Where Do I Start?

I've been writing songs for decades. I haven't made much money at it as of yet but after spending 12 years in Nashville I feel I have a wealth of information to offer anyone wanting to try their hand at this wonderful medium. Honestly, there is a lot to it and I could sit here and write for days, weeks, months, err you get the idea. In this first blog I will try and whet your appetite and get you prepared for the journey. Also there are two distinct groups of "students" who might be interested in learning about songwriting.

First there are those who want to learn so they can write some songs for their friends, family and basically have an outlet for ideas they get from time to time but probably will never pursue it further than their own circle in their hometown. And you know what? That's a fine thing. If you can develop the understand of songwriting and use it to communicate to your friends and family, write songs for church or other social groups sharing your feeling and interpretation of the world it will enrich your life. Writing songs can be a very enjoyable thing, especially if you take the time to learn how to do it right.

Then there is the other group of wanna be songwriters. These are the ones who constantly have ideas running through their minds and are driven to learn how to express them and turn them into musical masterpieces. These are the students who will either end up in probably, Nashville or New York and if they are really driven may indeed end up having some of those songs professionally published whether or not they ever get paid for it.

For those who have an interest but will probably never take it to the professional level, hang in there. This blog will be geared towards those who want to make a career out of it. Having said that, anyone who is interested can learn how to write songs from this series of blogs. It's just that for some there will be subjects that won't do you much good. So if anyone ventures here and gets confused please feel free to contact me and I promise I will personally get back to you.

I'm going to start by recommending a book. It's entitled "If They As You, You Can Write A Song". If you can get this or a similar book it will help you understand the mechanics of songwriting. You need to understand song form and begin to understand things like rhyme schemes, phrasing and meter. Let's start by looking at a familiar old song we all know:

Twinkle, twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
Twinkle, twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are

In songwriting vernacular this would probably be called a chorus.
In that vein lets notice the rhythm of each line. Each line has 7 syllables or beats. This is the meter of the song. This is an example of perfect meter as each line is exactly the same as far as meter also called phrasing. To me the best songwriters pay attention the the rhythmic patterns the lyrics form in the lines. Not every line has to be the same but there should be a pattern that follows. Like the first line of each verse should match or every other line, so there is some sort of pattern. Now there are a great many songs where this does not happen and many of them were hits and made songwriters and artists a lot of money but in my humble opinion the very best songs do follow this rule about meter and phrasing.

Now let's consider the rhyme scheme. Lines 1 and 2 rhyme, then lines 3 and 4 and finally lines 5 and 6. Most songs fall into a pattern where either the lines rhyme like this or every other line rhymes. In most 4 line verses or choruses the 2nd and 4th lines will rhyme. This normally "sounds p[leasing" to the listener. Another popular rhyme scheme that is harder to do is to rhyme the 1st and 3rd lines and also the 2nd and 4th lines. Don Henley and Glen Frye of the Eagles are masters at this method. Just listen to "Lyin' Eyes" to hear the genius of this approach.
In fact I'm going to give you your first assignment. Pick out 5 of your favorite songs. Try and decide what the meter or phrasing is and the rhyme scheme. Take notes and see if this starts to make sense to you. Next time we will expound on this a bit more. Until then...Write on!!