[stylist] Feature article

Tue Dec 7 08:15:11 UTC 2010

Hi Brad, Have you been reading my train writing? It's some of my best; maybe 
it's a mid life crisis but it has a history. There is a lot of avenues to 
take in trains; I enjoy writing about my experiences with the people. 
Sometimes I think the train thing is more about the people than the train; 
kind of my pictures. I'm glad you picked up on it. Perhaps someday I'll 
publish it. Maybe I'll write my engineer's story; he's certainly part of 
mine whether he realizes it or not.

Looking forward to reading more of your work. Please consider writing for 
"Slate and Style." Email me off list; queenofbells at roadrunner.com

Have a good night.

Shelley J. Alongi
Cell/text: (714) 525-9632
Read my Metrolink writings and other essays and stories
http://www.storymania.com/cgibin/sm2/smshowauthorbox.cgi?page=1&author=AlongiSJ&alpha=A

Updated: October 16, 2010
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brad Dunse" <lists at braddunsemusic.com>
To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 3:17 AM
Subject: Re: [stylist] Feature article

> Thanks Shelly. In your writing you bring up  something in the literal 
> writing field that is becoming a larger focus in songwriting these days... 
> a niche market. With your love for trains you've got a niche of which to 
> write, that's good targeting whether you intended it or just do it for the 
> love of it. I pretty much feel its the latter for you :).
>
> Brad
>
>
> On 12/6/2010  02:24 AM Shelley J. Alongi said...
>>nice article, Brad.
>>
>>
>>Shelley J. Alongi
>>Cell/text: (714) 525-9632
>>Read my Metrolink writings and other essays and stories
>>http://www.storymania.com/cgibin/sm2/smshowauthorbox.cgi?page=1&author=AlongiSJ&alpha=A
>>
>>Updated: October 16, 2010
>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Brad Dunse" <lists at braddunsemusic.com>
>>To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
>>Sent: Sunday, December 05, 2010 8:49 PM
>>Subject: Re: [stylist] Feature article
>>
>>
>>
>>>Robert and Marion,
>>
>>Thanks. Sure, where they will be published is at:
>>http://www.musesmuse.com/musenews.html
>>
>>An older sample is below. Now that it is in a
>>venue beyond just my site I'll try to put the
>>grammarian hat on a little tighter :)
>>
>>This month's tip deals with music and melody
>>rather than lyrical content. Melodies and music
>>are like people's lives, they like a bit of
>>repetition, patterns, and familiarity. Not every
>>one of course but the majority by far.
>>
>>Most people like a certain amount of predictable
>>direction, their expectations being met, and
>>sense of familiarity so they feel at home and can
>>join in comfortably. Ever have a couple friends
>>play a card game you never played, they ask you
>>to join in and you say "No thanks, I'll watch for
>>a while and see how it's played first." People
>>like adventure but they do like things somewhat
>>familiar to them so they can join in comfortably and safely.
>>
>>Melody and music is very similar. Have you been
>>at an open mike night, heard a song that starts
>>out cool, and you think you might want to sing
>>along or at least feel comfortable with its
>>direction? Then as the song went on the melody
>>kept drifting to and fro, up and down, twisting
>>around in all directions and never seeming to
>>have any sense or pattern to it? It felt like
>>going from Point A to Point B by landmark
>>directions only without any indication of how far
>>between landmarks. It seemed like it lasted
>>forever right? No doubt you found it frustrating.
>>Or worse you were the one behind the mike and
>>wondered why you lost folk's attention.
>>
>>Getting people into your music quickly is easier
>>if you set up the melody or music with cyclical
>>patterns or some set of shorter phrasings easily
>>remembered. Blues guitarists do this often with
>>their short but catchy "call and response" type
>>riffs. Repeating phrases, building tension, and
>>then releasing it. This can be done in your
>>songwriting, including the background
>>instrumentation to compliment the melody and syllable patterns.
>>
>>Here are a few examples of what I mean. Take a
>>good listen you can search for these songs on You
>>Tube and hear what I mean. Check out Billy Joel's
>>"We Didn't Start The Fire". There are a ton of
>>items in this song what we call a grocery list. A
>>smattering of names, places, events in history
>>and other assorted goodies. I'm sure Billy knew
>>that there just weren't no way his listeners were
>>about to memorize all that stuff. So the
>>instrumentation, melody, and music had to be very
>>cyclical. Both verse and chorus are filled with
>>short similar phrases and though he doesn't stick
>>to a constant syllable uniformity, the melody
>>feel and phrasings are all similar in fulfilling a listener's expectation.
>>
>> From the Country market you can find another
>>example with Dierks Bentley's "What Was I
>>Thinkin'". Again a very repetitive familiar
>>pattern with the choppy one line rhyme scheme to
>>help it along. Another advantage to introducing
>>your listener to this in your songs is it can
>>serve as a catapult for your hook or chorus.
>>Folks get just enough taste of the familiar
>>phrasing and before they get to the point of "OK,
>>I've heard this enough times now I'm ready for
>>different", you take them to a pre-chorus or lift
>>and slingshot them to the chorus.
>>
>>Some other examples to check out are: Runaway by
>>Love and Theft, Sweet Thing by Keith Urban, Dirty
>>Laundry by Don Henley, Ironic by Alanis
>>Morissette, and maybe Enrique Iglesias's I Can Be
>>Your Hero. All of these examples use short catchy
>>repetitive phrases which have made them huge
>>hits. They are easy for people to remember, to
>>sing along with, and to ask for on the radio or when searching I-Tunes.
>>
>>Take a look at what you've been writing. Are your
>>melody lines stretched out and complicated? Are
>>they difficult for people to remember? Perhaps
>>you can find one in your catalog to use as a
>>project to rewrite the melody and groove using
>>the characteristics of the above examples making
>>it more memorable and attractive to a listener.
>>Or you can purpose to write a new song this week
>>using these tools and see how your writing and
>>thinking about your songs might change. One way
>>is to take one of the above songs and write a
>>different lyric to it following the syllable
>>pattern and feel, then go back and re-write a different melody to it.
>>
>>Happy writing. see you next month!
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
> Brad Dunse
>
> Be yourself; everyone else is already taken. --Oscar Wilde
>
> brad at braddunsemusic.com
>
> http://www.braddunsemusic.com
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