By
Kimberly Johnson
Hey,
Hey, Hey. Those three words are burning up
the radio waves, especially on 104.7 FM. The intro line belongs to Robin
Thicke’s Blurred Lines. (Some old school listeners say Fat Albert needs
to jump into this). The groovin’ chart topper got me thinking. I want to write
a song without blurred lines, you know, something catchy, something that will
sell and make millions. Ok. I didn’t major in Music in college. I didn’t play
an instrument in high school and I am not acquainted with the formal
definitions of harmony, rhythm, and chord progression. But, I pay attention to
words and their arrangement in a composition—guess that comes from my newspaper
writing training. Listen to the words in the title song from the 70s sitcom, Maude.
Lyricists Dave Grusin and Andrew Bergman knew who the target audience was
(women), found a universal theme (strong women who had conviction) and tapped
into a catchy beat (search for it on YouTube).
Lady Godiva was freedom rider. She didn’t care if the whole world looked. Joan of Arc with the Lord to guide her. She was a sister who really cooked.
Those are
the elements needed to write a good story. And like any good journalist-turning-songwriter,
I cranked up the Internet and came up with a hodge-podge of
tips.
1: Write it out www.music-industry.squidoo.com
*Keep a notebook handy and write down words, lines and verses
that embody how you feel and think.
2: Be organized:
www.greatsongwriting.com
*Get a
central theme or subject. Outline what your message is to your target audience.
Organize and focus on what emotion you want the audience to take away from your
song.
3: Keep Music 101 in mind and work through the technical
stuff. www.howtowriteasongtips.com
*Write the chorus, first. It showcases the main idea in your
song. Make it catchy.
*Compose a melody, using a music scale “Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti”
.
*Write one melody
for the first line, and then use various types of melodies for subsequent lines
in the song.
**Hint: “A traditional song has four to five verses
of four lines. Writing at least five plus a chorus can really help to make
the verse and melody happen, as these are the most important things of the song
to a lyricist. Write two last verses. Even the most experienced song writers
are waiting for the inspiration how to write song lyrics by them, because these
are normally the hardest to write.”
Ok. I
didn’t major in Music in college. Nevertheless, I did write for a living and I
know what components make for a good story. I need to take a music
class and not get blurred lines when I start this songwriting gig.
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