Songcraft Session 13

Songcraft Session 13 will be held this Friday (18th July), 730pm at the YMS Arts Centre. All are welcome.

As usual, there will be an upright piano and some guitars provided. All you have to do is bring your songs.

Feel free to to bring along your friends too, if you like.

There are two optional “assignments” for this Friday…one is to write a “National Day song” (see previous post), and the other is to write a song about “cats”.

But of course, if you have other songs to share, you are most welcomed to do so too.

See you all this Friday for another evening of wonderful music-sharing!

P.S. See (here) for directions to the YMS Arts Centre.

Write Your Own National Day Song!

Photo (“Singapore flag flying high”) by Uiruriamu

The NDP banners are starting to go up all over Singapore. The fighter jets are doing their rehearsals in the sky.

We at Songcraft are gonna do our little part for National Day too! (After all, Songcraft is proud to be a group that does its part to promote the passion for songwriting in Singapore.)

Here’s the deal: If you’re running out of ideas for the next Songcraft session on 18th July, here’s one: Write a National Day song and present it at the next session!

You can choose to write a clean-cut, safe-sounding, goody-goody-two-shoes type of NDP song (the type that will get you in the good books of the NDP committee), or you could write a tongue-in-cheek kind of song. It’s completely up to you.

Come 18th July, we’ll come together and share our songs, and see what kind of national day songs we can come up with. It’s gonna be fun.

And then when 9th of August comes, you can sing your own NDP song to your friends and family, haha!

Of course, all other regular, non-National Day songs are still welcomed at the next Songcraft session.

Happy writing!

The Gift Of Melody

I’ve often spent countless hours pondering about the concept of “melody”.

Many songwriting books will tell you that writing great melody is a gift - some have the “gift of melody” while others don’t.

My question, then, is how do you define this gift of melody? Is there really such a thing?

Well, we know for sure who had the gift of melody. The first few names that come to my mind are Richard Rodgers, Paul McCartney, John Rutter, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tchaikovsky, Schubert, and Paul Simon.

But when it comes to actually defining what this gift sounds like, it gets a bit more difficult.

You see, the mysterious thing about melody is that we know a good one when we hear it, but we can’t necessarily always construct a good one on our own.

I’m not exactly sure why this is so. You see, logically thinking…if we know what makes a good melody work, then it would follow that we should be able to all write great melodies too right?

In reality, that is not always the case.

You see, that’s why I find songwriting so fascinating. It’s such a nebulous concept. You never know when the next great song is going to come, and you never know where it’s going to come from. It could come from anybody at anytime. It doesn’t mean that those with higher musical education will necessarily write better melodies.

Do you think you have the gift of melody?

…

Notes: It has been said that Beethoven’s musical gifts, as monumental as they were, did not lie in melody. If you compare Beethoven with Schubert, you can make a case that Schubert had the more natural gift for melody.

Same goes with Paul McCartney and John Lennon. I am willing to make a case that despite John being an awesome songwriter, it was Paul who actually had the greater gift for melody. John was a great songwriter, no doubt, and he had his moments of melodic genius as well, but if you were to take a look at the big picture, I think Paul had the more obvious gift for melody.

Tchaikovsky was one of the most gifted melodists I’ve ever heard bar none, and I suspect I’m not alone in this view. It is simply mind-boggling how he came up with such breathtaking melodies.

Stephen Sondheim is a legendary writer on Broadway, a god-like figure to some, but melody wasn’t exactly what his musicals were known for. Some have noted that you don’t leave a theatre humming a Sondheim melody. This is in contrast to say, Andrew Lloyd Webber, who has given us some of the most memorable West End tunes in the last two to three decades.

Exclusive: An Interview With Firdaus The Songwriter!

I recently had the golden opportunity to sit down with Firdaus, a fellow pal from our Songcraft Songwriting Circle, to talk in-depth about his thoughts on songwriting over some coffee and biscuits.

Firdaus, to me, has been one of the most prolific and inspiring songwriters in our circle, and from reading his blog at firdaus-music.blogspot.com, it is also apparent to me that Firdaus is not only a very talented musician, but he also thinks very deeply when it comes to music.

All in all, I have to say that my one-hour interview with him was a most enjoyable one, as I managed to ask him about his approach and philosophy towards songwriting, as well as other interesting tidbits which I’ve always wanted to find out about him.

I have reproduced the entire interview transcript below. It might be a tad lengthy, but I strongly recommend that you take a good read if you have the time, as it gives us valuable insight into Firdaus’s thinking, philosophy and methods with regards to his songwriting.

(p.s. Ok, I lied. It was actually an email interview, not a sit-down interview. But it sounds so much better if I didn’t admit it were an email interview right? Haha!)

…

The Interview

Q) Firstly, can you please tell me a little bit more about your musical abilities? I understand you play quite a number of instruments - Which instruments exactly do you play? What formal training have you received when learning these instruments?

I have no musical abilities whatsoever! =)

Well, I’ve been playing the saxophone since I was 13 when I joined my secondary school band, so I’m not too bad at it (I think). It’s a wonderful instrument to play. My seniors taught me how to play it, via torture and coercion. Although I wished I had learned the clarinet first before I played the saxophone, because they are quite similar, except that the clarinet has a wider range and has more complicated fingerings, which I am too lazy to start learning now. Playing saxophone is great, especially in a band, because you’re exposed to all types of music, from classical to jazz. Also, the nature of the instrument itself allows it to be effectively used in both classical and jazz pieces.

I can also play chords on the guitar and piano. I picked up the guitar in secondary school but only seriously started playing it a lot when I started university. The piano, I picked up too during university. So I guess my university years were quite productive after all! Both were self-taught (It’s kind of a weird term don’t you think? If you already knew it, why then teach yourself?). Oh yah, I play drums too, self-taught, to release stress!

Due to my laziness, I have yet to ‘master’ any instrument. I’m pretty confident that with some work I could get a diploma in saxophone. But as I don’t intend to teach saxophone, it doesn’t make sense for me to pursue a certificate. Also, as I only use the guitar and piano to play chords in order to compose songs, I see little need beyond what I already have. I could change my mind in future of course.

I wish I could learn a brass instrument. That’d be awesome! But my nose feels funny and itchy after every time I tried to buzz the notes! Oh, and I’d like to learn the harmonica too. It’d be so badass playing the guitar and sing and playing your own harmonica solo!

Q) Do you think the ability to play an instrument, or play an instrument well, is critical when it comes to writing songs?

Not if you’re a lyrics writer I guess, or if you have people whom you know that can play the instruments for you as you write the song. I think normally such cases happen in a band, where the singer comes up with the lyrics and a melodic idea and the other members play and contribute? I know there are some artistes like Madonna, Avirl Lavinge and Alanis Morissette who employs such a style of song writing. So being able to play an instrument well, for me, is not critical when writing songs.

However, the nature of the instrument itself would affect exactly how the song would turn out. For example, you wouldn’t expect someone who composes on an electric guitar with distortion to come up with a classical-sounding song. It’d definitely be something more edgy. And you wouldn’t expect someone using the piano to compose heavy metal music. The song is like a sculpture, and the musical instrument is a tool which one can use to sculpt out the song from the raw material. The resulting sculpture would definitely be affected by the tools used to shape it.

Of course, someone like Beethoven makes my whole argument invalid. But I think such composers are the exception rather than the norm. Ultimately, the music is inside of you, and the instrument is just an aid for you to get the music out.

Q) To me, your songs are like a breath of fresh air. Very interesting and refreshing. How would you describe your own song writing style?

A breath of fresh air from what? Personally I think everyone’s song is like a breath of fresh air, as long as they remain unique and true to themselves, and not try to imitate other people. Bob Dylan said that the world doesn’t need any more new songs, and that the present songs are enough for the entire world such that each person in the world can have 300 songs each but the songs would never run out. What makes a song stand out then? It must be a unique and truthful creation from the song writer, which other people would be interested to hear.

My song writing style is to write music that I myself would want to hear. I must admit, I’m a bit selfish in this respect. I compose for myself rather than for an audience. In my mind, according to my own internal logic, if you write songs for yourself, then even if others might not like it, it won’t be so bad because you have already satisfied yourself. I’m not a professional ‘artiste’ anyway who has to sell records to the masses. That’s why I think that the word ‘sharing’ our music during Songcraft sessions is great, because I am literally sharing it; something that comes out of me and is for me but is open for others to experience also. I don’t like the idea of songs that are composed because of the need to please people or trying to reach high expectations, because you could never please everyone. Pleasing yourself is enough.

Q) I understand you are a huge fan of The Beatles and Oasis, just to name a few. Would you say your music is heavily influenced by these bands? Who else would you cite as your major musical influences, if any?

The Beatles were the Mozarts of the 20th century. They were THAT good musically. I would think that any popular music-listening person would have at least 1 favourite song that was composed by the Beatles. It’s fascinating to learn about them, because their ascent to global superstardom was during a period of social upheaval in the 1960s, where everything was turned upside down. One could even suggest that the Beatles played quite a part in it, from their music to their fashion senses, right down to their haircuts. And who could forget the screaming and screaming fans they attract everywhere they go? The whole world was Beatle-mania! I don’t think any other musical group would affect the world in such a way again.

Photo (“The Beatles.”) by Gonzalo Barrientos

I like Oasis because they happen to be the best and most famous band while I was a teenager. It was the ‘in thing’ to like Oasis you know. ‘Wonderwall’ and ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’ was a massive hit back in those days.

I guess my music must have been influenced by such bands, since I listened to them a lot. It’s not a conscious process. Only when you look back, then you could maybe think ‘hey, it sounds a bit like Oasis’. One of my friends told me that my music sounds like 1960s music. I don’t know if it’s a compliment or not, haha..

Believe it or not, the first song I ever wrote, ‘Someday’, was actually not influenced by the above two bands but a Canadian band called the Moffatts! The chord progressions I used were similar to a few of their songs, because I had learned to play their songs on guitar. That’s why I’m a great believer in the process of learning other people’s songs because it allows you to absorb and internalise their music, and maybe use it in future.

I think I’m over my Beatles, Moffatts and Oasis period now. While it’s always nice to listen to the songs, it gets kind of boring eventually. So I always try to go to Youtube and listen to different acts to get new ideas and be inspired. You don’t have to always try to listen to the new bands and see what new ideas they have come up with. I have discovered for myself that you could also learn from the musicians of the past, like from classical music or composers from the past decades. A good thing about living in the present with all the technology available is that you have very good access to archives of great music from the past!

I now try to listen to more jazz and Latin music. Jazz musicians from past decades like Sonny Rollins, Ella Fitzgerald and Miles Davis are so unbelievably talented that it’s out of this world simply watching and listening to them play. A simple tune can become so complex and wonderful when they get their hands on it. I like Latin music because of it’s different feel compared to normal pop music. Also, Latin music is very dramatic and is communal in nature. Very nice!

Strangely enough, I have also somewhat become a fan of Yoko Ono recently and have been listening to her songs on Youtube. She has a few brilliant songs, like ‘Walking on Thin Ice’ and ‘Yume O Moto’. Sometimes I even feel her songs are more musical and deeper than the Beatles’!

Q) You seem to be a very prolific songwriter. In fact, I think you’re one of the most prolific songwriters in Songcraft. How do you find the inspiration to write your songs? What is your typical song writing process like? Also, what is your philosophy towards songwriting?

The number of songs I write doesn’t mean much to me. It’s very easy to write a song. I think the lyrics of my song ‘A Lazy Song’ lampoons the whole process of song writing – “some simple poems to make up the song, four chords repeating all the way”.

Maybe my mentality helps a lot in the writing of my songs. I’m not a perfectionist, so I don’t fret too much about a certain lyric or melody. Hey, as long as it’s acceptable, I’m not going to worry too much about it. The devil is getting the damn song out in the first place, not in the details. And as I mentioned before, the only person whom I let judge the song is me and not others. So if I think it’s okay, then screw what other people think! Haha.. But that doesn’t mean I set a low standard. It’s just that I don’t go the extra mile. Law of diminishing returns you know. Song writing is a hobby anyway for me, not a job.

My songs come to me inspired. It means that I don’t sit down with a guitar, pen and paper, think of a topic and then proceed to craft out a song. Or try to come up with a nice set of chord progression and then hammer something out. It doesn’t work that way for me. It’s a strange process, like suddenly you feel that you are bursting with a song inside you, willing itself to come out. The whole process would be over in like 20 minutes and the song would be there. It’s what you feel that at that moment and your state of mind. Suddenly the song would just be there. It’s very weird!

I remember how the song ‘I Do I Do’ came about. It was 3am in the morning and I was surfing the net. I was a bit bored, so I took my guitar and started to slowly strum it. Suddenly a flash of inspiration hit me and the song was written. Took 15 minutes to write everything out. I have no idea why a song talking about “you’re so beautiful tonight, lay down and hold me tight, wanna spend my life with you, do you feel the same way too?” appeared at the ungodly hour of 3am but it just did. I think quite a few people I played the song to liked it, but I have absolutely no bloody idea how it came about, and it pisses me off because I can never write another song quite like it.

My philosophy towards song writing is that ‘when the song comes, it comes.’

Q) Let’s talk about one of your more well-known songs, “Special Girl”. Could you tell me the story behind this song, e.g. how it came about, how long you took to write it, and whether it’s based on real-life events?

This song was written about a friend of mine and how she has enriched my life and made it a better place. =)

Q) Are you more of a lyrics-first person, or a music-first person? Which comes more naturally to you?

For me, it has to flow together. It’s a pain in the butt having either come first and then trying to fit in the other one to match the other so that it doesn’t sound weird. So yeah, the ideal situation is having them both come together at the same time.

Q) Could you tell me who your most admired songwriters/composers are, and why?

I don’t have any favourites, cos I feel that we all can learn something from each composer. I was into the Beatles and Oasis of course, but I think other composers have something to contribute as well. Lately I am into the music of Ryan Adams. He’s a very good songwriter who writes deep songs

Q) I love your song “Crazy Blues”. I think it’s incredibly catchy and infectious. I saw you perform it at the Singapore Art Cafe one night and the audience reception was absolutely amazing. How did that song come to you? What was the song writing process for that song like?

I stumbled across a blues chord progression and was inspired to write the song. It was a fun process, thinking of all the nonsensical things I could say in the song – “you’re a millionaire in a billion, you’re a head case in a crazy rebellion, you gotta shake and it’ll burn!”

Q) I’m sure you must love writing songs. Could you tell me the reason why song writing appeals to you so much?

I enjoy the process and it makes me feel good. That’s good enough reasons for me. I don’t intend to change the world or influence people through my songs.

Q) Lastly, of all the songs you’ve written, which song(s) are you MOST proud of? And why is that so?

Haha, you’re asking a parent to choose a favourite among his children! Impossible question with an impossible answer.

If there’s one thing that I’m proud of, it’s that I’ve managed to put a bit of myself in all the songs I wrote and thus remain true to myself. There are no fake songs that come from me. So when you listen to a happy song like ‘Special Girl’, and you felt happy listening to it, surely you could only imagine how happy I was to write it and how happy I was in singing it. If you listened to a sad song like ‘I Just Wanna Say I Love You’ and you felt sad and uncomfortable, you’ll know that I was also sad when I wrote and sang it. Songs like ‘Singapore, How Exciting!’ and ‘Singapore Singapore’ indicate how much I like this country. And of course, playful songs like ‘If I Was Superman’ and ‘Crazy Blues’ are just me being me. By listening to my songs, you get to know a bit of me, like tiny jigsaw pieces falling into place and forming an overall big picture.

But life is always full of changes and motion. What’s me today may not be the same as tomorrow’s me. The important thing is to keep going on and looking forward.

Q) [Bonus question which Firdaus added in himself] What are your thoughts on Songcraft?

I think it’s an absolutely fantastic group to be with! We may not have much in common in our everyday lives, but in terms of song writing I think it could be said that we are all on the same page. It’s a blessing for me to have discovered this group. I used to think that I was mad because I seem to be the only one interested in writing songs. It’s a great relief to get to know people who share the same passion, and to come together to support each other. May it last for a long time to come yet!

p.s. I’d like to take this opportunity to say that Man Utd rulz and I predict they’ll do the treble this year, with or without Ronaldo! Haha…

End of Interview

Thoughts on Songcraft Session 12

Songcraft last night went beautifully well on so many fronts.

Of course, we had the usual manageable crowd of around thirteen to fourteen. It’s funny how we have people come and go, but at the end of the day, our turnout always manages to average around thirteen or fourteen. It’s remarkable.

We had, as usual, a wonderful assortment of songs. Jerron showed us a “two-years-ago” side to his songwriting, which was very impressive. Ivan played us two tracks (“Sweet Dreams” and “If You Were A Dance”), which I thought were well-done. Hui Leng presented a lovely piano song that Firdaus wrote lyrics to. It’s a beautiful duet that reminds me of Peter Cetera songs. We had a new friend who sang her songs to us a cappella, which I thought was an excellent effort.

But most importantly, we had two guests join us today, totally UNEXPECTED, who are like two of the most prominent figures in local musical theatre. People I have been reading up on and looking up to for the longest time. No kidding! Click (here) and (here).

I was, of course, a bit starstruck to say the least. To the point that I kinda lost my train of conscious thought at certain instances (those who were there tonight will know what I mean).

Lastly, I once again enjoyed the post-session hangout. It was fun!

Here’s to good times ahead for Songcraft.

Key Characteristics

(This post is taken from Jeremy’s blog here.)

Call me crazy, but I firmly believe every musical key has its own unique identity.

They are like different people to me, each with their own distinct personality.

My scientific-minded friends may say “Look dude, it’s just a difference in frequency”. But nope, in my opinion every key has personality.

I believe when you’re a composer and you’re choosing a key to compose in, it’s more than just about i) whether it fits the singer’s vocal range or ii) whether it’s easy to play (like C Major, yeah baby!!!). No, there has to be far greater consideration than just that.

(But I’ll have to be honest and admit that there are many times when I choose a key because of its simplicity to play.)

Have you ever sung a song in a certain key, and then one fine day you decided to transpose to another key just for the fun of it, and you suddenly felt that the song had a totally different “feel” to it? I certainly have.

Anyway, without further ado, let me now talk about what I think of some of the keys which are closer to my heart.

Of course, the way I perceive these keys may be different from the way you perceive them. It’s a personal perception kind of thing…like how the names “Cindy” or “Kelvin” might conjure up different thoughts to different people.

…

C Major

The evergreen. This key never gets old. The safest-sounding, never-goes-out-of-fashion key you can think of. If it were a colour, it would be white. Easy to play, easy on the ear, and easily recognisable. Clear, concise and clean-cut sounding. You can never go wrong with C Major. It’s almost like the “universal” key.

Difficulty Level: 0/5 for piano, 2/5 for guitar

Notables: Sonata in C Major K545 (Mozart), Etude Op.10 No.1 (Chopin), Let It Be (The Beatles), Imagine (John Lennon), One (U2), Don’t Look Back in Anger (Oasis)

D Major

The romantic key. In my opinion, D Major is the key of “romance”. If you wanna write a love song, it’s a good idea to use D Major. It’s got a warm, intimate, sentimental feel to it. Maybe it’s the F# in the third degree of scale, I dunno. Nothing beats the feeling of hearing a D chord go to F#m (and then to G and A).

Difficulty Level: 2/5 for piano, 1/5 for guitar

Notables: Canon In D (Pachelbel), Open Arms (Journey), Think of Me (Andrew Lloyd Webber), Pass It On (Christian Fellowship song)

F Major

Classic sounding. Good for church hymns and epic songs. There’s a certain element of “spirituality” and “richness” to this key, for some reason. F Major is like your grandfather’s leather couch - quaint, old-fashioned and classy.

Difficulty Level: 2/5 for piano, 4/5 for guitar

Notables: Hark The Herald Angels Sing (Christmas Carol), The Lord’s My Shepherd (Church Hymn), Bridal Chorus (Wagner), Hey Jude (The Beatles), Ben (Michael Jackson)

G Major

Slightly less romantic than D Major, but brighter-sounding. It has a more optimistic quality to it. Valued for its “brightness” of tone. Apart from C Major, I think G Major is one of the most popular keys to play music in, cos of it’s relative ease to play on both the piano and guitar.

Difficulty Level: 1/5 for piano, 1/5 for guitar

Notables: Ode To Joy (Beethoven), Making Love Out Of Nothing At All (Air Supply), The Times They Are A-Changin’ (Bob Dylan), Live Forever (Oasis), I Remember You (Skid Row)

A Major

A Major is not a key which I encounter very often. Hence, I find it a bit unfamiliar and awkward. However, I do feel that it has it’s fair share of “brightness” to it. I think it’s because of the C# note in the tonic chord.

Difficulty Level: 4/5 on piano, 3/5 on guitar

Notables: Ticket To Ride, Here Comes The Sun, In My Life (all by The Beatles), The Greatest Love of All (Whitney Houston), Love Will Keep Us Alive (The Eagles), Polonaise in A Op.40 No.1 (Chopin)

Gb Major

Tread with caution! Because of its treacherous difficulty level, Gb Major is hardly ever used unless really necessary. It is used when G Major is perhaps a bit too “bright”, and the key just needs to be brought down ever so slightly. It naturally has a slightly darker and more “mellow” effect than G Major…but that being said, it’s amazing how Chopin managed to bring out the full brightness and brilliance of the key in his famous “Black Keys” Etude.

Difficulty Level: Are you kidding me?!?

Notables: Candlelight Carol (John Rutter), Impromptu in Gb Op.90 No.3 (Schubert), Etude Op.10 No.5 “Black Keys” (Chopin), Etude Op.25 No.9 “Butterfly” (Chopin)

Bb Major

A good alternative to C Major. Bb Major might be commonly used when perhaps C Major is a bit too high for the vocals…so Bb Major is a nice key to bring it down to. There is a bit of a “mellow” and “rich” quality to Bb Major which I like. You can always feel the difference whenever you bring down a song from C Major to Bb Major.

Difficulty Level: 3/5 on piano, 4/5 on guitar

Notables: For the Beauty of the Earth (John Rutter), Edelweiss (Rodgers & Hammerstein), I Could Have Danced All Night (Lerner & Loewe)

Eb Major

I have a particular fondness for using Eb Major when composing. Not necessarily in the main key of the song, but sometimes I modulate to Eb Major in the middle portion of a song (I’ve done that at least twice already). Sometimes I just plain compose a song in Eb Major. It has a special quality to it which I can’t really describe, to be honest. It’s slightly “romantic” at times, and it also has its fair share of “clarity” and “brightness” because of the Eb and Bb in the tonic chord. All in all, I am quite fond of Eb Major. It never fails to create some magical surprise whenever I use it.

Difficulty Level: 3/5 on piano, 5/5 on guitar

Notables: Can’t really think of any at the moment!

A Music-Lover’s Dream Come True (a.k.a. Thoughts On Songcraft Session 11)

Photo (“Guitar Hero”) by wvs

Songcraft is turning into everything I had hoped for it to be.

I was very pleased with tonight’s Songcraft session. You could say that it is every music-lover’s dream.

It’s exactly the way I had envisioned Songcraft to be like:

Passionate musicians/songwriters coming together to share their songs with one another.

Engaging discussions about the finer points of music, composition, lyric-writing, arrangement, etc.

Being encouraged by having others hear and give feedback on your original songs.

Being inspired by one another to write more and more songs.

Meeting and getting to know new music-loving friends each and every session.

It’s just amazing, the feeling that I get every time I come away from another Songcraft session. We have people who play the blues, we have people who score music for films, we have people who study music recording and composition, we have people who write songs for popular singers, we have people who play the guitar in non-conventional tunings…and of course, we have people who write beautiful songs.

One can never cease to be in awe of the wonderful and amazing talent which Songcraft has managed to attract.

It’s always a humbling yet inspiring experience every time I attend a Songcraft session.

And of course, I really love the post-session hangouts too…cos that’s where we really get to chill out and get to know one another better over a passion iced tea.

I really cherish being able to know all these wonderful music-loving people, cos it’s not often you have someone say “I think every key has it’s own mood…” and everyone else in the room starts nodding their head in agreement.

Or when you say “I almost died when I learnt I had to play his song in Gb major…” and everyone gets the joke.

It’s the common fundamental passion for music that brings us all together.

Next Songcraft Session - Friday, 30th May

Our next Songcraft session will be held next Friday at the YMS Arts Centre. All are welcome!

Feel free to bring your friends along too, if you like. Details as follows…

Date: Friday, 30th May ‘08
Time: 730pm-10pm
Venue: YMS Arts Centre (Studio One)
Admission: Free
Enquiries: Email me at songcraftcircle@gmail.com

See you all there next Friday!

Developing A Unique Style vs. Always Sounding The Same

I chanced upon this insightful songwriting article recently: Comfort Zone: Enter at Your Own Risk

To quote from the article:

Be honest. You know what I’m talking about. Every songwriter has struggled with it. You know four chords well on the guitar, so you write every melody over those same four chords. Your fingers just naturally gravitate to them…that same progression…that same sequence. And in case you are still in denial, there are only so many melodic notes that can connect those same harmonic dots, so pretty soon your melodies start sounding the same. But it’s not just guitar players who are guilty here. Keyboardists…time to ‘fess up. We do the same thing.

Basically it was describing the songwriting situation whereby a songwriter’s songs start to all sound the same. This is a problem which most songwriters may have encountered at some point in time or other.

I shared this article with my fellow friends in the Songcraft circle, and Lingfeng asked a very interesting question - Isn’t that what is known as a songwriters “personal style”?

That really got me thinking.

Where do we draw a line between developing a unique personal style, and having our songs always sounding the same (in other words, being boring)?

When is it good to be consistent in one’s songwriting style, thus developing a unique identity (e.g. Burt Bacharach, Richard Rodgers, Paul Simon, etc)…and when does it reach the point whereby people start to get bored with your similar-sounding songs?

How do we draw the line?

Chris Goes On YouTube

Chris recently decided to record himself doing two songs, the first being “Ashes” (his own original song), and the second being “Come Undone” (a cover of the Duran Duran classic).

“Ashes” by Chris

In Chris’s own words, he says “I need to smile more”. Well, this being a grunge song, I personally think it’s ok to look glum. Y’know, that angsty look, haha!

…

“Come Undone” by Duran Duran

I like this song, and I thought Chris did an absolutely fantastic job covering it. My only wish is if he could have done the “can’t ever keep from falling apart” portion in falsetto…that would have been so cool!

NB: The filming location of the above two recordings shall remain a well-kept secret. =)