Songwriter Theory Podcast: Learn Songwriting And Write Meaningful Lyrics and Songs

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/ It’s great to have high standards. We want to achieve greatness at our craft, not adequacy.But sometimes high standards can morph into destructive perfectionism. Sometimes destructive perfectionism is masquerading around as high standards.Either way, we can (and probably at some point, will) fall victim to it.So what is destructive perfectionism?It’s when your perfectionism begins to become a hindrance to your creativity.If you aren’t making much progress on your songs because you feel the need to write it perfectly the first time, you have fallen victim to destructive perfectionism.If you refuse to move on to another song or another part of a song while writing or recording, you have fallen victim to destructive perfectionism.Let’s talk about how to combat this if we’re going through it and habits to form to ensure we don’t fall victim to it easily in the future.Getting It Right The First TimeThe first step is accepting you won’t get it right the first time.Once in a great while, a miracle happens. Milk and honey rain from the sky (Chocolate milk obviously), everyone admires you as a person and an artist, and the Patriots lose the superbowl.But, for every other day, you won’t get it right the first time.I’m a software developer by day, and we always joke about how rare it is that something we develop works right the first time. Sure, by time the user sees it for the first time, it probably mostly works.But, behind closed doors, that was after the developer worked out the kinks in his code for a while. Maybe coming up with several non-functional or non-ideal versions before getting something they like. And then the QA has to test it. They will inevitably find an issue and then the dev needs to work out those bugs.Eventually it gets through. But it’s pretty rare that something works perfectly the first time.Songwriting should be seen the same way. We shouldn’t even expect to ever get it right the first time. Sure, we should try to get it right, but we shouldn’t be putting on unnecessary pressure.A great way to solve this issue is to use something else prevalent in the world of software- an iterative process.Basically, you keep making passes over the same thing, making it a bit better each time.You don’t try to write the whole song perfectly the first time. The first time you just write. Write 20 terrible verses you will never use. Write a bunch of terrible piano riffs. Write a bunch of yawn-inducing chord progressions. Don’t even worry about it. Just let the creativity flow.Next time you go over the song, figure out what parts had potential and which parts are just junk. Maybe write some more. Or maybe refine some parts that have potential.Eventually you’ll have a chorus, a couple verses, and a bridge (or whatever your song structure becomes). But maybe you aren’t happy with your second verse still. A line or two just doesn’t seem quite right. So you keep working at that verse, making a bit better each time you touch it.Eventually you will get there.There are SO many benefits to this iterative process. One is the huge pressure release. There is something so freeing about just writing whatever comes to mind. If you aren’t worried about getting it perfect the first time, you can write so much. And there will be good stuff in there.Another benefit is that you get to refine over time. This allows you patience with your process and allows you to make constant progress. Instead of staring at a page, thinking of the perfect verse, you change a couple words or lines at a time, making it 1% better at each pass-through.Constant progress is important for the obvious reason of progress being good as well as the psychological win it provides. It’s super demoralizing to sit down to write and write NOTHING for an hour.But making a couple lines just a bit better or writing a bunch of crappy lyrics still gives you a psychological win. Progress inspires you to keep going.Refuse To Move On Until You Get Something PerfectLet’s say you look in the mirror and decide it’s time to start working out. You don’t want to be single any more and those biceps aren’t impressing the ladies.So what do you do?Do you do bicep workouts every day for 3 months until they are looking good? And then do 3 months of just triceps and pecs to get them tight-t-shirt-ready?No....

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/ I always thought the phrase “strike gold” was a bit weird. Or at least how it’s often used is. People use the phrase as if the person just happened across something super valuable.It’s always used as if, in the gold rush, people were just hiking along, and happened to see a full bar of gold.“Honey, I found the gold. We can retire now”But that’s not how it worked then nor is it how it works now.They had to travel across the country when it would take months. And there wasn’t exactly a highway system with McDonalds waiting at every exit.Then they had to be resourceful and find the right spot.Finally, they had to pan for the gold. And pan some more. And then keep panning. By the end of this, most of them still hadn’t become rich.What is the point here? “Striking gold” isn’t just a stroke of luck. It requires a ton of work in the hopes that you may strike gold.So you can’t just wait around for inspiration to strike. You have to write. You have to work at your craft on good days and bad days. Don’t wait for the Muse.Success isn’t found by happening across it as you float through life.It’s working at it, learning from mistakes and then working more. If you wait to write until you get a visit from the muse, it may never come.Rely On Skills vs. Rely On LuckDo you want your future success to lie on the shoulders of skills or luck?Hopefully your answer was skills. That was the correct answer.If you wait around for the muse, that’s putting your success on the shoulders of luck. The muse visits when it desires. Sometimes it will come every day for a week. Sometimes it will disappear for a year.You can’t rely on the muse. Don’t wait for the muse.We want our fate to rely on our skill at our craft. Because this is something we can work on and improve every day. This results in our work being worth it, as it is building our skill up every single time we work at it.When you have worked on and developed your craft and the muse pays you a visit? That is when you have struck gold.I’ll give you an example here. Let’s say you are in a drawing to get an autographed guitar. You have 5 entries into the drawing. So, you have a shot to win.But the person next to you has 200 entries into the drawing.How good do you feel about your chances now? I bet you’re thinking “aw man, how am I going to win when they have literally 40 times more tickets than I do?”Now, it’s still possible that you’ll win.But the chances aren’t great.Waiting for the muse is like being the person with 5 entries. You don’t write when inspiration isn’t raining on you from heaven above, so you don’t write that many songs.But the person with 200 tickets is the one who is working for it. They write every day. They write when they’re inspired and they write when they aren’t inspired. Sometimes they write until they feel inspired and then write some more. Not only do they have 40x more songs than you, giving them 40x more chances at success, but they probably have more muse-inspired songs than you.Because, while you were too busy watching Netflix, hoping the muse would come in and say “hey, you haven’t been spending any time with me lately”, they were writing and the muse came over because they were working for it.Be the person with 200 entries, not the one with 5. 

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/ It’s pretty common to assume any chord is a triad. And, I get it, triads are fundamental to chords and music theory. A minor, C major, and Db diminished are all triads. Most chords we talk about are triads.We almost begin to believe that all chords have 3 notes.But there is so much beauty and power in the dyad.A dyad is a set of 2 notes. Depending on perspective, one could consider a dyad a chord or an implication of a chord. We’re not going to dive into that discussion with this post, but what we’re going to talk about revolves around that beautiful word “implication”.There is Beauty and Power in What is ImpliedSome of the great thriller/horror movies can shine some light on this. What is so terrifying about Jaws? It’s not the shark. It’s the implication of the shark. When you hear that iconic minor second interval, you know what’s coming.And it strikes fear into your heart.Honestly, once you see the shark, you probably think “oh, it’s just some animatronic? Hmm, still looks pretty good for the 70’s, good on you Spielberg.”Often, a monster or character becomes far less terrifying once they are shown. But the implication of them can be horrifying.Similarly, a dyad is an extremely effective tool to simply imply a common chord. C, E, and G form a C major chord. But what is C and G?It could be a C major chord. But is also could be a C minor chord. It might not even be a C chord. It might be a G add 4, depending on arrangement.The dyad doesn’t have to be a 5th apart either. Playing around with 3rds, 4ths, and 6ths can give you so many options.More Melodic and Arrangement OptionsOne of my favorite things about dyads is how much more creative room it leaves for the rest of the song. There are realistically only so many notes you can play with at once. A chord with more than 4 different notes starts to get messy pretty fast.Just try playing C, D, E, F, G, and A at the same time.“But they’re all in the key of C!” you might say.Doesn’t matter. There is only so much room for different notes at any given time. There’s a reason the C major key has 7 notes, but a C major chord has only 3.When you utilize a dyad, your chord is so vague, and so few notes are used, that your melodic options are basically anything at all within the key.If you know how to improvise with the piano, try this experiment. Play the 1st and 5th of the I chord in whatever key you want. Then, one octave above, play different melodies, holding on all different notes.Now try the same thing with the 1st, 3rd, and 5th.Note: Simple version would be to try this with C and G in the bass and then playing a melody in C major, then C, E, and G in the bass while playing a melody in C major.It’s just going to sound a bit off. If you added a whole instrumentation around it, it would only sound even more off.Your melody is what will stick in people’s minds and make them instantly recognize a song from a simple hummed tune.Anything that equips you to write a better melody is a good thing. 

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/If you’re a songwriter, you’ve probably had someone just assume you know a specific song by a specific artist because, well, “you’re a musician!”For me: #Triggered.As much as I love faulty gatekeeping, this ticks me off.Spoiler alert: I would say the answer to whether or not a songwriter needs to know music history is a resounding no. Here’s why.You are Your Own ArtistThe simplest of reasons, but still important.You are your own artist. If you sound nothing like the Beatles, knowing some random song they wrote 50 years ago doesn’t have anything to do with your writing ability.There is even a danger here. Which is that the world needs more first-rate new artists, not second-rate copies of past artists.If you spend time diving so deep into Metallica or Nirvana and end up sounding like Nirvana 2.0, no one will care. Or, perhaps worse, they will care and hate you for being a second-rate copy of an artist they love.Go be you. The sound you craft from all your different influences combined with your style and value judgements is what makes you special.Not knowing some random Beatles song.You Don’t Need to Know Your Entire Influence TreeLet me explain what I mean by an influence tree.For coaching in sports, there is something called a “coaching tree”.If a head coach has 2 assistant coaches, the 2 assistants are likely influenced by how the head coach did things, and likely have very similar strategic values as they were part of the same team.So when they become head coaches, they are a part of the head coach’s coaching tree. When their assistants eventually become head coaches themselves, they are also part of the original head coach’s coaching tree, as he influenced those who influenced these new head coaches.So an influence tree, like the coaching tree, is basically like a “family tree” of influences.Let me share with you a piece of what my “influence tree” looks like.My favorite band, and one of my biggest influences, is Vertical Horizon. So I am a part of their influence tree. They are influenced by the band Rush, so I also am in their influence tree.I don’t listen to rush, and am personally not a huge fan. But I’m still a part of their influence tree, because they influenced who influenced me.I’m also in Breaking Benjamin’s influence tree. They claim Nirvana and Tool as their main influences, so I’m also in their influence tree. Neither influence me directly, as I don’t know much about Tool and, while I enjoy some Nirvana, they aren’t an artist I listen to enough to really be influenced.Now, I’ve been told multiple times how I need to know bands like Metallica, Nirvana, and the Beatles, because they were important to the history of different styles that I fit into.Here’s the thing. Sometimes even a direct influence is hard to hear in a musician. I’m sure you can hear the Vertical Horizon, Five for Fighting, and Goo Goo Dolls influence in most of my stuff. But I was also heavily influenced by John Denver. I know and understand how he influenced me melodically and lyrically, but no one would pick up on that. I don’t sound anything like John Denver.Going back 2 generations? Some of my rock stuff has clear influences from the likes of Vertical Horizon and Breaking Benjamin, but I don’t think anyone would say my music sounds like Rush or even Nirvana.Imagine going back the 5+ generations to the Beatles? They are so far from me in the influence tree, that studying them as an influence would be like worrying that you’re great great grandfather allegedly murdered someone. You’re so far away in the gene pool that you probably aren’t a murderer waiting to happen.ConclusionI’m not saying you should write in a vacuum. What I am saying is that you don’t need to know all about past popular music to write great songs. You don’t even need that to write popular songs.I do think influences are important, but I don’t think we all should be forced to be influenced by the same artists. Chances are, you are influenced by other popular artists, so you clearly have successful influences. So why do you need to be influenced by the most popular artists of all time? It’s not like they are necessarily better than any other artist.  Embrace your influences, don’t let anyone force new influences upon you (or force you to spend time studying artists you don’t like or care about), and be unapologetically you with your music..

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/Episode outline:SongwritingInception: The idea or inspirationGestation: Time where you’re thinking through where the idea could goDevelopment: Time you’re actually writing out where you want to go with the idea and what type of song you’re probably going forWriting: The actual writing of the lyric and musicRefining: Making adjustments such as adding a pre-chorus, removing part of an overly-long second verse, adjusting lyrics or melodies you weren’t in love with, etcRecordingFind TempoRecord Main InstrumentRecord Body InstrumentsRecord Filler InstrumentsRecord Atmospheres InstrumentsEditingMixingEQCompressionDelay/ReverbOtherVocalsRecord 8 good takes: You can do more or less. The common industry standard I’ve heard is 5 takes, but I like to overdo it a bit and to have an even number that can divide by 2 all the way down to 1. You’re about to see why.Comp 8 takes down into 4 comps (composite takes): I do this tournament style. I’ll put two takes “against” one another, taking the lines of each that I like better. Sometimes I’ll even split by words if it makes sense.Comp 4 composite takes down into 2 even better composite takes: Basically the semi-finals of the tournament- again doing this line be line or even word by word, taking the best between 2 takes.Pitch correct final 2 takes: Before doing the final comp, this is where I like to pitch correct. I do this here for a couple reasons. One is sometimes the pitch correction will help me notice an imperfection I otherwise wouldn’t. This also gives me more to work with in the final comp with already-pitch-corrected vocals. Sometimes I’ll use the second pitch corrected vocal (the one that didn’t win) for a vocal double.Comp down into 1 elite take: Take those 2 pitch-corrected takes, and create that final vocal take.SweeteningMasteringEQCompression/LimitingRelease

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/Episode Writeup:Arranging can be overwhelming. You wrote a song with your guitar and your voice, and now you need to make a full arrangement out of it? Where do you start? What is important to think about?Why is this Instrument the Right Choice?A harmonica and flute playing the same part will have a very different feel.A piano ballad and guitar ballad sound fundamentally different.It’s important to be intentional about your instrumentation. Don’t just throw instruments in without thinking of WHY it is you are choosing the instrument for that part.The feel of your song isn’t just determined by the lyrics, chords, and melody. The instruments you use to fill the song are imperative to the tone and feel.When you write a new part, should it be acoustic guitar or electric? Or should it be a synth or violin? Do you want a full drum kit, or will a cajon part do?What is the Job of this Part?Every part has a job. Not every part can or should be the star.Some parts may be very important, but aren’t flashy and most people won’t even notice them.The star of your song is probably primarily the vocal. Some random filler synth to thicken up the chorus, that acoustic guitar that sits in the background of the 3rd verse, and (let’s be honest) the bass guitar are just not meant to be the stars.This doesn’t make them unimportant. They just have a job to do, and it isn’t to be the star. That doesn’t make their job any less important.Where does this Part Fit into the Arrangement?Every part has its place.And it needs to be in its own place, not another part’s place.Think of it like a puzzle.Well, 4 puzzles. The first puzzle is the distance puzzle. This is about whether it is a lead part (close up, in the foreground) or a filler in the background, as well as everything in between. As I said in the previous section, not every part can or should be trying to be the star.The next puzzle is the pitch puzzle. You don’t want all the parts of your arrangement to be in the same couple octaves. The parts will clash, making it harder to sound good in a recording.I generally like to map out what octaves different parts tend to reside in. I use this to be sure there is good representation from several different pitch ranges.This helps to fill in the arrangement without getting overly muddy or clashing.Next, we have the rhythm puzzle. Like the pitch puzzle concept, you don’t want every part occupying the same rhythmic space. If one part is a chord held over the entire measure, you don’t want every other part to do that too.You probably want one that plays a syncopated rhythm and another that may be a pad synth that has no rhythm at all. A part that plays quarter notes on the down beat will be a change up from something playing a syncopated part and something else playing only every measure.Lastly, we have the energy puzzle. This puzzle is related to, but not quite the same as the rhythm puzzle. While the rhythm puzzle is primarily concerned with where the transients (beginning and most loud part of notes) are, the energy puzzle is concerned with the level of “energy” of a part.The “energy” of an electric guitar playing rapid 16th notes, growing louder and louder vs a piano playing a laid back melody is strikingly different. We generally don’t want all our parts being at 100% energy all the time, and we also don’t want all our parts being equally laid back all the time.If all the electric guitar parts are driving the song forward with high-energy staccato parts, maybe the job of the violin is to give a legato melody to hold the song together.When Should Each Part Come In?The easy answer is usually you want something new to happen in the song every 4 measures or so. Obviously this is far from a hard and fast rule, but if the song just doesn’t quite hold the listener’s attention, thinking through how often you change something up to interest the listener can be helpful.But something has to change to keep the interest of the listener. The song shouldn’t stay stagnant like a small pond. It should be a river, with new and exciting things coming with each passing second. Never quite the same, even if it is overall familiar.When Do I Know When To Stop?When the song feels right, can hold someone’s attention from beginning to end, and both delivers and dials back when it should, that is when it is time to stop.That’s when you’ve successfully arranged your song.

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide  

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/ Episode Writeup:What exactly are augmented and diminished chords? What is the difference between them and major and minor chords?The short answer:A major chord has a Perfect 1st, Major 3rd, and Perfect 5thA minor chord has a Perfect 1st, Minor 3rd, and Perfect 5thAn augmented chord has a Perfect 1st, Major 3rd, and Augmented 5thA diminished chord has a Perfect 1st, Minor 3rd, and Diminished 5thPut another way, an augmented chord is simply a major chord with the 5th sharpened (up 1 semitone). A diminished chord is a minor chord with the 5th flattened (down a semitone).Don’t worry, we still have a slightly longer and more informative answer:Like major and minor chords, these chords are what are called triads. A triad is a set of 3 notes that can be stacked in thirds. In other words:The first note to the second note is a type of 3rdThe second note to the third note is a type of 3rdAnother way to look at a triad is this:The distance between the first and second note is a type of 3rdThe distance between the first and third note is a type of 5thSo a triad is basically a 1st, 3rd and 5th.How we get different types of chords are by changing the quality of the interval, as the numbers will stay the same.For both major and minor chords (or triads), we have a 1st and a perfect 5th. It is simply the note in the middle, the 3rd, that is different.For diminished and augmented chords, we take the minor and major chords (respectively) and change the quality of the 5th.In both cases, we are doubling down for what the chord is doing. In a major chord, we have a Major 3rd (the higher between major and minor), so for an augmented chord we ALSO raise the 5th from perfect to augmented.A diminished chord is doubling down on what a minor chord is doing, so we keep the minor’s Perfect 1st and Minor 3rd, but then also lower the 5th by a semitone from a Perfect 5th to a diminished 5th.A diminished chord is a minor chord with a lowered (diminished) 5th.An augmented chord is a major chord with a raised (augmented) 5th.If you recall from our post on intervals, a major 3rd is 4 semitones from the root note. A minor 3rd is 3 semitones from the root.Perfect 5ths are 7 semitones away from the root, so Diminished 5ths are 6 semitones away and Augmented 5ths are 8 semitones away.So let’s figure out a C Diminished chord.Since it’s diminished, we know the 3rd is a minor 3rd, or 3 semitones, from the root.C -> Db (1)  -> D (2) -> Eb (3)So the second note of a C diminished triad is an Eb.For the 5th, it is a diminished 5th, so:C -> Db (1)  -> D (2) -> Eb (3) -> E (4) -> F (5) -> Gb (6)So a C diminished triad is a C, Eb and Gb. Put another way, a C minor triad with a flattened 5th.Now, let’s do an augmented triad.We start with a major 3rd, which is 4 semitones from the root.C -> Db (1)  -> D (2) -> Eb (3) -> E (4)Next, we raised the 5th to an augmented 5thC -> Db (1)  -> D (2) -> Eb (3) -> E (4) -> F (5) -> Gb (6) -> G (7) -> Ab (8)Now, it is an Ab, but we would call it by its other name, G#, because we know our triad is a 1st, 3rd, and 5th. Ab would be seen as a 6th, (C -> A), but a G# would be seen as it is intended here - a sharpened 5th. 

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/ Episode Writeup:I’ve heard of chords and harmony, but what exactly are major and minor chords? What makes them different?The short answer:A major chord has a Perfect 1st, Major 3rd and Perfect 5thA minor chord has a Perfect 1st, Minor 3rd and Perfect 5thPut another way, a minor chord is simply a major chord with the 3rd flattened (down 1 semitone).Don’t worry, we still have a slightly longer and more informative answer:First of all, both of these chords are what are called triads. A triad is a set of 3 notes that can be stacked in thirds. In other words:The first note to the second note is a type of 3rdThe second note to the third note is a type of 3rdAnother way to look at a triad is this:The distance between the first and second note is a type of 3rdThe distance between the first and third note is a type of 5thSo a triad is basically a 1st, 3rd and 5th.How we get different types of chords are by changing the quality of the interval, as the numbers will stay the same.For both major and minor chords (or triads), we have a 1st and a perfect 5th. It is simply the note in the middle, the 3rd, that is different.For a major chord, it is a major 3rd.For a minor chord, it is a minor 3rd.If you recall from our post on intervals, a major 3rd is 4 semitones from the root note. A minor 3rd is 3 semitones from the root.Perfect 5ths are 7 semitones away from the root.So let’s figure out a C Major chord.Since it’s major, we know the 3rd is a major 3rd, or 4 semitones, from the root.C -> Db (1)  -> D (2) -> Eb (3) -> E (4)So the second note of a C major triad is an E.For the 5th, it is a perfect 5th, so:C -> Db (1)  -> D (2) -> Eb (3) -> E (4) -> F (5) -> Gb (6) -> G (7)So a C major triad is a C, E and G.For a C minor? Simply flatten the 3rd (or count to 3 semitones instead of 4).So a C minor triad is a C, Eb and G.  

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/Website: https://songwritertheory.com/Follow Me on Twitter: @josephNVadala Episode Writeup:1. You Used ClichesIf I hear one more song talk about “never getting older” I’m gonna punch my computer screen. For frame of reference, the screen cost me about $200. Worth it.Guess what? Something can be cold without being compared to ice. Also, things besides knives cut. I don’t want to hear about being “cut like a knife”. Stop it.If you’re on your knees, get up. Save the knees for your proposal. And not everything happens “tonight”. Just because you work all day during the week doesn’t mean the daytime doesn’t have some experiences to offer.Stop it. Stop. The. Cliches.2. You had Nothing New To SayWe don’t need another basic breakup song. We’ve been “blessed” with Taylor Swift for years and years and years of that crap. Heartbreak is a great subject but have something new to bring to the table.It needs to be genuine to your experience, if you try to water it down so everyone can relate to every line, the magic is gone and you have reduced your song to “nothing new to say”.Translation: You made your song suck. Stop it.3. You Forced a RhymeLet me guess. The reason some lyrics make no sense whatsoever is that you felt you “need to rhyme”. Well, congratulations, you made your song suck. Stop forcing the rhyme. No one notices if it rhymes and no one cares.You know what they do care about? How much your song sucks after forcing the rhyme. Stop it.4. You Forced the Second VerseReally? You took all those months to write your song. You spent hours dwelling on 2 different interval options for some random riff no one cares about.And yet your second verse is a miserable hunk of junk that has enough metaphorical duct tape on it to surround the earth.Stop it. Rewrite and revise that verse until it’s actually good. Not just “a bunch of words that vaguely fit the theme, syllables, and rhyme scheme of the first verse”.5. You Wrote a Vanilla and Forgettable MelodyDo you even remember your own melody? If it’s never been a tune you desired to hum in the shower, why would anyone else want to? Do you have emotion? Good, then show it with your melodies.Dang. Nothing wrong with a little passion. In fact, if you have no passion, get out of music and stop ruining it.6. You Wrote a Chorus that Doesn’t ShineYou know the sun? What does that do? It shines. If your chorus doesn’t shine, no one wants any part of this song.Your chorus being a let down is like killing the main character in the first combat sequence. Does Batman die the first fight he has with the Joker? Nope. So, be a bro, save Batman, and write a chorus that shines.7. You Didn’t Bother To Make Sure the Lyrics FlowedAre your lyrics more awkward than your first dance with someone you liked? Do the lyrics step on toes and not know whether to look at your partner or the wall? Do they even know if they should keep arm distance or come in tight?Stop it. The lyrics should flow. Not only should syllables be more or less the same, but the emphasis the melody puts on words or parts of words should make sense.8. Your Instrumentation Is ForgettableYou just had to just do block piano chords didn’t you? Not that there’s anything wrong with that per se. But having a riff once in a while wouldn’t kill you. In fact, it would make your songs suck less.You know what’s better than a full band making your song better? Your song kicking metaphorical butt with just you and your instrument tearing it up.9. You Tried Too Hard to Make the Song Something It Isn’tLet the song be the song. Don’t force it to be a rock song because you’re a “rock guy” and think you’re too cool to write a song sans electric guitars turned up to 11. If you usually have a poppy and catchy chorus, but this song is about despair, DON’T FORCE IT TO BE A CONFUSING HAPPY SOUNDING CHORUS WITH DEPRESSING LYRICS.Stop. It.Let the song live. Let the song be what it needs to be.10. You Stopped at “Good Enough”You lazy bum. How dare you stop at “good enough”. Edit it AGAIN. Rework that guitar riff. Change up the chords a bit. Make the piano part shine.Don’t settle. 

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/Website: https://songwritertheory.com/Follow Me on Twitter: @josephNVadala Episode Writeup:Sometimes life is going too well. There’s no drama, no heartbreak, no despair to write about. Maybe your teenage angst is gone or you just don’t love tractors the way you used to.So sometimes it can be hard to maintain or regain inspiration.We’re going to discover 3 great hacks to regain inspiration.Go Back or Forward in TimeJust because your current situation is nothing like your past experiences doesn’t mean you can’t draw from them.Even if you’re happily married with 3 kids, I bet you still remember what it felt like when you had your heart broken for the first time.Even if you have found your way out of an abusive relationship, I bet you remember all the emotions you were dragged through.Even if everything is going wrong now, I bet you remember that feeling of hope- even if you have to dig far to find it.The good thing about experiences is they stay with us. Not only do they shape who we are, but they will forever remain a pool of emotions and experiences to dive back into. Only, this time, you can stay broken hearted for the hour you’re writing and then go back to your good life. Ah, much better.We can go forward in time too. Having friends with children may help you imagine the feeling of holding your own child.Imagining the pain caused by a spouse with cancer becomes something that feels more real and possible when you know someone close to your age who has gone through it.And we can even let our imaginations get out of control and imagine a bright or dark future. Like a dream that feels so real when you wake up, it’s amazing how real a fake future can feel if you take the time to dive into it.Lastly, you can use current experiences to bring more realism to your past experiences. Maybe you could never relate to your overprotective mother and how she worried about you. But your daughter just went on her first date. The shotgun is loaded and you’re ready to write a song from your mom’s perspective as she worried about you.Look at the Real World Around YouThere is a whole world around you. There are countless people you are friends with, work with, and simply see walk down the street. Surely there are experiences you can pull from outside of your own.The easiest and most obvious group to pull from are those close to you. Your spouse, closest friends, relatives and co-workers.It is amazing what kind of inspiration can come from a single bro talk. Just talking to someone about something other than small talk can go a long way.I wrote a breakup song from my friend’s perspective years before I had ever experienced a breakup. And, you know what? When I did experience that, I realized just how accurate what I wrote was. Very accurate.I also wrote a song on the hopelessness I saw from some of my co-workers from my first job.I’ve utilized a combination of my own experiences with the emotions and experiences of my wife to write several songs. You can really tap into the emotions of something affecting someone you care about.We can even draw from people we observe but don’t know well. Maybe a single mother you see struggling to keep calm as she is in a restaurant with her 4 kids. Maybe that girl at your college you always notice sitting alone for dinner (note: also, go talk to this person, we all need a friend).Even the homeless man you say good morning to as you walk from your parking garage to your work building can provide inspiration for your writing.Lastly, you can write from the experiences of people you don’t know, but can empathize with. This could be people in another country who are facing persecution or people trying to survive a natural disaster. Maybe there was a heartwarming story about a police officer saving a little boy’s life.Whatever is going on in the world, if you can empathise, you should be able to tap into that empathy to be inspired.Look to Stories and Other FictionSometimes a movie leaves us in tears. Sometimes, when we finish a book, we feel sad as it feels we’ve seen a friend for the last time.

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/Website: https://songwritertheory.com/Follow Me on Twitter: @josephNVadala Episode Writeup:One’s creative identity is foundational to who you are as a musical artist. Understanding what you value, what you like, and who you are is unendingly important.So how do we find our creative identity?Find What You LoveWhat music do you love? Take a moment to write down your top-10 favorite artists.Usually, who we are as an artist is a healthy mix of our favorite artists and the core of who we are.You will often find your own identity reflected by your favorite artists. If all your top-10 artists are male country singers who tend to have themes of love and cowboy boots, your creative identity probably isn’t going to be rapping about how loaded you are.Maybe it will. But it probably won’t.Next, it can be helpful to also write down your top-10 favorite songs. If you have too much repetition of the same artist in this top-10, maybe restrict yourself to 1 song per artist.Once you have these top-10 lists, we can move on to step 2 of finding your creative identity.Find Your Value JudgementsNow we’re going to utilize those top-10 lists.First, find what binds these favorites together. Here are some things to look for that might bind these different artists and songs together:Genre - Post Grunge, Adult Contemporary, Country, Pop, R&B, etcLyrical Themes - Life, Loss of Love, Party Life, etcMelodic Style - Staccato, Legato, Utilize Large Vocal Range, Utilize Small Vocal RangeInstrumental Style - Piano driven, Synth Driven, Distorted Electric Guitar Driven, etcArrangement Style - Sparse arrangements (few instruments), Thick arrangements (more instruments)Mood - Happy, Sad, Angry, Angsty, etcSound Character - Catchy, memorable, emotive, etc You may be surprised by what binds together what you love. Maybe you only care about genre, but like all lyrical themes and moods. Or maybe you don’t care about genre, but only like music that is on the sad side of things. You may love catchy music in all its forms. Or you might prefer memorable, piano-driven songs with sparse arrangements.It’s important to figure out what unites many of your top 10 artists and songs, but finding some outliers can be just as important.For example, you may find that 8 of your top 10 artists are all rock bands. But then you also have a country artist in your top 10. That doesn’t seem to fit, so what characteristic does it share with those rock bands? This shared characteristic might be what you actually care about.Maybe you really just like dense, thick, “epic” sounding arrangements with sad lyrical themes. Which usually goes along with rock music. This doesn’t necessarily mean you like rock music per se. It might be that dense and thick sad songs are your thing.To take this a step further, it can be helpful to find artists that you would consider similar to artists on your top 10 that you don’t like. Because this gives you a way to separate what actually causes you to love your favorite artists and what just happens to be a characteristic of them.Find Your WhyWhy are you a songwriter? What is the greatest compliment someone can pay you as an artist?You might want to provide something positive in a world of negativity.You might want to be brutally honest about what you’re going through so others going through something similar feel less alone.You might want to bring solace to those who were abused.You might want to make people dance and feel ok despite the pain they’re going through.You might want people to just smile when they hear your music.Whatever your reason is, know it.Find What You’re Good At and Not So Good AtUse your strengths. Reduce the impact of your weaknesses.If you aren’t a great guitarist, write songs in a way that no one would know.If you can’t sing lower notes consistently, don’t write a song in that range.Set yourself up for success. 

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/Website: https://songwritertheory.com/Follow Me on Twitter: @josephNVadala Episode Writeup:Necessary DefinitionsInterval: The distance between two notesSemitone: The smallest interval we have in western music. Moving up a string by one fret on a guitar or going to the very next note on a piano are both examples of a semitone.Semitone = Half Step2 Semitones = 2 Half Steps = 1 Whole Tone = 1 Whole StepThe 2 Parts of an IntervalQualityThere are 5 different qualities of intervals:PerfectMajorMinorAugmentedDiminishedPerfectPerfect intervals are so-called as they have nearly-perfect consonance. In other words, they sound REALLY pleasant and agreeable.There are only 4 perfect intervals: Perfect Unison (or Perfect 1st - aka the same note as the original), Perfect 4th, Perfect 5th, and Perfect Octave (perfect 8th).This leaves the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 7th that do not have a perfect interval. These numbers have major and minor intervals instead.Major1st, 4th, 5th and 8th all have perfect intervals, so the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 7th are left to split between major and minor.The major interval is always 1 semitone higher than the minor. The major is also the “happier” sounding of the major and minor intervals.MinorAny interval that can be major can be minor. Take away one semitone from a major interval, and you have that minor interval.Minor intervals tend to sound darker and more sad than major intervals. AugmentedAugmented intervals are one semitone higher than a Perfect or Major interval.Perfect + 1 semitone = AugmentedMajor + 1 semitone = AugmentedDiminishedDiminished intervals are one semitone lower than a Perfect or Minor interval.Perfect - 1 semitone = DiminishedMinor - 1 semitone = DiminishedSo, if we put all this information together, you’ll notice that intervals always follow a pattern. With “->” representing going up 1 semitone, this is what we have:Diminished -> Minor -> Major -> AugmentedDiminished -> Perfect -> AugmentedNumberThe quality of interval is combined with the number of the interval. Usually, the number is simply the distance between letter notes.Do you understand the alphabet? Good, because that’s all you need here. For example, how far away is G from C? C, (D, E, F), G. Since we count both the start and end note, this would be a 5th.B from C? C, (D, E, F, G, A), B => 7thE from C? C, (D), E => 3rd3 Rules of IntervalsNext I’m going to give you 3 rules to remember that will help you think through intervals.Rule 1:Incrementing up by one quality will always be going up 1 semitoneExamples:Minor 2nd -> Major 2nd = Up 1 semitoneDiminished 7th -> Minor 7th = Up 1 semitoneAugmented 6th -> Major 6th = Down 1 SemitoneRule 2:Incrementing up by one number will always be going up 2 semitonesExamples:Minor 2nd -> Minor 3rd = Up 2 semitonesPerfect 4th -> Perfect 5th = Up 2 semitonesMajor 6th -> Major 7th = Up 2 semitonesMajor 3rd -> Major 2nd = Down 2 semitonesRule 3:All numbers have either perfect or both minor and major intervals, not bothExamples:There is a Perfect 4th, there is not a minor or major 4th.There is a major and minor 3rd, there is not a perfect 3rd. 

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/Website: https://songwritertheory.com/Follow Me on Twitter: @josephNVadala Episode Writeup:Do you ever wonder where to go with your lyrics? Do you have a great theme, but don’t know how to get a chorus, bridge, and 2+ verses?We’ve all been there. Here are 3 methods to figure out how to write a full set of lyrics from your theme.Expansion PrincipleA song idea often starts with a single lyrical line or symbol.And then you ask yourself how you get to 2 verses, a chorus, and a bridge out of that. Maybe even 3 verses.That is where we get the expansion principle.I’ll illustrate with a story.A long, long time ago, in a state fairly far away, I had just found out my grandfather had cancer and likely only a year or so to live.I was upset and already angry at the people who would respond with some cop-out like “I’m so sorry, but I’m sure it will be ok” or “You’ll get through this”Let me feel some sadness, will you? So I wrote the lyric “This night seems so long, just waiting to hear it’s all a bad dream, maybe someday it will be alright, but no it won’t be tonight”In other words “shut up about how it will be alright someday. It’s not someday yet. Let me feel this sadness without trying to make me feel bad about it or saying I should just pray away the sad.” That just doesn’t make quite as good a lyric.But that was all I wrote.So the lyric, at this point, was simply about how it won’t be ok tonight. “Why?” and “What happened?” haven’t been answered yet.A few months later my girlfriend broke up with me. So, I did what any sane human would do. I did nothing but cry and watch “Everybody Loves Raymond” for 50 hours straight, all while consuming no liquids and no food.Then I decided that songwriters lived for the sad moments they could use for creative magic. So I sat at the piano and cranked out 3 verses and all the music for “Won’t Be Tonight”.The lyric that started from a short lyric about today not being alright became a song mourning the rejection and loss of someone you thought was always going to be there. The first verse captures the feelings in the moment of the breakup, the second deals with bitterness in the direct aftermath, and the third with the loneliness you’re left with at the end.The expansion principle. We started with a rough night. We ended with a story of many rough nights, with shock, bitterness, and sadness in between.Reduction PrincipleSometimes we start with a concept that is just too big to tackle in a song. “Homelessness” or “Alzheimer's” for example.If you wrote a song about homelessness in general, it would probably come across as preachy or unrelatable.But what if you told the story of the woman on the street corner in the pink, dirty jacket. All of a sudden we have story we can attach to. Something we care about. Homelessness is a fact. A homeless PERSON is a tragedy we care about.Or, how about Alzheimer's Disease? I wanted to write a song on this for a while as two of my grandparents had it. But I just didn’t know where to start. Alzheimer’s in general is far too broad and factual. For some reason, I couldn’t figure out a way to write a song from my experience either.But then I went to a play that was about Alzheimer’s and finally got the inspiration I needed.The play was called “The Things We Keep”. It centered around a man suffering from Alzheimer’s and the effect it had on his family.A recurring part of the play was the concept of him going outside and sitting down on a stump. He believed it was a bus stop and the bus would come and take him where he needed to go- to those he remembers.After the play, they talked about how using a fake bus stop is actually something some Alzheimer's care facilities do. It prevents the patients from running away, as they merely wait at the fake bus stop. This gives the workers the opportunity to go out and talk to them. Eventually the patients forget why they were out there in the first place, and the workers can guide them back inside.Now I had my story. I started with the huge concept of “Alzheimer’s” and ended with a story of a man and his older relative who keeps waiting for the bus to take him back to those he knows....

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/Website: https://songwritertheory.com/Follow Me on Twitter: @josephNVadala Episode Writeup:Sometimes people are going to give you feedback. Some you asked for, others because people like giving unwarranted opinions. There are a few things to understand when receiving feedback.Everyone Has Something To OfferWhether it’s your best friend who is also a songwriter, your mom who doesn’t care for “those noises” (electric guitar) in your songs, or someone who is an author and doesn’t know a lick about music, everyone has something to offer.You wouldn’t say you need to be a cook to have valid feedback on food, would you? Imagine the chef asking you how the food is and responding with “huh! What culinary arts school did YOU go to?”If anything, you should be weary of only accepting feedback from those who are similar to yourself. What a fellow author may look for in a book might be very different than what readers may want.A fellow author may think a 20 page description of how the sun dances on the butterfly is captivating, but the readers have now decided they can scroll up and down their Facebook newsfeed if they want 20 pages of nonsense.Similarly, there is a danger in assuming valid feedback can only come from those who normally like your type of music. Just because you write country and your friend is more of a rap guy, doesn’t mean his feedback can’t be valuable.Understand the Point of View of the Feedback GiverIt is very important to understand someone’s point of view when interpreting their feedback.For example, if a stranger compliments your music, and has nothing to gain from saying anything to you at all, you can probably take that to heart. If they have no reason to pander to you, they probably mean what they say.When mom likes your music, she just means she likes you.In the same way, you have to understand where the person is coming from. If they are into the same genre and say your guitar riffs leave something to be desired, that might be something to consider.If someone who only listens to Metalcore says your piano ballad bores them, you probably don’t need to worry too much about that.With that being said, sometimes people outside of your genre can give some very helpful feedback. For example, someone who exclusively listens to pop probably isn’t a great person to judge on quality of lyric, but they probably do have a pretty good feel about what is and isn’t catchy.So, if your chorus was supposed to be catchy and get people to sing along and tap their foot, and your Ariana-Grande-loving friend was bored throughout the song, maybe you should should figure out a way to turn up the catchy factor.Some people weigh deep or thoughtful lyrics highly, some people don’t care. Some people want a song to make them happy, others want a song to make them think deeply about the human condition.All of this is worth considering when you are filtering someone’s feedback.Not All Feedback is Created EqualEvery human is created equal. Their feedback on your music is not.Some people don’t like music at all. Others love almost all music, regardless of genre or quality. Some people can’t see past the “sound” or “genre” of a song and others simply like whatever reminds them of what dad used to play on the radio.Some people will pay enough attention to the music to give well-thought-out feedback. Others just want to cut you down to size and move on.Some people are good critics of a lyric, others wouldn’t know a good lyric if it hit them in the face.Though everyone does have SOMETHING to offer, it doesn’t mean everyone has an equal amount to offer. Some people are just better at critiquing. Some people are better at looking past their biases.Be able to filter the feedback you get. Some people like being haters. Others compliment everything. Some people can look past biases and can give thoughtful feedback and others can’t.Filter the feedback you get by thinking through these 3 main points. And, no matter what, keep going. No one started out as great at anything. It takes practice. You didn’t expect to be great at piano, guitar, or violin overnight, why expect that for songwriting?You got this. 

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/Website: https://songwritertheory.com/Follow Me on Twitter: @josephNVadala Episode Writeup:Some people think good, artistic music needs to be advanced, inaccessible, and more pretentious than Kanye West with a Cigar and French Accent.Others think music needs to be soulless, recycled garbage to have any level of popularity.I’m here to tell you that both are completely wrong.And Christopher Nolan is living Proof.If you don’t know who Christopher Nolan is, get out from under that rock and join us in the 21st century.Christopher Nolan is known for movies like The Prestige, Dunkirk, Interstellar, Inception, and the Dark Knight Trilogy.In total, he has directed 10 feature-length films, grossing a total of $4.75 billion dollars worldwide.Since you graduated middle school, you know that’s an average of $475 million per movie.But his first movie was a small self-funded movie that somehow still took in $84k. So if we remove that from the equation, we’re left with 9 movies making $4.75 billion.That averages to a whopping $528,000,000 per movie.And where did each of his last 7 films rank for “top movie of the year” as measured by gross income?19, 10, 3, 4, 1, 55, and 9.5/7 top 10’s.I don’t know about you, but I’d say he is a pretty good poster-child for popularity success.But wait. What if critics pan him as just another blockbuster creator?His movies have a combined 34 oscar nominations and 10 wins.Even including his first self-funded film, that averages to 3.4 Oscar nominations per movie and 1 win per movie.He personally has been nominated for 5 Oscars, 5 British Academy Film Awards and 6 Golden Globes.How does Rotten Tomatoes see him? Of his 10 movies, all 10 are fresh. And 9 out of the 10 certified fresh. Percentages? 4 in the 90’s, 4 in the 80’s and 2 in the 70’s.Looks like the critics and awards love him too.So what’s the point of all this?Don’t tell me you need to sell out to do well.You don’t need to write another garbage pop song about how you’re young, dumb, and don’t give a rip. The world needs about -94,308 more of those.On the other side, you don’t need to write pretentious music that is in 11/9 time signature and is 13 minutes long to make quality, artistic music.You can write songs that listeners will enjoy AND is of a high quality.No need to be pretentious. No need to be a sellout.Be unapologetically true to yourself and your art. Write from the heart. Work on your craft. Dive into your thoughts, emotions, and deepest parts of yourself to write something great.And yes, that great song can be in 4/4 time and be done in 4 minutes. It can even follow a song structure of verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus.Your unique voice, perspective, and experiences will contribute to writing quality music. Not your ability to play in 9/7 time and the ability to solo for 6 minutes before the 5 minute B section of your song. 

Accompanying Blog Post With Helpful Pictures: https://songwritertheory.com/how-to-figure-out-all-notes-for-minor-keys FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/Website: https://songwritertheory.com/Follow Me on Twitter: @josephNVadala Episode Writeup:Do you know what notes you’re working with when someone says “This song is in the Key of E natural minor”? If you forget what notes are sharp or flat in a key, do you have any way to figure it out?This post is going to make sure you can figure out all notes in any natural, harmonic, or melodic minor key when given the name of the key.And it is going to be very simple.First thing to understand is that every minor key has 7 notes.The second thing to understand is that each key in each minor key type has the same intervals between each note.Natural Minor:Whole Step - Half Step - Whole Step - Whole Step - Half Step - Whole Step - Whole StepHarmonic Minor:Whole Step - Half Step - Whole Step - Whole Step - Half Step - Augmented Second - Whole StepMelodic Minor:Ascending: Whole Step - Half Step - Whole Step - Whole Step - Whole Step - Whole Step - Half StepDescending (same as Natural Minor): Whole Step - Half Step - Whole Step - Whole Step - Half Step - Whole Step - Whole StepOk, so what are these “steps”?A half step is going from one note to the very next note. This is also called a semitone. It is the smallest step possible between notes in western music.So what is a whole step? 2 half steps or 2 semitones.And what is that Augmented Second? 3 half steps or 3 semitones.Now, let’s figure out each note in the keys of C natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor:Here is what we did:We started with C as it is the key of C natural minorWe took a whole step over Db to DWe took a half step to EbWe took a whole step over E to F (there is no E#)We took a whole step over Gb to GWe took a half step to AbWe took a whole step over A to BbWe took a whole step over B and back to C (there is no B#)Let’s look at what C harmonic minor looks like.We started with C as it is the key of C natural minorWe took a whole step over Db to DWe took a half step to EbWe took a whole step over E to F (there is no E#)We took a whole step over Gb to GWe took a half step to AbWe took a augmented second step over A and Bb to BWe took a half step to C (there is no Cb)Finally, let’s investigate this for the key of C melodic minor.When we are going up the scale, it looks like this:We started with C (lighter blue) as it is the key of C melodic minorWe took a whole step over Db to DWe took a half step to EbWe took a whole step over E to FWe took a whole step over Gb to GWe took a whole step over Ab to AWe took a whole step over Bb to BWe took a half step back to CWhen we are going down the scale, it is the same as the natural minor.That’s all there is to finding notes within the 3 main minor keys!

Accompanying Blog Post With Helpful Pictures: https://songwritertheory.com/how-to-figure-out-all-notes-for-major-keys FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/Website: https://songwritertheory.com/Follow Me on Twitter: @josephNVadala Episode Writeup:Do you know what notes you’re working with when someone says “This song is in the Key of E Major”? If you forget what notes are sharp or flat in a key, do you have any way to figure it out?This post is going to make sure you can figure out every note in any major key.And it’s going to be very simple.First thing to understand is that every major key has 7 notes.The second thing to understand is that the intervals between each note is the exact same for all major keys.Whole Step - Whole Step - Half Step - Whole Step - Whole Step - Whole Step - Half StepOk, so what are these steps?A half step is going from one note to the very next note. It is the smallest step possible between notes in western music.So what is a whole step? 2 half steps.Now, let’s figure out each note in the key of C major based on our major key steps:Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Whole-HalfThe Notes are those with blue inside the circle.Here is what we didWe started with C as it is the key of C majorWe took a whole step over C# to DWe took a whole step over D# to EWe took a half step to F (there is no E#)We took a whole step over F# to GWe took a whole step over G# to AWe took a whole step over A# to BWe took a half step back to C (there is no B#)Let’s do this with E Major NowWe started with E (lighter blue) as it is the key of E majorWe took a whole step over F to F#We took a whole step over G to G#We took a half step to AWe took a whole step over A# to BWe took a whole step over C to C#We took a whole step over D to D#We took a half step back to EFinally, let’s investigate this for the key of Ab MajorWe started with Ab (lighter blue) as it is the key of Ab majorWe took a whole step over A to BbWe took a whole step over B to CWe took a half step to DbWe took a whole step over D to EbWe took a whole step over E to FWe took a whole step over Gb to GWe took a half step back to AbThat’s all there is to finding notes within a major key!So just memorize Whole-Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Whole-Half and you can figure out every note of a major key, given the name of the key!

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/Website: https://songwritertheory.com/Follow Me on Twitter: @josephNVadala Episode Writeup:Candle Test / Acapella TestHave you ever seen a crowd pull out their phones and wave them back and forth to a moving song?The answer to that is probably yes. If it’s no, you probably should get out more. If you’re afraid of mosh pits, I get it. But there are a lot of other seats available. And a lot of other types of concerts to go to.For this test, we are basically asking, “If I sang this a cappella, would the crowd sing along?”Maybe it isn’t the kind of song that evokes candles. Is it something the crowd would shout along with? Will they dance and sing along? The point here isn’t necessarily the candles as much as a melody you can envision the crowd recognizing and being like “YES, LET’S SING!”If you’re performing live and have enough fans at your shows to test this out, go for it. If not, you’ll have to sing it to yourself. And then you have to be honest with yourself.What we’re really trying to test here is that the melody really sells the emotion of the song.Theme TestThis is named after themes and motifs in soundtracks.The Imperial March (aka Darth Vader’s theme) doesn’t need a lyric to tell you what it’s all about. You know evil is marching on and it’s coming for Luke & Friends. Meanwhile, the force theme evokes feelings of mystery, power, and good.None of these soundtrack themes need lyrics to give you an emotional response. Most of them can do it simply with a basic melody.We want our melodies to be the same. We can test this by abandoning everything but the melody and putting it to the test. If you play just the melody on the piano, guitar, cello, flute, or even just hum it, does it still evoke the feeling of the song?If the song is about rising triumphant, does playing the melody line on the piano evoke that same emotion?This test is great to ensure your melody evokes just the right emotion. Combining this with the Candle Test can be a powerful combination to ensure your melody is absolutely bursting with the right emotion for your song.Car Duet Test / Conversation TestHave you ever seen a movie scene where the driver will sing a line from a song and then the passenger pipes in for the next line and it keeps going back and forth?You always can tell when it will be one person’s line and when it will switch to the next. Why is this? Because of the basic musical concept of call and answer.Almost every bit of western music is a series of calls and answers.You see that over and over and over again in western music. So much so that you probably could put every single song you’ve ever heard into two columns of call and answer.An easy way to test this is visualizing when the driver (call) and passenger (answer) would each sing.Another effective way to ensure you have a clear call and answer would be creating a document that has “call” on one side and “answer” on the other. From there you just make sure you have a repetition of calls followed by answers.Elevation TestHave you ever seen one of these?They basically show elevation over distance. It shows the highs and lows you reached while on a run or bike ride.Drawing one for your melodic energy or excitement can also be very helpful.All you need to do is pull out a pen and paper and sing your melody or listen to a recording of your song.Then draw a chart, constantly moving right and going up and down with rises and falls in melodic energy.You could measure by the overall energy of the vocal or of the vocal range.Either one should give you some information that you’re looking for. You want to know that the energy and excitement of the vocal has some variation. You probably don’t want the whole song to have the same vocal excitement, because then it all just becomes the same.You don’t feel the highs as much if there aren’t any lows.I’m not saying that some parts should be boring, just that keeping the same level of energy in the vocal will make it all seem the same. Bringing it down for a pensive sound or rising high to show a flash of emotion helps to move the song forward and keep interest in the vocal. If the whole vocal is high, the high notes become less noteworthy really fast.Which of these tests did you find most helpful? Let us know!

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/Website: https://songwritertheory.com/Follow Me on Twitter: @josephNVadala Episode Writeup:Even when you get the hang of songwriting, arranging can be overwhelming. It’s a whole different beast. Now you need to take your vocal and guitar piece and turn it into a full performance with a bunch of different parts.The good news is that you can get 80% of the way there with what I consider the golden rule of arranging.Everything has its place.There are 3 main parts to this concept, and we’re going to dive into each.Fill the Pitch SpectrumThink about your calendar schedule. You don’t schedule multiple meetings or events for the same time, do you?Probably not. You’re going to put one meeting at 9, one at 11, the next at 1, and then your last meeting at 3. The same idea applies to an arrangement. You don’t want all of the instruments to be within an octave of middle C.. You don’t want too much in the bass.Everything needs its space.Your bass and kick drum are going to sit somewhere in the 1st and 2nd octaves. Then all your guitar power chords, acoustic guitar, piano, and snare will likely be sitting in or near the 3rd-5th octaves.So why would you put your all your other parts in that midrange too?There’s already a ton going on there! But the 6th-8th octaves are certainly available.It may also be a good idea to adjust where your piano is. Maybe move the piano up or down an octave if it is sharing the same octave as your guitar parts.Just be conscious that you shouldn’t have too much going on all in the same pitch space. As a rule of thumb, try to limit yourself to 4 instrument parts in the same space.If you have guitar power chords, piano and acoustic guitar all in the same space, consider having your lead guitars be an octave or two above.If your piano, lead guitars and acoustic are all in the same space, try moving one of them up or down an octave.Give Parts Different Styles and RhythmsLet’s say you’re at a party with 10 people you don’t really know. If they all have the same interests, personality, and appearance, are you going to find any of them memorable?Probably not.But you know what you’d remember? The gluten-free guy who keeps insisting that the gluten free bread he makes is delicious, the quiet girl who enjoys discussing music, the car enthusiast who insists on showing you his car, and the pretentious hipster who makes sure everyone knows he only likes stuff that’s too boring for anyone else to like.Yeah, you’re gonna remember them. Especially after that one guy makes you try his gluten-free bread.So, wouldn’t you agree that having parts that sound different and unique from each other helps to make a more interesting arrangement?Can you imagine if every note of every instrument in your song was held for the exact same amount of time?You probably just yawned thinking about it. Or maybe you yawned because you’re bored reading this.Mixing up staccato and legato parts, syncopated and on-beat parts, and long notes with short notes are great ways to do this.If you have power chords that hold for the whole measure, adding another guitar part that is a syncopated lead melody and another that is on-beat quarter notes can really start to fill in the mix and help each one have it’s own space.If the piano is playing a certain rhythm, have the acoustic guitar do a different one.Be Intentional About Giving Each Part a JobCan you imagine if a movie had 6 main characters?That would be a bigger mess than…. Pretty much every DC movie.Side characters are important. They add interesting aspects to a movie without dominating the spotlight.Your arrangement needs to be the same.You shouldn’t have 5 lead guitars and a vocal melody at the same time. You probably shouldn’t be trying to get your piano, acoustic guitar, and electric guitars all to be the star.It’s like a football team. A quarterback needs to be great at passing. How good he is as catching is almost completely irrelevant. A wide receiver needs speed, but your linemen need to be huge and don’t need as much speed.This is the same with your mix. What your power chords and violin part need to be good at is totally different. What you need from your piano and from your drums are completely different.

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/Website: https://songwritertheory.com/Follow Me on Twitter: @josephNVadala Episode Writeup:A huge part of a story is its flow. Does it move naturally from one part to another? Does it make you feel suspense, resolve, worry, and sorrow exactly when it wants? Does it push and pull your emotions over time as it progresses from one part to the next?Your chord progression is the same. And that’s part of why it’s so important.Today we’re going to use an analogy to help you understand chords in a major key.I - HomeAh, home. It’s where you start your day. It’s where you feel most relaxed. It’s where you have the desire to go after a busy day.No matter what your day was like, being able to come home and relax is a huge relief.At home, you are king or queen of your castle (maybe a prince or princess if you’re still living with your parents).This is what the I chord is in a major key. It feels like home. It’s the most powerful chord. It’s where the song often starts and where it often ends.Any time you want the listener to feel comfortable and like something was resolved, I is a great place to go.IV and V - Parents and In-Laws HousesFriends may come and go. They may move away. But, regardless of where your parents live, you will visit them.You’re contractually obligated to. Or at least that’s what they think.But your parents’ and In-Laws’ houses should feel like a home away from home. They should still be a place you’re comfortable.And you’re going to visit fairly often. Your family is an important piece of your life and, while it isn’t the same as your home, it’s the next closest thing.This is like your IV and V chords. They are your bread-and-butter chords. Besides the I chord, they are the other major chords you have to work with. They sound familiar, although not quite the same as I.So how do we distinguish IV and V?IV is your parents’ house. One reason is that a IV chord contains the I of the key. So it’s a piece of home to you. You grew up here. IV feels closest to I of all the chords.So that leaves V to be your in-laws’ house. Why is this? Well, V desperately wants to go back to I. And you love your in-laws and all, but after a little bit that mother-in-law is going to get to you. All of a sudden you really want to get home.vi, ii, iii - Your Best Friend and CoworkersYour best friend’s place is a great place to go. It has a different feel than home and your family’s houses, but it’s a great place to go for a nice change-up.You probably visit them about the same amount as your parents and in-laws. Maybe a little less. But it’s always a refreshing change up. It also seems like a little piece of home though, because you and your best bud are tight.This is like the vi chord. This is used about as often as the IV and V and is by far the most commonly used minor chord in a major key. Even pop songs are willing to use it!It feels closest to home of the 3 minor chords, because it is the only one that contains the I note. (The vi triad is 6, 8 [same as 1], and 10 [same as 3])Some of your co-workers are pretty cool. You definitely wouldn’t want to spend quite as much time with them as your family or best friend, but they definitely can add a certain level of interesting to your life.While you could probably visit your parents, in-laws, and best friend just about any day, some days you wouldn’t feel like visiting your co-workers. You see them every day at work already! And that’s fine, they don’t like you THAT much either.Co-workers are like the ii and iii chords.A ii chord often likes to go to the V or iii. The ii often to the vi, IV or ii.Both IV and vi often sound great going to ii or iii. And ii and iii often sound pretty good from one to another.vii - Weird Uncle BobbyYou’ve tried to visit him before. But he almost shot you when you arrived. He claims you looked like “them neighbor boys”, because this apparently justifies being shot at in his mind.He hasn’t stopped smoking something that most certainly is not cigarettes since before you were born, and your mom stopped bringing you on visits after he attempted to give you whiskey at the ripe age of 4.He hates you. He hates everyone.That’s the vii chord. Honestly, just don’t use it. 

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/Website: https://songwritertheory.com/Follow Me on Twitter: @josephNVadala Episode Writeup:How much music theory do you really need to know to write songs?Do you need to know every bit of music theory your music major friends know? Do you need nothing?I think there are 3 necessary bits of music theory you need to write songs. The more you learn, the better equipped you are, but these 3 are enough.KeysYou need to know what people mean when they say “this song is in the key of E Major”.Keys are like a ruleset. Trying to write a song with no knowledge of keys is like those 4 year olds playing soccer. They pick up the ball, they go out of bounds, and they shoot at the wrong net.They can’t even begin to really learn strategy yet, because they don’t even understand how the game is played!Once you understand keys, you have the groundwork for all the rest of music theory.The rules of the key you’re in tell you every note you have to work with. You’ll know that playing a C in the key of A major is going to probably sound terrible. Because C is NOT in the key of A major. You’ll know that if your song is in the key of E major, the notes you have to work with are E, F#, G#, A, B, C# and D#.Keys give you the ruleset you’re working with.Once you learn keys, it will help you to understand the next important music theory concept.ChordsA song is basically 3 things: Lyrics, Melody, and Chords.The chords are the foundation of everything that happens on top of them. The chords influence the melody and the entire song arrangement.How C Major sounds in music is completely dependent on context.This is where roman numeral notation comes in.Roman numeral notation defines chords within the context of keys.For example, let’s use the key of C to keep things simple.The key of C includes the notes C, D, E, F, G, A, BAlso, all major keys have a Major I chord, minor ii, minor iii, Major IV, Major V, minor vi, and diminished vii.So, for the key of C Major, we have a C Major (I), D minor (ii), E minor (iii), F Major (IV), G Major (V), A minor (vi), and B diminished (vii)For the key of B Major, we have a B Major (I), C# minor (ii), D# minor (iii), E Major (IV), F# Major (V), G# minor (vi), and A# diminished (vii).A C major chord is C, E and G. C and G are supposed to be sharp in the key of B Major. So ? of the notes in “Happy C Major” chord don’t even belong in the key.Your precious happy C Major chord is more ugly than the Hunchback of Notre Dame in B Major. MUCH more ugly.This is why it is so important to learn roman numeral notation- chords within the context of keys.An important thing to understand about this roman numeral notation is that each of these roman numerals have a specific sound. G Major in the key of C and F# Major in the key of B sound the same, because they are both V chords. They both have the same job.So it’s important to understand the job of each of these chords.It’s good to know what an A Major Chord is. But what you really need is to understand the chords within your key. Chord ProgressionsRemember how I just explained how context is everything to a chord? That isn’t just true for context within a key.The context within a song is vital as well. Even though a I and ii chord are both valid chords in your Major key song, that doesn’t necessarily mean that a chord progression of I - ii - I - ii will sound good.In fact, it probably won’t.I, IV, V and vi are going to be your main chords.I sounds like home and will be the most powerful.IV and V are your other major chords. They also have a strong feel, with V longing to return to I.And vi seems to be the only minor chord any pop song will ever use.If you listen to pop radio, those 4 chords are probably the only 4 you hear. They are convenient, because you can go from any one of them to any other one and it will sound fine. Once you involve ii and iii, it starts to become a lot more interesting.Understanding chord progressions (flow of one chord to the next) is a huge bonus to songwriting. This allows you to play with the listeners’ emotions. You can give feelings of resolve, suspense, shock and so much more. And all of this can be done with chord progression. They didn’t see that iii chord coming, did they!

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/Website: https://songwritertheory.com/Follow Me on Twitter: @josephNVadala Episode Writeup:You might be wondering what multithreaded means. It comes from the computer concept of a processor running different applications at the same time or even different parts of an application at the same time.Alright, how about an analogy? Let’s say you’re at the dinner table. You currently have the stuffing in front of you (hit the jackpot). You ask your father-in-law to pass the potatoes.If you’re multithreaded, you get yourself some stuffing while you wait for the table to finish passing the potatoes to you.If you were single threaded, you’d sit there like a moron and your wife would pass the stuffing on to someone else. Three minutes later you’d ask for someone to pass you the stuffing that started right in front of you.If your father-in-law wasn’t annoyed at you for existing before, he’s justifiably annoyed at you now.No need to annoy your father-in-law. Be a multithreaded songwriter. Why work on one song at a time, if you can have a large backlog of songs you’re working on? Let’s go through three reasons to be a multithreaded songwriter.More Options of What To Work OnI know you want to be watching Netflix right now. Maybe you aren’t even paying attention to this post because you’re too distracted by the greatness that is Daredevil. But, even though you LOVE Daredevil, aren’t there days you just want to chill and watch some New Girl?Options are good. What we really want to do one day might be very different the next day. What we’re in the mood for or even have the mental capacity for will change with the days, hours and even minutes.So why limit yourself to only work on one song at a time? You didn’t forget the last thing that happened in Daredevil when you took a week break and watched New Girl, right? You won’t forget your songs either.It’s ok to be working on several songs at once. I have a whole backlog of songs that I’m actively working on. I think the list is at about 10 at the moment. It’s super nice to be able to back away from one song for a bit and breathe some fresh air into another.Sometimes working on a different song is enough to help us through the writer’s block we had on another.Less Likely To Be Stuck and Increased ThroughputIf you’re only working on a song about your sadness over a breakup, you might not make good progress on a day you’re happy.But if you’re working on a song about thankfulness, that might be a good option for your great day.Every day you don’t feel able to write about your ex’s worst decision of their life, you aren’t making any progress on your writing at all.Unless you’re multithreaded. Then you can take advantage of whatever mood you’re in and write from that place. Unless all your songs are about the same thing, you probably have something you can work on no matter where your mind is.The byproduct of this? Better throughput. Better production over time. Instead of finishing one song every 3 months, you might average 1 finished song every 3 weeks. Don’t we all want to increase our production in both quantity and quality?Being multithreaded is the best way to increase throughput without the cost of extra time. Instead of wasting time making no progress on one song, you can switch to another and make progress on that one. 

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/Website: https://songwritertheory.com/Follow Me on Twitter: @josephNVadala Episode Writeup:Rhyming Can Be Unnecessary ShacklesI know you want to write a great lyric. Believe me. But, here’s the thing. You might think that you need to rhyme to have a great lyric but, really, forcing yourself to rhyme might hinder you on your heroic quest.Don’t you want to mean every word you say in your lyric? There is a certain precision loss we get once we lock into a rhyme scheme. Now, you’d like to use the word “shadow”, but you already wrote the other line with the word “fight” so…. I guess we’re rhyming with “night” AGAIN.Not that there’s anything wrong with that.Unless it isn’t quite what you wanted to say.As it is, we already have a bunch of concerns while writing a lyric. We want the lyric to be meaningful, memorable, and with the syllables right (or close). Why shackle ourselves even further with rhyming if we don’t have to?On the other side, sometimes a rhyme can be used as a crutch.I don’t know what to say next…. Well, I said “me” at the end of the last line. I guess I’ll say something about “Set me free”.STOP IT. DON’T DO THAT. Write what you want to say, not what the rhyme dictates you say. Rhyming Can Make a Song Overly Predictable or Feel UnoriginalA rhyme definitely can help people remember your lyric. It can add to its catchiness. For sure. I never said rhyming was bad. But people want familiar, just not TOO familiar. Have you ever noticed the thin line between people complaining about boring, uninspired, and unoriginal and loving something?We’re all adults here. So obviously cheese pizza is boring. And ONLY pepperoni on your pizza? Are we a 1st grade pizza party?But you do like a good fungus on your pizza Thinking twice. Rabbit food? Pile it on. Pig behind? Do it. Gross grape-looking black ovals with eyes? Why not?But put pineapple on and everyone FREAKS OUT.If you even have the nerve to suggest pineapple, buckle up. You’re about to have a bunch of normally-passionless people give you a fully-prepared dissertation on why the greatest crime humanity has ever committed was pineapple on pizza.This is the humanity you’re dealing with. Your rhymes can quickly move you into the “cheese pizza” level of boring. Oh, you rhymed “You” with “True”? Full on cheese. There are so many seriously eye-roll worthy rhymes out there. You know what I mean. When you’ve never heard a song before, but you already know the next line because it’s so cliche-ridden and predictable.We don’t want that. We want to write something different enough to merit someone spending a full 4 minutes giving a crap about what we have to say.And, on the pineapple pizza side, we also don’t want to put in bizarre rhymes that are jarring to the listener.No One Will Even Notice If Your Song RhymesYou don’t believe me. But let’s put this to the test. If you can instantly answer my question, I’ll concede.Your FAVORITE song. Does it rhyme?YOU DON’T KNOW. Even if you did know the answer, I bet you had to think about it just a tad. You have to think about the lyrics right now to even figure it out.You don’t care about the rhyme or the lack thereof.It’s like eye color. Sometimes you notice, sometimes you know someone for years without ever noticing.You don’t care about the rhyme. You don’t. I promise. And no one will care if you rhyme either.Write a great lyric. If you can rhyme without compromising what you want to say, great. If you find yourself constantly changing what you wanted to communicate just to fit a rhyme scheme, maybe just abandon it.I want you to write a great song. 

FREE GUIDE LINK: https://songwritertheory.com/freeguide/Website: https://songwritertheory.com/Follow Me on Twitter: @josephNVadala Episode Writeup:Yes, be ok with writing badly. I know we’re hard-wired to see failure as a bad thing. I know school teaches us we have one shot to get it right. But real life isn’t like that. Real life is fail until we get it right. We need to practice. We need to hone our skills. We need to master our craft. The only way to do that? Write. Write on the days you feel like it and write on the days you don’t. Don’t spend 10 minutes staring at a blank page to come up with the perfect line - just write. Embrace the cringe-worthy things you write. Embrace the imperfections. There are 3 main reasons why.Bad Writing is Still Good ExerciseLet’s say you work out 1 hour every other day. Today is a day you are supposed to work out, but you feel tired and only have 30 minutes to do it. Should you work out anyway? Of course. Those biceps won’t build themselves while you eat a cheeseburger. Obviously a 30 minute workout is still better than a 0 minute workout. Even if you don’t work out as hard due to being tired, something is still better than nothing. Exercising our creativity is the same. Some days will be off days and some days you won’t have as much time to write as you’d like. But it’s important to do it anyway. Even if your writing was entirely garbage that day, it still isn’t wasted. Because you exercised your creativity. You honed your talents. Just like working out with fewer reps will still help your biceps be gym-worthy, deciding to write on an off day will still help you become a better writer.Every Bad Writing is One More Bad Writing Over WithIf you haven’t lived under a rock your whole life, you’ve probably heard the Thomas Edison quote “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” Every time you write garbage, you’ve just worked through some lyrics or music that won’t work. If you’re afraid to write garbage, you’ll never be able to put the bad writing behind you. Just dive in. Write. Don’t judge every line as you write it, just allow yourself the freedom to write. I’m not a huge fan of “safe spaces” and the like but, in this one instance, give your writing a safe space to be judgement free.Bad Writing can be Reworked Into Good Writing LaterHere is my favorite. Just because your first draft is junk or your third draft makes Rebecca Black seem like the Picasso of songwriting doesn’t mean it can’t turn into gold. Even a terrible lyric or musical theme can inspire greatness later. Maybe your concept is great, but the actual lyrics just aren’t working. Maybe your concept isn’t great, but it can inspire a much better concept later. No matter what, keep all your writing. Yes, all of it. Go back to it sometimes and see if there were hidden gems you didn’t notice before. Or just allow yourself to be inspired by the thoughts or lyrics of your past-self. Most of the time, your first draft and final draft isn’t going to be the same, so don’t spend so much time trying to make sure everything you write is perfect. It can and should be tweaked and edited over time. It’s ok if the first draft is junk. Most first drafts of anything are.