| iBreatheMusic.com - Music Vision in Site Article Print Version - Non print version - More Articles - Back to iBreatheMusic.com |
|
Don't forget about songs Introduction Disclaimer: This is not a 101 guide on songwriting. If such a guide would be possible, I'll leave it up to others to cover that. This is merely an addition to the articles I have written for ibreathemusic previously. It is intended mainly for younger players, especially the ones who are working on their chops. Let me point out at first that everything in this article merely reflects my own opinion. It's tough to judge songwriting or talk about "stuff to avoid" etc. So bear with me, ok ? I'll try to explain my main thoughts on this subject… Why did I choose this topic ? Well, as I said, this article reflects my own opinions, which are based on some observations I've made throughout the years. I don't wanna offend ANYONE, although I probably will in some way. OK, what got me started here ? I often browse through some of the other forums to see what the guitar scene is talking (or complaining - but I don't even wanna go there this time) about. And sometimes, people share sound files of their playing, in some way documenting their development. If you have browsed some of the rather popular guitar forums, you've probably seen threads like "Here is my take on the solo of *insert random song by popular metal band, instrumental rock guitarist…*" ... hope you know what I mean... Well, and if you actually open the thread and check out the audio- or video-file, you get to see / hear someone attempt to play a solo or tough passage. Sometimes it's quite impressive, sometimes it's obvious that the player still needs a lot of work. I can definitely understand the wish to learn some of those tough solos by your favorite players (I don't actually wanna mention too many names, but I have seen people post their takes on the "The Glass Prison" arpeggio passage by John Petrucci / Dream Theater in several forums, just to give you one example of a popular one... ). I've done this myself. Some of them are great chop builders, and it's definitely a good learning experience to attempt playing tricky solos by other players. I know how it feels to sit down with the TAB of a tough solo and to spend hours learning it. I did the same thing back when I was starting out, or when I got to the point where I was seriously working on my chops. However, what occurred to me was that many of those young players post bunches of those "my take on solo x by player y" type threads, yet I never see them post "here is my song…" or "here is a solo I came up with" (I mean a solo in a song-context, not an unaccompanied "guitar shop jawdropper" type solo ) Then, just recently, I heard a recording by one of those guys… he had actually written a song, recorded it and wanted to share it with his fellow forum members (and no, I am not gonna post names of players or forums here). Now, bear in mind that this article is supposed to be very constructive… that is my intention. So bear with me, cuz this next part is a bit hard to write... Because this particular player had posted several recordings of himself playing some rather difficult solos by some of his favorite players, and since these were pretty good, I had some high expectations. The song I got to hear was… well, not very impressive or convincing. I know that this is rather subjective, and a matter of taste etc. However, I think I do have a point here anyway… the song I heard sounded extremely... well, choppy. There was no real structure, no melody to latch your ear on to, and the tone of the player was not very pleasant to the ear. I don't mean to degrade anyone. I am trying to make a point, and that point is: (turn the page and hold yer breath) What happened to song-writing?!? I know that it's very exciting when you start working on that cool Morse-solo, or getting that awesome Gilbert-lick down etc. When I started out, I was pretty concerned with getting the pyro-techniques down first, too. However, there is something wrong if someone manages to play a part like a Petrucci- or Vai-solo, yet shares a song that sounds like it was the very first attempt to write a song (if you've ever tried, you'll probably agree that the first few songs you write are usually not that awesome… ) You might say now "What, Vandenberg… first you write all these articles on killer-chops, and then you suddenly say that song-writing is where it's at… ?" Well, I never said that anyone should neglect song-writing. Quite the opposite… I have always recommended that you use the chops you're working on in a musical context (by jamming over a song that uses them), and I happen to think that the songs I write myself actually are songs more than some "embellishments for a new killer-lick". As I said, I know that it's exciting to work on your chops. If you really want to be able to play fast and accurately, you'll need to work really hard at it, and you should. However… songwriting is a skill that also needs to be worked on, and in the end, you wanna (hopefully) use those cool chops in the context of a song. The song should come first. It is not supposed to be just a container to put your licks into. And just like you need to do those picking exercises over and over, you need to practice song-writing by... well, writing a lot. This is what our heroes did too. I know that sometimes, it's tough to get going and write your first song. However, to just slap some cool licks together in order to have some kind of a "song" is not what it's about... and if you're at all honest, it's not something you'd enjoy to listen to yourself. Dream Theater Dream Theater is one example… a lot of young players (especially the ones who like fast playing) are into that band. And as I have said, it sure is a chop-buster to learn some of their solos or even full songs. The latter part is especially important. You'll learn a lot about their songwriting and arrangement skills if you tackle some of their songs. However... I have heard people go "OK, I wrote my first song now, it's very much inspired by DT, check it out". And usually, the song shows a lack of songwriting skills. Simply because developing the skill to put together songs as advanced as the stuff DT does takes quite some time. What many people seem to forget is that the guys in the band didn’t start out and write "Metropolis Part 1" right away. They sure wrote their share of three chord, one-time-signature songs before they went on to more advanced stuff. And that is a development that you should try to go through yourself. Let me once again use my old "language"-analogy... if you have never written anything (like an essay or a short story etc.), you will find it very difficult (to say the least) to write a Shakespearean story as your first attempt. Start Out Simple It's almost the same when it comes to basic improvisation. I teach a lot, and when I try to encourage my students to improvise for the first time, they usually have no idea what they're supposed to do. They don't know how to improvise yet. They have of course heard people improvise, but they lack the experience at this point, and when they try to do it for the first time, they obviously don't know what they're supposed to do exactly… they try to use all the notes of the pattern I give them, they try to throw in a few of the fast licks they know so far etc. It's very hard to get a flow there, and what I usually say is: "Ok, limit yourself to just a few notes, and try to play a simple melody. Something you actually like, something you'd enjoy as a listener. Try to stick to those few notes and create something with them. Don't try to use all the notes you have, don't try to guess what I expect, and don't try to impress me. Start out with something simple, and then elaborate on it later" That usually works. The key is to start out with something simple and work on it. To me, the most important thing is to have a core. Both for improvisation and song-writing. A nice melody, a cool chord progression etc .. If you have that, you can elaborate on it, embellish it etc. But that is what you need first. Don't try to go to full speed immediately, don't try to start your songwriting career by writing a multi-movement progrock-concept album. It sometimes is tough to limit yourself to something simple. But the simpler it is, the easier it is to judge whether or not you like it. What I mean by that is: imagine you have a very simple chord progression… do you enjoy playing it? Do you like the sound of it? If not, can you tweak it so you enjoy it a bit more? Try to "always like" what you have. Don't go "Well, it's boring now, but once I slap that Petrucci-unisono lick on there, it'll rock the world". In order to embellish it and add more cool parts, you need to like the early version How do I know? Well, when I started to write songs, I guess I was in a situation that a lot of people are in when they start out writing… I had some basic chops, I had a lot of role-models (I was a huge fan of Steve Morse already, and of course I wanted to write something similar to his music) etc. The first songs I wanted to write were quite complex (considering my skills at that time). I sat down with some paper, a pen and my guitar and started to write little bits. Parts that I thought sounded cool. I had no clue how to approach song-writing, so I just tried to combine a bunch of little ideas into a song. The net result? A song that sounded very awkward, and I wasn't even able to play it all the way through, cuz I had put it together from several little bits. It got even worse later… I started to study music theory, started to listen to more complex music. I tried to challenge myself, and put together something impressive. I remember when I told a friend about mixing time signatures, and he went "Well, wouldn't it be cool if someone wrote a tune that went: 1 bar of 2/4, one bar of3/4, one bar of 4/4, one bar of 5/4 etc, up to, say, 15/8 or something?" Then he laughed. I didn't laugh. Mainly because I had already written that song. I couldn't play it though. So I knew I had to change SOMETHING. What helped me was that old acoustic guitar I had bought from a friend. I used to sit outside in the evenings, on the old playground where I used to hang out, all alone, and play some chord progressions. Then, suddenly, I came up with this 4 chord-progression with open chords. It sounded very nice to me, and it was fun to play it over and over. After a while I rushed home and recorded it with my old tape recorder… 10 minutes of that chord progression and another one which I made up from the same chords. Then I started jamming over it. It was a slow progression, rather "majestic". So when I did my usual routine of playing all my fast licks over it, it didn't sound very appropiate. So I just relaxed and started using 4 or 5 notes of the major scale to create a nice melody that fit the chords. And it sounded very nice. I enjoyed that so much. And after an hour or so, I had 3 or 4 different melodies that actually were like a vocal melody. And I was like "Man, I think I just wrote my first REAL song, because this sounds very nice" (and for a change, I was able to play it myself) (By the way, years later I played that chord progression to a friend of mine, country-singer W. Malende. And he liked it enough to ask me to write lyrics for it. It turned out to be the first song of mine that he recorded vocals for, and those vocals were based on the melody I had written back then. Also, even later the same chord progression made a re-appearance in my song "Canyon Of Spirits". If you have heard that song, you know that it's a slow song which has some rather simple melodies and no shred-licks. I am very proud of the song though, since it does have melody and emotion, IMO, and shredding over it wouldn't have worked at all.) What am I trying to say? What I am trying to say is: even though most of the articles for iBreathe have been about playing techniques and the development of chops, I can't emphasize enough the importance of good songwriting. And I never meant to say that good chops equals good writing. Your chops will only sound really good in the context of a good song, and to write good songs takes time and work. It can be a painful thing to do sometimes. At the same time, it can be a very satisfying and liberating experience, and will enable you to REALLY express yourself as a musician and a human being. You will grow as both a songwriter and musician (even though those two are of course related) with every song that you write. And you should not forget about that. It is of course cool to learn all those "shred from hell" type solos, but those are only one aspect of musicianship. Songwriting is another essential aspect, and even though it might not be as much fun (or as impressive to your friends as fast alternate picking is), it's what you should start working on as early as possible. The best momemt to get started actually is now. Try to write a simple song that you like all the way through. Make sure it sounds good to YOU, and try to actually express something… a feeling, a memory, an experience or whatever. Don't do the scientific thing ("I am gonna sit down now and write a progrock tune with seven different time signatures and a 31 bar unisono passage"), but try to write something that is an expression of you. THEN, try to apply your chops to it if you want to. Don't forget about melodies though. Improvise and try to judge: - Do YOU like it - If you were a listener, would you like it, too? Approaches - A good idea would be to listen to a lot of songs that you like, and try to figure out WHY you like them. Yes, I did say that you should start with something simple instead of trying to copy your favorite band, but sometimes, you can get a simple idea or inspiration if you try to analyze why you like a certain song. One of my favorite instrumental tunes is "Friends" by Joe Satriani. The reason I like it is that it has a live band-sound, a happy, major melody, a cool chord progression played with a fat, heavy sound, and lots of energies. I try to take that as an inspiration… when I write a song, I might go "Man, here I would like to have a part that is similar to that B-Part in "Friends"... something that grabs you as a listener". I don't copy exactly what Satch was doing there, I instead try to do something SIMILAR, try to use that "texture" of the passage I mean. Another example would be "Love Thing" (by Satriani, as well). I love the chords in that song, those open-string chords. Also, there are some very memorable melodies in there, played with lots of emotion. That would be another "inspiration". When I wrote "Eyes 2 Die 4", that song inspired me to cool down and settle for some nice melodies instead of plastering the whole song with some tough licks. You don't have to COPY anything, instead, try to think of "textures" or "vibes". - Try to limit yourself, don't try to squeeze all your skills into that piece of music. Also, don't try to throw all your ideas into that one. Every little idea can eventually be turned into a new song, you don't HAVE to combine them all. - Try to think as a listener. Don't think about how you can impress the listener, but also imagine you're writing a song that you want that girl you have a crush on to like. Imagine you're telling a story or are trying to make the listener understand a feeling or memory of yours. Keep that in mind when you try to write a song. Conclusion This was more of a column than a real instructional article. I guess I will catch some flak for it, because some people might feel offended, or might think that this article doesn't contain too much real advice. So I assume the ratings on this one will be very low. But instead of giving you more licks, patterns and exercises, I tried to say something that is very important to me. I've noticed a lack of songwriting skill (even interest in it), when both browsing the web and when I teach. There are so many talented young players out there, and they do accomplish awesome things. However, many of them have lost sight of (or interest in) a very essential aspect of musicianship… good songwriting. Instead of just trying to learn the solos of their favorite players, they should also try to appreciate the fact that those guys wrote some great songs that they use their chops in. It might be frustrating and humbling at first to take a step back and write a simple song (even to learn a song all the way through instead of just that tapping lick in the solo), but in the end, it will be an extremely satisfying experience which will liberate you to express yourself so much more. So I hope I got that message across, and I promise I'll stay away from too many of those kinda columns… hope I didn't offend anyone, too. |
|
This article can be read online at http://www.iBreatheMusic.com/article/172
|
| Article Print Version - Non print version - More Articles - Back to iBreatheMusic.com |