Halfway! This week's task -- to break some of our own 'rules' and think outside of what has become comfortable in our songwriting. Christopher had some great suggestions in his blog post and video about how to do this, including writing on a different instrument or starting with a different part of the song (the chorus, for example).
I spent two days looking over songs I have written and analyzing what some of my 'go to' techniques have been. Usually the first thing I do when writing is to free write on a topic for a while. Then I look through the mess and see what jumps out at me. From that, I usually start with my first verse and work my way up to what feels like the essence of what I'm saying, in the chorus. Usually the guitar creeps into my hands after I have the first verse and then a key and melody fall into place. That's my system and it's working fairly well; however, it's important to push yourself and expand your horizons, so this week I approached my writing completely differently. I noodled around on the guitar until I came up with a little groove, a little riff and chord progression that was kind of fun to play. I have never considered myself a "guitar player" -- all my formal training is on piano and saxophone -- but I do love to write with the guitar because of how it resonates with my voice. Also I find that my phrasing falls more naturally than when I write on piano, because I'm not trying to get too technical. I CAN'T get too technical - ha ha. I always used to watch the guys in my band noodling around, tossing scraps of ideas back and forth, but it was never something I really explored...until now.
The song I came up with sprang from my noodling, and also from a conversation my fiance overheard when we were at the grocery store last week. Two cashiers, no older than 19 or 20, were complaining to each other about the things they wished they'd done, and as we were leaving the store he remarked on how young they were to have so many regrets. That stuck with me and started something. Because I was working on the guitar groove I didn't think about the lyrics for a couple of days, but the idea was in there...percolating...A song about perspective, about how you get what you focus on and how if you want certain things in your life you should look for opportunities instead of bemoaning lost chances. A 'change your mind and the rest will follow' type of idea, since that is what I wish I could say to those girls who have their lives spread out before them. I don't generally write songs giving people advice (I mean, who am I? Right?), but that also ties into the 'experimenting' theme.
The harmonic form this took is something of an altered blues. There is a section of plain old 12-bar blues for the solo, which I dusted off the saxophone for. I integrated a pre-chorus, which is also something I don't usually do. Because blues tunes often express sadness, loss, or frustration, I thought it would be fun twist to use elements of the form but have the song send a positive message instead of lingering on the negative.
I extended my experiment to try and learn more about Garageband on my iPad. I discovered that you can create drum beats, and I made a cool one that nicely underlay the rhythm of the guitar, but then I couldn't figure out how to turn it off when there were breaks. *%&!! That's a frontier to save for another day, so I scrapped that, laying down some hand claps today instead.
There are things I really like about this song, and a few things I will probably change. I'm not as comfortable posting this one; mostly, I think, because it does stray a bit outside my comfort zone. It was a great exercise, though, and I'm looking forward to hearing where everyone else pushed themselves this week!
https://soundcloud.com/kamcquil/let-the-light-in-s-a-c
Let the Light In
© Kelly McQuillan 2014
You’re too young to sound so old
Paving your life with regrets
Before it’s had time to grow
Right now your transcription reads
Like musings of the elderly
I wish, I should have, if only
It’s you against the world
But the world’s not backing down
The only battle you can win
Is the one behind that frown
So let the light in
Take the time to shift your mind
Let the light in
You’ll be surprised at what you find
Trained rainclouds come when called
And gather overhead
Their acid makes your dreams dissolve
I get it, yes I’ve been there
When life was full of hurt
My heart has been scraped bare
It’s been me against the world
But the world did not back down
The only battle I could win
Was the one behind my frown
Just let the light in
Take the time to shift your mind
Let the light in
You’ll be surprised at what you find
Dwelling in the dark will get us nothing but the same
Shadows smother all we have and all that we have gained
So let the light in
Take the time to shift your mind
Let the light in
And live the life that you design
I know I’m living mine.
I spent two days looking over songs I have written and analyzing what some of my 'go to' techniques have been. Usually the first thing I do when writing is to free write on a topic for a while. Then I look through the mess and see what jumps out at me. From that, I usually start with my first verse and work my way up to what feels like the essence of what I'm saying, in the chorus. Usually the guitar creeps into my hands after I have the first verse and then a key and melody fall into place. That's my system and it's working fairly well; however, it's important to push yourself and expand your horizons, so this week I approached my writing completely differently. I noodled around on the guitar until I came up with a little groove, a little riff and chord progression that was kind of fun to play. I have never considered myself a "guitar player" -- all my formal training is on piano and saxophone -- but I do love to write with the guitar because of how it resonates with my voice. Also I find that my phrasing falls more naturally than when I write on piano, because I'm not trying to get too technical. I CAN'T get too technical - ha ha. I always used to watch the guys in my band noodling around, tossing scraps of ideas back and forth, but it was never something I really explored...until now.
The song I came up with sprang from my noodling, and also from a conversation my fiance overheard when we were at the grocery store last week. Two cashiers, no older than 19 or 20, were complaining to each other about the things they wished they'd done, and as we were leaving the store he remarked on how young they were to have so many regrets. That stuck with me and started something. Because I was working on the guitar groove I didn't think about the lyrics for a couple of days, but the idea was in there...percolating...A song about perspective, about how you get what you focus on and how if you want certain things in your life you should look for opportunities instead of bemoaning lost chances. A 'change your mind and the rest will follow' type of idea, since that is what I wish I could say to those girls who have their lives spread out before them. I don't generally write songs giving people advice (I mean, who am I? Right?), but that also ties into the 'experimenting' theme.
The harmonic form this took is something of an altered blues. There is a section of plain old 12-bar blues for the solo, which I dusted off the saxophone for. I integrated a pre-chorus, which is also something I don't usually do. Because blues tunes often express sadness, loss, or frustration, I thought it would be fun twist to use elements of the form but have the song send a positive message instead of lingering on the negative.
I extended my experiment to try and learn more about Garageband on my iPad. I discovered that you can create drum beats, and I made a cool one that nicely underlay the rhythm of the guitar, but then I couldn't figure out how to turn it off when there were breaks. *%&!! That's a frontier to save for another day, so I scrapped that, laying down some hand claps today instead.
There are things I really like about this song, and a few things I will probably change. I'm not as comfortable posting this one; mostly, I think, because it does stray a bit outside my comfort zone. It was a great exercise, though, and I'm looking forward to hearing where everyone else pushed themselves this week!
https://soundcloud.com/kamcquil/let-the-light-in-s-a-c
Let the Light In
© Kelly McQuillan 2014
You’re too young to sound so old
Paving your life with regrets
Before it’s had time to grow
Right now your transcription reads
Like musings of the elderly
I wish, I should have, if only
It’s you against the world
But the world’s not backing down
The only battle you can win
Is the one behind that frown
So let the light in
Take the time to shift your mind
Let the light in
You’ll be surprised at what you find
Trained rainclouds come when called
And gather overhead
Their acid makes your dreams dissolve
I get it, yes I’ve been there
When life was full of hurt
My heart has been scraped bare
It’s been me against the world
But the world did not back down
The only battle I could win
Was the one behind my frown
Just let the light in
Take the time to shift your mind
Let the light in
You’ll be surprised at what you find
Dwelling in the dark will get us nothing but the same
Shadows smother all we have and all that we have gained
So let the light in
Take the time to shift your mind
Let the light in
And live the life that you design
I know I’m living mine.
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