Songwriting Strategies Read online

  Berklee Press

  Editor in Chief: Jonathan Feist

  Vice President of Online Learning and Continuing Education: Debbie Cavalier

  Assistant Vice President of Operations for Berklee Media: Robert F. Green

  Assistant Vice President of Marketing and Recruitment for Berklee Media: Mike King

  Dean of Continuing Education: Carin Nuernberg

  Editorial Assistants: Matthew Dunkle, Reilly Garrett, Zoë Lustri, Sarah Walk

  Cover Design: Ranya Karifilly, Small Mammoth Design

  Cover Photo of Songwriter Conner Snow: Jonathan Feist

  ISBN 978-1-4950-0875-7

  Berklee Press, a publishing activity of Berklee College of Music, is a not-for-profit educational publisher.

  Available proceeds from the sales of our products are contributed to the scholarship funds of the college.

  Copyright © 2014 Berklee Press

  All Rights Reserved

  No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by

  any means without the prior written permission of the Publisher.

  Contents

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  INTRODUCTION

  CHAPTER 1

  Song Seeds

  Catching Seeds

  Seeds and Personal Voice

  Seed vs. Filler

  Varieties of song Seeds

  Concept Seeds

  SHOULD WE CAPTURE CONTEXT?

  Lyric Seeds

  Musical Seeds

  The Art of Seed Catching

  Conclusion: Song Seeds and the Facets

  CHAPTER 2

  The Songwriter’s Compass

  The Four Facets

  Words and Music

  Sound and Sense

  The World

  Sound and Timbre

  Structure

  Traversing the Compass

  Setting

  Casting and Framing

  Structuring Strategies

  General Creative Strategies

  Summary of Compass Elements and Moves

  Example: Hurricane Revisited

  Framing “Hurricane”

  Setting “Hurricane”

  On to the Facets

  CHAPTER 3

  Rhythm

  The Challenge of Rhythm in Songwriting

  Working with Rhythm

  Dimensions of Rhythm in the Song

  Rhythmic Song Seeds

  Notating Rhythms: Woodblocks and Bagpipes

  The Temporal Framework

  The Flow of Musical Time

  Strict vs. Loose Time

  Pulse

  Time Signature and Tempo

  Working with the Temporal Framework

  Rhythmic Events

  Rhythmic Pace

  Rhythmic Patterns

  Working with the Rhythmic Phrase

  CHAPTER 4

  Lyrics

  Sound Aspects of Lyrics

  Thought Phrase

  Word Boundaries

  Syllabic Stress Patterns

  Mapping Lyrics to Syllabic Rhythm

  Syllabic Rhythm Example

  Anatomy of a Syllable

  Sound Color Aspects

  Additional Rhythmic Aspects

  Sense/Sound Lyric Strategies

  Lyric Sense to Sound: Paraphrasing

  Lyric Sound to Sense

  Lorem Ipsum: Dummies for Dummies

  Sense vs. Sound Approximations

  The Gibberish Scale: Seven Levels of Nonsense

  Sonic Contours

  Setting from Rhythm to Lyric

  Rhythm to Lyric by Sound

  Energy Contour of a Rhythmic Phrase

  Vowel and Consonant Contours

  Syllable Buds to Words to Lyrics

  A Few Small Repairs

  CHAPTER 5

  Melody

  Challenges in Melody Writing

  Thinking Melody

  Melodic Memory

  Melodic Design

  Melodic Contour

  Melodic Shape: Scales, Arpeggios, and Figures

  The Power of Pentatonics

  Melodic Transformations

  Shifting Figure and Field

  Melodic Range

  Melody/Rhythm Connections

  The Melody/Rhythm Continuum

  Rhythm to Melody

  Melody to Rhythm

  Melody/Lyric Connections

  Lyric Sounds and Melody

  Natural Intonation and Speech Melody

  Lyric Rhythm and Melodic Contour

  Review of Syllabic and Lyric Rhythm

  Melismas and Chanting Tones

  Lyric Pace and Melodic Pace

  Redefining Melodic Rhythm

  Effects and Uses of Melodic Textures

  Process Considerations

  Melismas and Chanting Tones in Revision

  Melodic and Lyric Pace Relationships

  Comfort Zones in Melodic/Lyric Pace

  Phrasing Templates

  CHAPTER 6

  Harmony

  Sound and Sense in Chords

  Sound Aspects of Harmony

  Sense Aspects of Harmony

  Process Considerations

  Chordal Song Seeds

  Chords as Sound, Shape, and Feel

  Chords at Your Instrument

  Using Your Chord Seeds

  Chord Seeds Away from Your Instrument

  Chord Progressions

  Simple Chords

  Chord Roots as Scale Degrees

  Intervallic Motion in Chord Progressions

  Directional Effects of Chord Root Movement

  Rising and Falling Moves

  Working with Root Tone Contours

  Harmonic Rhythm

  Cyclic vs. Narrative Progressions

  Cyclic Progressions

  Narrative Progressions

  Motivic Progressions

  CHAPTER 7

  Melody/Harmony

  Connections

  Independence of Melody and Harmony

  Melody/Harmony Counterpoint

  Species Counterpoint in Melody/Harmony

  Contrapuntal Motion in Melody/Harmony

  Melody/Harmony Contrapuntal Textures

  Pedal-Point Melodies

  Ostinato Melodies

  Parallel Textures

  Lazy Melodic Lines against Chords

  Chord-Driven Melodies

  Independent Tonal Melody

  Modal Melody/Harmony

  Expanding the Songbook

  Counterpoint in Modal Melody/Harmony

  Modal Palettes and Mosaics

  CHAPTER 8

  Structure

  Structure in the Song

  Starting from Structure

  Structural Challenges

  Phrase Structure

  Independence in Phrase Structure

  Motivic Structure

  Motives vs. Song Seeds

  Unfolding: Motives into Structure

  Fulfilling: Structure into Motives

  Counterpoint in Motivic Structure

  Counterpoint within Facets

  Counterpoint Across Facets

  CHAPTER 9

  Using the Compass:

  Further Steps

  Revisiting the Compass

  The Compass as a Unity

  From Compass to Tetrahedron

  Facets: From Vertices to Edges

  Facets as Faces: Facet Triads

&nbs
p; From Counterpoint to Irony: Back to the World

  Sound and Sense: Facets, World, and Structure

  CONCLUSION

  From a Song to the World

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Chet Atkins once invited jazz guitarist George Van Eps to play a concert for the Nashville chapter of the Musicians’ Union. At the show’s end, Chet’s buddies urged him to play a number himself. “That would be like following behind a snow plow with a spoon,” he said.

  I feel a lot like that—trying to explicate a bit of the magic in the masterpieces of many songwriters, famous or obscure, whose work still inspires me. My 360° songwriting approach, described in this book, formalizes practices and discov-eries made by these songwriters. Though often working intuitively, collectively they have scouted every pathway described in this book, and many more besides.

  I developed 360° songwriting over the course of many decades of observing and documenting my own creative process and experience—as a songwriter and co-writer, tunesmith and composer, musician, and teacher. I’ve learned especially from other writers—from their books and classes, from interviews and anecdotes, and by talking, co-writing, and teaching with them. I’ve been privileged to co-write with, and thus learn directly from, some truly great writers: Lisa Aschmann, Jon Weisberger, John Pennell, Becky Buller, Catie Curtis, Jimmy Barnes, Bob Carlin, Viktor Krauss, Andy Hall, Lisa Shaffer, Alana Levandoski, and Sarah Siskind, among many others.

  If we’re lucky, we songwriters also get to learn from artists who sing our songs. Of the many artists who have performed and recorded my songs and tunes, I offer special thanks to Laurie Lewis, who first heard the night bird sing, and to Alison Krauss, who showed some crazy faith.

  Many exercises and practices in this book were developed and presented over the years in songwriting workshops, critique sessions, music camps, retreats, and in more extended classes at Club Passim School of Music and New England Conservatory. A teaching tour to New Zealand/Australia in summer 2010, organized by Clare McLeod, and especially a key discussion with Anne Maree Wilshire, began a long new germination period of shaping 360° songwriting principles into this book. The underlying creative philosophy of this book also reflects many sources and influences beyond songwriting and music, especially my studies with master movement teacher Jaimen McMillan, founder of Spacial Dynamics®.

  This work came to fruition in an amazing community of musicians and musical thinkers—Berklee College of Music. Since 2005, teaching songwriting at Berklee has provided me with continuing invaluable opportunities to field-test and refine these techniques. I’ve been able to build on a legacy of seminal work in songwriting pedagogy contributed by my Berklee colleagues, and those working with their approaches—in particular, the published works of Pat Pattison, Jack Perricone, Jimmy Kachulis, Andrea Stolpe, and John Stevens, among others. Many other colleagues have generously shared their knowledge and experience, as I’ve observed their classes or cornered them in delightful afternoons of intense conversation: in Songwriting, the late Henry Gaffney, Scarlet Keys, Susan Cattaneo, Jon Aldrich, Stan Swiniarski, Dan Cantor, Melissa Ferrick, Ben Samama, and Bonnie Hayes; throughout the college and wider community, Allen LeVines, Steve Kirby, Scott McCormick, Sarah Brindell, Mick Goodrick, Matthew Nicholl, Joe Mulholland, Kari Juusela, Keppie Coutts, and Christiane Karam. I owe a particular debt to Matt Glaser, Bruce Molsky, Berklee’s American Roots Music Program, and Boston’s rich and varied quiltwork of roots music communities; and to Michael Wartofsky and members of NOMTI (New England Opera and Musical Theater Initiative).

  To pull it all together, I’ve been privileged to work with a great music book editor—a true old-school editor, ruthless and (almost) always right—my cheerful nemesis Jonathan Feist and his teams at Berklee Press and Hal Leonard. Many colleagues mentioned above served as beta readers and commenters on early drafts of the book, in addition to the keen-eyed close reading of Rujing (Stacy) Huang.

  They say if you want to learn something, teach it. At the root of all this has been the privilege of working with many talented, insightful, dedicated, fearless—and tolerant!—student songwriters and friends, who have accompanied me, as coexperimenters and fellow travelers, in developing and refining these ideas.

  Three women have deeply shaped my relation to the creative spirit, honored in these pages. I learned first lessons in creativity from my late mother, Bertha Claire Goldfarb Simos, who brought home rolls of butcher paper on which I happily drew endless maps of imaginary countries. My sister Mimi is always a source of inspiration and encouragement—in the truest sense. A well-known writer (under her nom de broom), she told me the hardest thing about writing a book, or any extended work, is managing one’s own fluctuating emotions. She was right, as usual. My beloved wife Pam—patient, wise, and more forgiving of me than I am of myself—has served a long vigil as midwife to this awkward babe of a book. On an afternoon walk along a tree-lined street in Vancouver, in summer 2010, she challenged me to take the time to make this book what she knew I wanted it to be. Neither of us knew what we were in for.

  INTRODUCTION

  This book presents a repertoire of songwriting strategies: practical strategies for writing songs, and learning strategies and exercises to help you advance as a songwriter. Using the tools and techniques described in this book, you’ll be able to draw on a broader range of sources of inspiration and starting points for songs. And you’ll be able to work with this material to write songs in more versatile and innovative ways.

  I call this approach 360° songwriting. It’s grounded in a comprehensive model that encompasses and integrates four primary facets of songwriting: rhythm, lyrics, melody, and harmony. Each facet can connect directly to imagery, narrative, and emotion in the world, and each can also express structure and form in unique ways. This opens up a rich repertoire of strategies and skills for songwriters. We can start a song from seed material in any facet, and follow pathways to related material in any other facet, or cast content directly to material in any of the facets.

  Developing the skills to follow these different creative pathways will expand the productivity, scope, and versatility of your writing. It will help you get stuck songs “unstuck”—unfreezing “writer’s block” by accessing alternate processes or pathways. Above all, it will help you write better songs: songs with depth, craft, unity, and integrity—songs that take chances and stretch boundaries, for you as a writer and for the art of songwriting. As you expand your abilities to work from “the full 360,” you’ll be writing songs from all directions, in all directions.

  This approach is simple in principle, but challenging in practice. We all have comfortable, familiar ways of writing songs. These serve us in good stead, until they don’t—when, at key points in our development as writers, they begin to hold us back. You can always improve your craft by reflecting on your habitual creative practices and trying new approaches. The 360° approach offers a framework for exploring alternative strategies in a more systematic, comprehensive way. It can be taken up as a discipline for ongoing “creative disruption,” as needed, of creative processes that have become routine, safe, and predictable. One habit you do need to cultivate for 360° songwriting, therefore, is the habit of breaking habits: seeking out and embracing challenges to your writing process, uncomfortable though they may be, unusable though initial results may seem—maybe even having fun along the way!

  In some respects, this work aims to be descriptive—providing a detailed process language for the “music of what happens” as songwriters write songs. This book does not set out, though, with the primary aim of describing what most songwriters are aware of doing in informal writing—even what I do in my personal approach to songwriting. Nor is it prescriptive, in the sense of advising you to write songs one particular way. It gives directions, not instructions—new options to explore. Toward that end, many new musical constructs, techniques, and tools are described herein, including many you’re not lik
ely to find in a typical songwriter’s notebook—not yet at least! Use these as explanatory and practical aids to observing your own creative process at finer levels of detail—thereby discovering new ways to write songs, new kinds of songs to write.

  All examples in the book were composed by me, written specifically for the book to illustrate concepts and techniques, rather than excerpted from contemporary songs or my own working catalogue. Though not intended to illustrate any particular genre or style, the examples will necessarily reflect my musical background and vocabulary, and may or may not be to your taste. Work through the exercises, writing your own music, and I believe you’ll find the tools and techniques applicable in your preferred style and genre. Also put these ideas and techniques to the test by listening for examples (and counter-examples), both in widely known songs and in the music you know and love.

  The examples and exercises in this book make extensive use of both standard notation and some notational conventions I introduce. Supporting audio tracks for all examples and exercises, along with other supplemental information and resources, are available at www.360songwriting.com.

  This is a comprehensive set of strategies for songwriters’ creative work. The term “360° songwriting” only coincidentally suggests a connection to the now prevalent “360 deals” between artist/writers, record labels, and publishers. Nevertheless, 360° skills will benefit professional songwriters, in a music industry that rewards productivity and innovation, versatility, responsiveness, and an ability to collaborate with partners with widely varying processes and styles.

  While my aims are practical, you’ll find the tone of this book philosophical at times. Because great songs can move and touch ordinary listeners who have no special musical training, it’s easy to underestimate the complexity hidden beneath the surface of sometimes deceptively simple musical materials, and the profound artistic work songwriting demands of us as songwriters. For me, artistic freedom is mastering unconstrained movement within a creative domain. Though style constrains vocabulary, we artists explore the infinity of possibilities within any such vocabulary. For dancers, this means moving the body effortlessly and expressively through space with posture and gesture. The space songwriters dance through—the space we’ll explore together in this book—is bounded by the four songwriting facets, and the circle or “horizon” encompassing them. Learning to move in and through this space, working freely and independently with these elements, is the artistic path I call 360° songwriting.