVI Something In The Way, Californication, Sober, I Shot The Sheriff, Papa Don’t Preach i bVI bIII bVII One Of Us, Save Tonight, Patience, Complicated, IfIWere A Boy i bIII bVII IV Boulevard Of Broken Dreams, Run To You, Wonderwall, Mad World, Piece of Me, Fly Away See the site ‘The Axis of Awesome’ for more stock chord songs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHBVnMf2t7w

10. Chorus - The Singalong Bit (see example 6) Use the same process as the Verse to write the Chorus To create the buzz, make a musical high point by using: • Much more repetition of phrases • Notes in a higher register than the verse • Dynamics, texture and arrangement • Different chord changes or rate of change

11. Bridge (see example 6) Use the same process as the verse to create the bridge Now take the song somewhere else by: • Using new phrases/different rhythm • Using different chord changes • Changing the rate that chords change • Leading back into the verse at the end

12. Lyrics - principles ‘Lyrics are pitched mouth noises’ - Frank Zappa So lyrics just have to sound good, not mean anything. No one likes a song for its great lyrics if the melody is no good, but many good songs’ lyrics are gibberish (Teen Spirit, Wonderwall, All You Need Is Love, etc).

13. Lyrics - strategies So you can: • Sing the melody with gibberish vowels and record it. Play it back, write down what it sounds like, and impose a bit of grammar as you go (Oasis) • Allusion – refer to a story only you know about without explanation (Dylan) • Pick a title and free associate. Rhyme if you feel like it (Nirvana) • Choose a phrase or saying that fits part of your tune, then fill in the rest like a crossword (Beatles) • Musical diary – ordinary day to day stuff (Madness, Kinks, Ian Dury)

14. Some final tips . . . Pull other songs apart to see how they’re made. Use the ingredients in your work. These are just suggestions; if you have a better idea, use it There’s nothing wrong with simple Don’t be critical of your work at first Don’t worry about being original – you might, you might not. It’s a pointless modern obsession that will only hold you back. Being original is no guarantee of quality; most original ideas are no good.

15. Some final tips . . . continued Work out your song-writing muscles. If you write 200 songs, I guarantee the 200th will be better than the first. If an idea doesn’t work, try something else ‘Influences’ are other people’s ideas – AKA being inspired by, borrowing, stealing etc Keep building – don’t review what you’ve already written, get on to the next bit Try repeating a phrase over changing chords