Ideas for reworking a song to raise the excitement level.
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Being able to take musical ideas and rework them until they sound better is a normal part of most composers’ writing process. That means that even if you’ve finished a song, you can still take it apart and make changes. And in fact, a good song can take weeks or even months to get it to the point where you know it’s working well.
If you’ve written a song where everything seems right, but it’s just not doing it for you, there’s lots you can do to change it. Here’s a short list of ideas to try:
- Is it the lyric? If your lyric feels wrong somehow, check out the following:
- If it’s recounting a story, does the storyline make sense? As you move from verse to chorus and back again, is there a coherent order of events with no gaps in the story?
- If it’s describing a situation or feeling, does the lyric make a natural progression from “this is who I am” to “this is what I think”, to “this is the consequence”?
- Do you move easily from narrative-style statements in your verse lyric to emotive-style lyrics in the chorus?
- Do you avoid clichés and hackneyed phrases and analogies?
- Do you make sure that your lyric uses common, every day words, and stay away from forced rhymes and stodgy terminology?
- Is it the chord progression? If you find that your chord changes aren’t working, here are some ideas:
- Do you use strong progressions in the chorus (i.e., ones that clearly imply the key of the song)?
- While your verse can use more tonally ambiguous progressions, are you certain that you’re not straying too far afield with your progressions?
- Is the start of your bridge progression in a different (but closely related) key?
- Is it the melody? If your melodies seem aimless, check the following list:
- Do your melodies (especially the chorus) use a good amount of repetition of small melodic shapes?
- Does your verse melody sit lower than your chorus melody? (Hint: it should.)
- Does your verse melody start lower and work its way higher?
- Does your chorus’ climactic high point occur near the start of the chorus? (This can be a good way to generate song energy and excitement.)
There’s a lot you can do to take a boring song and make it something more. Getting assistance from your musical friends can be very helpful. Send two or three good musicians whose opinions you trust your song, and ask them to be honest and open about what they think of it.
When you solicit opinions from others about your music, it’s important to be accepting of their advice. It can be hard to hear the truth, but remember: all music is fixable, and most musicians will gladly offer opinions to fellow songwriters, and do so with respect.
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Written by Gary Ewer. Follow on Twitter.
“The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” 6-eBook Bundle looks at songwriting from every angle, and has been used by thousands of songwriters. How to use chords, write melodies, and craft winning lyrics. $95.70 $37.00 (and you’ll receive a FREE copy of “From Amateur to Ace: Writing Songs Like a Pro.“)
I run into a lot of these issues when I write music. I always get a lot of opinions from fellow musicians when I finally hit the record button. I’m actually in the process of trying to write an album by myself so this article will really come in handy later. Asking yourself these questions are really important, especially when you don’t have someone working beside you to critique you as you go. If anyone is interesting in watching my journey of writing and producing my own music by myself you should check out/follow my blog. I’m always wanting to meet fellow musicians! http://social390js.wordpress.com/
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When you solicit opinions from others about your music, it’s important to be accepting of their advice. It can be hard to hear the truth, but remember: all music is fixable, and most musicians will gladly offer opinions to fellow songwriters, and do so with respect.
If only the above was true for the majority of learning writers. Of course there are some
who can take well meant advice and improve their writing.
Sadly many ask for a critique,and then go defensive when the critique is not what they want to hear, most are looking for pats on the back.
Boring melodies, lyrics that are full of cliche rhymes, No understanding of meter and how it can enhance your songs structure, Old fashioned rhythm , Demo Singers with limited vocal ranges, Storylines that are re runs of other hit songs, Trite Titles ,
No wonder most PUblishers and A and R departments, will not accept unsolicited Demo’s
The record Industry at this time is at an all time low, Publishers are closing down right left and center, Money is scarce. No one wants staff writers, and if you do get published. most songs will sit on the shelf, never to be heard or recorded by even an indie recording artiste
and try asking for a return clause if they don’t get a top recording in three years.
That’s not even the worst side of the business, because if you do have some success and get a hit many publishers and record companies will give you all sorts of reasons for holding on to your royalties as long as they can.
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