Melody: 5 Essential Books
SongChops
by admin
1w ago
Melody is the messaging highway of your song. It helps maintain the interest of your listener much like scenery along the route. They can give your lyrics either a neighborhood lane, super highway or country road feel to deliver the story. And much like a road system it can have turns, back tracking and sometimes a rush to the destination! Let’s face it, writing unique, interesting melodies is tough. So, why not have a little help! My Book Picks To Build Your Melody Writing Skills (As an Amazon Associate we may earn a commission on qualifying purchases) Melody: How to Write Great Tunes ..read more
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Effective Similes In Songs
SongChops
by shibes
1w ago
Creating effective similes in songs can take a ho-hum lyric and turn it into a “wow!” lyric. The magic of a simile is that it allows you to use a direct comparison between two things in order to describe the thing you are talking about. Not to sound like a business person, but the ROI on using a simile in a song, if done well, is big because it is immediately additive to your song. FREE Simile Generator Worksheet Get this step-by-step songwriting worksheet to help you build great similes in songs. Because it pulls all of the things associated with the comparison into the listene ..read more
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Songwriting Exercise: Turning Poems Into Songs
SongChops
by admin
1w ago
Turning poems into songs sounds like something that’s pretty easy to do. After all, the words are there. The rhyme is there (unless you’re using free verse poems). The meter is there (in free verse too). All you have to do is add the music! But the challenge is in creating something accessible to a listener that comes at them in a song’s structure. Ultimately, they shouldn’t be able to tell it was a poem. Poems Into Songs: Getting Started STEP 1: Choose Your Poem Try and choose a poem with a “form” rather than a free verse poem. Free verse usually lacks end rhyme, and there’s not a pattern to ..read more
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Joni Mitchell ‘Magdalene Laundries’
SongChops
by admin
1w ago
On her 1994 album Turbulent Indigo Joni Mitchell has one of the most descriptive, powerful songs you’ll ever hear. She crafts a first person story about a young girl incarcerated in one of Ireland’s Magdalene institutions – The Magdalene Laundries for being over twenty, unmarried and attractive. The song is an exceptional example of taking a news topic and finding the human side that speaks of the injustice, but never sounds like it’s a protest song – it never talks at the listener, takes a position and pounds at it. It simply takes a first person account and uses ..read more
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Creating Better Melodies
SongChops
by admin
1w ago
Melodies can be tricky to find, invent and build – especially when we keep hearing the same thing in our head. So, how do you break the pattern? Melody mapping. It’s a visual way to find patterns and tendencies that you often repeat. Just changing a few of these items can create new songs in your catalogue. And, by understanding the rhythms, chord structure, line lengths, lyrical meter that you are most comfortable with, you can create new patterns that simply go against those patterns. There are a couple of exercises below to help you figure out: (1) If your melodies have enough dynamically w ..read more
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How Melody And Lyrics Work Together
SongChops
by admin
1w ago
Melody and lyrics play a key part in: (1) differentiating your song, (2) communicating your message, and (3) creating a compelling, memorable moment for a listener.  So how can you achieve all three each time your write? Pat Pattison takes a look at a song by Ann Rapetti (with a live performance) and talks about melody and the lyric. As she plays through the song, there’s discussion around placing emphasis on key words throughout the melody, and how word choice drives at least part of the options you have for creating unique sounding melodies. Melody And Your Lyric Intro Melody And Lyric ..read more
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Verb Power
SongChops
by admin
1w ago
Verbs are power in a song. So, mastering your verb power will make your songs more memorable because there is more emotion and motion in your songs. Verbs will enhance your imagery. Sounds strange, but let’s dig into the idea of stronger verbs. The words “jump” and “catapult,” while synonyms, have very different visual and emotional responses from a reader/listener. Verbs can help your songs rise above the expected. Because something as simple as word choice can move a song from nice when heard, to memorable, every word counts. Since emotional connection is what brings it home for a ..read more
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Rhyme Mastery: Lori McKenna ‘The Bird & The Rifle’
SongChops
by admin
1w ago
Lori McKenna’s “The Bird & The Rifle” is a masterclass in song craft. Not only is the rhyme pattern brilliant, but she illustrates how to use a metaphor to get across an idea most would have done as a conversation between a man and woman.  Instead, she went with a rifle and a bird. Not only does the rhyme pattern kill, she combines with some unconventional approaches to common song elements like the chorus and song outro. She uses a super-clever rhyme pattern with staggered end-rhyme that gives the song a unique sound and story-like atmosphere.  McKenna’s gift is her ability to t ..read more
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Organize A Hook Book
SongChops
by shibes
3w ago
Organize your hook book! It’s one of the best things you can do to make sure you’ve got ideas and lines at your fingertips when you’re working toward your 300 song goal. It’s also handy to have something ready to toss out as a starter when you’re headed to a co-write, especially if you’ve never written with the person before. I’m a little bit right brained – a little bit left brained (but not related to Donny or Marie). So while I’m creative, I’m also a little OCO (obsessive compulsive order as my pal Todd would say). Naturally, I have an organization system for my creative ideas.  It’s a ..read more
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Kacey Musgraves ‘Merry Go Round’
SongChops
by shibes
3w ago
Kacey Musgraves, along with Josh Osborne and Shane McAnally, uses the play on words in ‘Merry Go Round’ bring the images and the story of “a life” from a Texas small town full circle. It’s a universal message delivered with a popish melody line and music that resonates with audiences across genres – and most importantly – in younger demos. The song uses the simplicity of a nursery rhyme to capture a vignette of small town life from the perspective of an adult (told in third person). The innocence and time frame reference of a nursery rhyme to evoke a “from childhood” sense of drama to the song ..read more
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