[nabs-l] Writing lyrics to chords, or vise versa

Mon Sep 8 02:31:00 UTC 2014

Thanks so much.

I have several songs written, and some have melodys, (actually, 
four out of the five or six, do), it's just the piano part that I 
can never seem to put down.

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Kaiti Shelton via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
To: Chris Nusbaum <dotkid.nusbaum at gmail.com>, National 
Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Sun, 7 Sep 2014 22:15:13 -0400
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Writing lyrics to chords, or vise versa

Hi there,

I'm majoring in music therapy now, and one of the things we do a 
lot
is help clients write songs of their own.  Though I don't have 
much
experience in this yet for clinical use, and since you're not 
really
looking for it, I'll just give you some basic tips that I've 
learned
about from attending professional conferences and workshops on
songwriting.  :)

First, try to look at any sets of lyrics you might have.  Do they 
have
a rhythm you might want to consider using?  Sometimes rhythm can 
be
more important than pitches or chords, because part of what 
rhythm
does is help to convey the feeling like poetry does.  Once you
establish a rhythm scheme you have one more aspect of the song 
puzzled
in.

Next, try to come up with a melody.  This is the part that's 
always
been hardest for me.  Don't make it outrageiously large in range, 
it
should be something you're comfortable singing.

Next, you can put the chords in fairly easily.  Look at the key 
your
melody is in, then focus the chords around that melody.  A very
generic chord progression for modern songs is one, six, four, 
five,
repeat.  If it's minor you could try the same progression, it 
will
just sound different.  Other patterns are one, four, five, or one 
six,
two, five, one.  That is the common "Doo whop" progression you 
would
hear in a lot of fifties or sixties music, think Grease.  That 
one is
kind of nice because it is a little more unexpected any more.

When you're working the other way around, start with your melody 
and
try to add words and a rhythm to it.  The chords should fall into
place naturally based on what the other elements of your song 
are.
Really, they're the least important part, so they'll come later.

Another thing you could do to practice writing lyrics and playing
popular chord progressions is to parody popular songs.  I did 
this a
lot with a friend when I was younger, and now that I know a 
little
more about songwriting some of what we did as 14 and 15 year olds 
is
actually really good.  The parodies can be humorous---they don't 
have
to be serious at all, it's just a way to get you practicing 
working
with rhythm and writing about a different topic.  You can also 
try
taking established words and writing a new melody to them, then 
adding
in chords to make a new arrangement.

Hope this helps.

On 9/7/14, Chris Nusbaum via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
 There is also a list for blind musicians which you might find 
helpful.  This
 list can be found at:
 http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/musictlk_nfbnet.org

 Chris

 -----Original Message-----
 From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of 
Marissa Tejeda
 via nabs-l
 Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2014 12:08 AM
 To: Elizabeth Mohnke; marissat789 at gmail.com; nabs-l at nfbnet.org
 Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Writing lyrics to chords, or vise versa

 Hi,

 Thanks so much! I didn't know there was a performing list! 
That's cool!

  ----- Original Message -----
 From: Elizabeth Mohnke <lizmohnke at hotmail.com
 To: "'Marissa Tejeda'" <marissat789 at gmail.com>,"'National
 Association of Blind Students mailing list'" <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
 Date sent: Sun, 7 Sep 2014 00:01:43 -0400
 Subject: RE: [nabs-l] Writing lyrics to chords, or vise versa

 Hello Marissa,

 Perhaps you may wish to post this message on the performing arts
 division
 email list.  I would imagine you would probably receive more
 helpful
 answers on there than you would on here.  You can find
 information for this
 email list at www.nfbnet.org.

 Warm regards,
 Elizabeth

 -----Original Message-----
 From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
 Marissa Tejeda
 via nabs-l
 Sent: Saturday, September 06, 2014 11:08 PM
 To: Nabsl
 Subject: [nabs-l] Writing lyrics to chords, or vise versa

 Hi guys,

 So, I have written about five original songs.  Some of them, I
 have tunes
 too, but when I sit at the piano and try to figure them out, I
 can never do
 so.  Also, I have a pattern of chords that I made up on piano,
 that I would
 like to put words to, but cannot, for some reason.  I've tried,
 but nothing
 comes to mind.

 Several of my songs have no tunes at all, (though, they do, I
 just forget
 them), and I can't put music behind it.  The same goes for a few
 of my piano
 songs I have composed, then forgot how to play.  Luckily, I
 rember a few of
 them, the ones I really really like.

 Does anyone have any tips, advice, or would like to help me off
 list?

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--
Kaiti

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