I know I told you about my online song writing course I have been taking from Berklee College of Music, right? Well today I finished my final assignment and it was a real challenge! Like any creative endeavor, it is great to work with new ideas and tools and continue to experiment.
In our assignment, we had to work with so many different criteria from phrasing, rhyme scheme, melodic rhythm, contrasting sections of the verses and chorus and so much more. I will give you an example. We all know that grammar illustration of:
"Let's eat Grandma!" vs "Let's eat, Grandma"
So use see the world of difference a comma provides.
It is similar with song phrasing. If you are saying something that has an unresolved feeling to it, you would need to find a phrasing placement that supports this feeling. If you put it in strong place, you will lose meaning. You have to learn how to delay gratification and resolution in some instances. You will want the main point and purpose of the song to really stand out. Rhythmic timing, melodic emphasis, rhyme scheme, syllabic stresses, phrasing all play a role in making this happen.
In this last assignment too we were to sing each line in each verse with the same melody. That was a challenge to me because I usually never sing any line the same twice. However, it was a good exercise for me to be able to do this. For me it loses expression to have more structure but it is good to know this from experience than just to intuit it or go solely by feeling. We have to engage our thought process and mental decisions in with the heartfelt feeling of it.
Anyway, I am getting kind of technical but since I was quiet a few days, I thought I'd let you know what I was up to. Gearing up for a busy week ahead with lots of gigs with people out in the community. Looking forward to that!
PS I forgot to say that the song I wrote is about the deforestation next to where I live and the new housing development going up. It has provided me with a lot of creative inspiration for songs!
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