Great Songwriting Techniques

Cover......Page 1
Half title......Page 2
Great Songwriting Techniques......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
Contents......Page 6
Acknowledgments......Page 14
About the Companion Website......Page 16
Methodology and song selection......Page 20
My personal experience as a songwriter......Page 21
How to use this book......Page 22
Part I The Basics......Page 24
Beginning with a title......Page 26
Beginning with a lyric concept......Page 28
The importance of having a central idea......Page 29
Beginning with a musical idea......Page 30
Beginning with a melodic idea......Page 31
Beginning with a chord progression......Page 33
Collaboration......Page 34
Activities......Page 35
Melody: pitch and rhythm......Page 38
Conceiving a melody: melody’s connection to lyrics......Page 39
Melodic rhythm......Page 41
Memorable melodic rhythms......Page 42
Conversational and declarative melodies......Page 44
Arpeggiated melodies......Page 46
Characteristics of memorable melodies......Page 48
A song “hook”......Page 50
Activities......Page 51
Rhyme......Page 52
Matched phrases......Page 53
Inexactly matched phrases......Page 55
Masculine and feminine rhymes......Page 56
Internal rhymes......Page 57
The order of the phrases......Page 58
To rhyme or not to rhyme......Page 60
Perfect rhyme, imperfect rhyme, assonance, and consonance......Page 61
Balance, the norm......Page 62
Rhyme as a unifying factor......Page 63
The strategic use of rhyme......Page 64
The element of surprise......Page 65
Summary......Page 66
Activities......Page 67
The importance of tonality......Page 70
Major scale in relationship to the harmonic series—​stable and unstable tones......Page 71
Melodic progression......Page 72
Tone tendencies and form......Page 73
Immediate and delayed resolutions......Page 75
Independent melody......Page 76
Dependent melody......Page 77
Melody in two tonal relationships......Page 78
Characteristics of each of the unstable pitches in the major scale......Page 79
Re......Page 80
La......Page 81
Fa......Page 82
Secondary resolutions......Page 83
Chromatic notes......Page 84
Tone tendencies in the Aeolian mode (or natural minor)......Page 86
Tone tendencies in the Dorian mode......Page 87
Tone tendencies in the melodic minor ascending......Page 88
Tone tendencies’ relationship to the lyric and to prosody......Page 89
Activities......Page 91
Rhythm and meter—​the basics......Page 94
Syncopation......Page 96
Process......Page 98
The sounds of words......Page 101
Assonance and alliteration......Page 103
Collaboration—​writing lyrics to a given piece of music......Page 105
Beginning with lyrics, process......Page 106
Learning from the masters......Page 108
Learning from masters of collaboration......Page 111
Activities......Page 113
“Always”......Page 116
“Imagine”......Page 119
Summary......Page 120
Addendum......Page 121
Part II Tonal Environments......Page 122
Traditional major—​controlling your tonal materials......Page 124
Traditional major/​minor scales......Page 126
Functional harmony and chord progression in traditional major and minor......Page 127
Major key harmony......Page 128
Strong root movements in traditional harmony......Page 130
Chromaticism......Page 131
Secondary dominants......Page 132
Traditional minor scales and their diatonic triads......Page 136
Modal interchange......Page 139
Activities......Page 140
Blues......Page 142
The transformation of the blues: rock and R&B......Page 145
Root movements in blues/​rock......Page 146
Mixing blues harmonies with traditional major/​minor harmonies......Page 150
Styles within the R&B tonal environment......Page 151
Traditional, church-​influenced R&B......Page 152
Romantic R&B......Page 153
Funk......Page 154
Twenty-first-century R&B and hip-hop......Page 156
Modes......Page 157
Aeolian......Page 159
Mixolydian......Page 160
Dorian......Page 161
Lydian......Page 163
Pentatonic scales......Page 164
Contemporary treatment of tonality—​avoiding the obvious......Page 165
Summary......Page 168
Activities......Page 169
Part III Large Considerations......Page 170
The musical idea, the motive......Page 172
Repeat the rhythm/​change the pitch (rrcp)......Page 173
Conjunction......Page 174
Extension......Page 175
Truncation......Page 177
Rhythmic displacement......Page 178
Circling back process......Page 181
Inversion......Page 182
The topography of the phrases......Page 185
Summary......Page 186
Activities......Page 187
Melodic step progression......Page 188
The melodic outline in relationship to the actual melody......Page 194
Process......Page 195
Melodic contour......Page 198
Activities......Page 199
Verse, verse, verse......Page 200
The verse/​refrain form......Page 202
Title at the beginning of the verse......Page 203
Techniques to create contrast in writing a bridge......Page 205
Unifying the bridge to the previous sections......Page 206
The chorus......Page 208
Choruses with repeated music and lyrics; the midpoint of the chorus......Page 209
Choruses with an added phrase......Page 211
The verse/​chorus song......Page 212
“Fire And Rain”......Page 213
“Friends In Low Places”......Page 215
The prechorus......Page 217
The hooky prechorus (the luxury airliner)......Page 220
The song as a chorus......Page 221
The AABA chorus......Page 222
The ABAB′ chorus......Page 223
Other chorus-​only songs......Page 224
Summary......Page 225
Activities......Page 226
Part IV Harmonic Considerations......Page 228
Chords are not simply chords—​discovering chords through voice leading......Page 230
Chord progression......Page 233
The importance of the bass line......Page 235
Chord inversions......Page 236
Implied chords......Page 238
Pedal point......Page 239
Chords without thirds......Page 240
The physicality of chords......Page 242
Chords for dance music......Page 243
Chord progression’s effect on the lyric......Page 245
Prosodic implications of chord progressions......Page 247
Unbalanced harmonic phrases and their effect on lyrics......Page 250
Activities......Page 251
Tonally dependent melody......Page 254
Accord and contradiction between melody and harmony......Page 256
Process......Page 259
The prismatic effect......Page 261
The importance of dissonance in the melody/​harmony relationship......Page 263
Nonchord tones in the melody......Page 265
Examples of nonchord tones found in well-​known songs......Page 266
Supportable nonchord tones......Page 269
Beyond tradition......Page 272
Jazz songs......Page 274
Summary......Page 277
Activities......Page 278
Harmony: the great organizer......Page 280
Rhythmic and tonal independence of melody to harmony......Page 281
Back-​heavy and front-​heavy phrases......Page 284
The importance of back-​heavy phrases......Page 287
Repeated chord patterns......Page 288
Masterful use of melodic phrasing......Page 290
Summary......Page 292
Activities......Page 293
Part V Deeper into Technique......Page 294
Counterpoint......Page 296
Melodic motion and direction between two voices......Page 297
The rhythmic relationship between two lines......Page 298
Structural use of the riff......Page 304
Summary......Page 306
Activities......Page 307
Use in verse/​prechorus/​chorus songs......Page 308
Use in the AABA song form......Page 312
Chorus beginning in a tonal area other than the tonic......Page 313
Strategy #2......Page 314
The use of strategy #2 with modes......Page 317
Strategy #3......Page 321
Strategies using loop-​based chord patterns......Page 325
Activities......Page 331
Part VI Final Results......Page 332
Music......Page 334
Examples of exceptional prosody......Page 335
The importance of the concept of “open” and “closed” in prosody......Page 341
Activity......Page 344
“Out Of My Dream”......Page 346
Music for the verse......Page 347
Music for the chorus......Page 349
Writing the lyric......Page 351
The verse lyric......Page 352
The chorus lyric......Page 353
The bridge and coda......Page 354
Conclusion......Page 356
“Goodbye Again”......Page 357
Music for the verse......Page 358
Music for the chorus......Page 359
The lyrics for “Goodbye Again”......Page 361
Prosody in “Goodbye Again”......Page 362
Summary......Page 363
Afterword......Page 366
Songs......Page 368
Appendix: Symbols Used in This Book......Page 386
Index......Page 390