Written by Gary Ewer, Senior Instructor, Dalhousie University, from “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website.
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A successful song is a blend of new ideas (innovation) and tried & true techniques (tradition). This blend of innovation and tradition is a tricky balance to get right. If your song is too innovative, you risk leaving the listener feeling confused, and boredom can set in. The paradox is that if your song is too traditional – too much like other songs – the same thing happens: your audience gets bored.
There is a natural desire on the part of the listener to hear repeating elements. Certain chord progressions are used a lot because they work. But if the listener feels that they know how the song is going to proceed from the outset, they’ll lose interest. It’s like watching a movie where you just know how it’s going to turn out.
Using the movie analogy, there’s nothing like a movie that seems as though it’s going to follow a certain plotline, and then… something totally unexpected happens. As long as it’s not from way out in left field, you’ve got the makings of a great movie.
Your song, to really pull in an audience, needs to use enough traditional elements that the listener feels comfortable, but also needs to be innovative enough that they don’t feel that they’ve heard it all before.
In general, be careful of the following:
- Lyrics need to be “real”. Unless your song is a setting of poetry, use real words that you’d use everyday.
- Melodies need some contour. A chorus melody will generally be placed higher in the singer’s voice than a verse melody, and in both cases, need a high point. Give it some shape. Also, don’t let your melody simply be an outlining of the chords you’re using. It will sound stilted and unexpressive.
- Chords don’t require a lot of innovation; they serve as a foundation upon which you build your song. But the mind can turn off if your chords are those basic I – IV -V chords over and over again.
Another piece of advice: an innovative element in your song will be more readily accepted by the listener if other elements are less innovative. Leonard Cohen’s songs work so well because while the lyrics are deep and poetry-based, the chords and melodies are more easily accessible.
-Gary Ewer
From “The Essential Secrets of Songwriting” website:
Songwriting tips! Write Better Chords, Melodies and Hooks.