My Jeans Song Day 4: Making a Chorus

Posted on February 9, 2013 by chadshankmusic

Yesterday, I showed you how I wrote out thoughts of my character, and then picked out lines that I liked. If you missed it, here are the lines:

Never Someone
Noticed for Anything
Picked On
Picked Me Last
Spit On Me
Something That Made Me Cry
Never Felt Good Enough
Meant to Hurt
Shy Kid
Bull by the Horns
Worked My Ass Off
Made the Changes
Found Myself
Treating Me Differently
Saw Me Now
Wanted Me Now
Same Person
On Their Radar
Hate It But It’s True
Made Myself
No One’s Help but My Own

Now I am ready to start making my chorus. How should I go about doing that?

Step 1: Pick a title that fits the storyline. Today I am choosing, “Picked Me Last”

Step 2: Find lines that rhyme with my title and fit my concept: One variation from the lines above would work….”Worked off my ass” Some other words or phrases that rhyme: Ditch me fast, on the map, past, glass, dwell on the past, Abs, Put on an act, second class, different man, song and dance, Look like that, gym class, fat.

Step 3: Decide on a rhyme scheme and chorus type….Make it contrast with the verse.

My verse had 6 lines in an AABCCB rhyme scheme, so my chorus should have a different number of lines, and rhyme scheme.

My chorus will have 5 lines and will be: XAXAA and the last line will be the title line.

Step 4: Start writing and dropping in lines for the chorus using the rhyme scheme above.

X – Ok so now you notice me
A – You used to pick on me in Gym class
X – now you want to talk
A – Now that I may actually have abs
A – Back in the day you would have Picked Me Last

So now I have a rough draft of my chorus. It kind of flows and has some rhythm to it, but at this point, I am sure it may go through some changes. So let’s plop down what I have so far for this song:

Verse 1:
He’s got a stylish look
With jeans showing off his goods
They’re not too tight or super baggy
Yeah they’ve been washed many times
But they fit him just right
He’s natrual, calm and sexy

Prechorus: still need to write it

Chorus:
Ok so now you notice me
You used to pick on me in Gym class
now you want to talk
Now that I may actually have abs
Back in the day you would have Picked Me Last

Verse 2: still need to write it

Prechorus: still need to write it

Chorus: same as above

Bridge: still need to write it

As you can see, there is a big Point Of View or POV issue between the verse and the chorus. The verse is 3rd person, and the chorus is 1st person. I have some decisions to make. I will talk about and work on that in tomorrow’s post.

Chad

My Jeans Song Day 3

Posted on February 8, 2013 by chadshankmusic

Yesterday I came up with a storyline for my song that started with the word, JEANS.

Today the steps for writing the chorus come into play.

Step 1: write about what the character is feeling. Write from 1st person point of view to make it more personal.

This song is about someone who lost a lot of weight and changed their life:

I was never someone who got noticed for anything besides being fat. I was picked on, they called me names. They spit on me, they picked me last in gym class. I hated school. Everyday someone would do something that made me cry. I was never like the other kids, I never felt good enough. Even my teachers would say things and say names that weren’t meant to hurt, but they did. Now today I am not that shy kid anymore. I took the bull by the horns and worked my ass off. I made the changes I needed to make. I found my energy. I found myself. Unfortunately people started treating me differently. They saw me now. They wanted me now. I am the same person, but I am on their radar now. I hate it but it’s true. But I have made myself with no one’s help but my own.

Step 2: Find lines and possible titles

As you can see I was able to write for a short time and find lots of cool, possible lines. In tomorrow’s post I will show you how this will be turned into my chorus, and how my verse helps me get there.

Practicing What I Preach: What Should I Write About?!

Posted on February 6, 2013 by chadshankmusic

I have been busy. Actually lately I have been working 11 to 12 hour days at my day job. Ouch. All I want to do after that is….nothing. So obviously I have not been writing much lately. I miss it. I want to write, but I am just so damn exhausted. Well tonight I am just sitting in my couch and I want to work on a song. WHAT SHOULD I WRITE ABOUT?!

Well it is time for me to use this as a teaching moment and practice what I preach. I told you guys that you have tons of stuff to write about. So here goes….I am going to show you how I am writing tonight. I honestly have no clue what I a going to write about….so here comes the steps….

Step 1: Find a random word. – I just Googled, ‘Random Word Generator’ and selected the coyotecult.com random word generator. I generated 1 word….my word was JEANS

Step 2: Free write or object write about my word using each sense. Sight, sound, taste, touch, smell and movement

Jeans: As he walks you could hear the threads of denim rubbing together. Each step has a swish sound as he walks down the hall. His jeans are not quite dark wash, but not really faded or stonewashed either. They are well worn with frayed edges in the pant legs. Little dirty patches near the bottoms as well. They are not tight, but they aren’t super baggy either. You can tell they are not. Starchy as they were, they are softer now after being washed many times. They still have that stylish look. They hang on his hips just right and show off his goods pretty well. They give him that sexy, laidback bad boy look. They fit him just right. They fit his personality. Natural, calm, sexy. A couple of the belt loops are frayed as well and you can see his wallet in his back left pocket.

Step 3: pull out phrases, external first, then internal:
He walks
Threads of denim rubbing together
Each step has a swish sound
Not quite dark wash
Not really faded or stonewashed
Well worn with frayed edges
Pant legs
Dirty patches near the bottom
Not tight
Not super baggy
Not as starchy
Softer now
Washed many times
Stylish look
Hang in his hips
Show off his goods
Sexy, laidback, bad boy look
Fit him just right
Natural, calm, sexy
Belt loops frayed
Wallet in his back left pocket

Step 4: Choose a rhyme scheme – I decided I am going to do. 6 line verse, since I don’t do that as much….so here is my rhyme scheme.

A
A
B
C
C
B

Step 5: Drop phrases into the rhyme scheme

Stylish look
Show off his goods
Not tight or super baggy
Washed many times
Fit him just right
Natural, calm and sexy

Step 6: Make that section more conversational

He’s got a stylish look
With jeans showing off his goods
They’re not too tight or super baggy
Yeah they’ve been washed many times
But they fit him just right
He’s natrual, calm and sexy

Boom. I just wrote a first verse….tomorrow I will work on this song some more and share the exact process of how I make it happen.

So here is the first verse:

He’s got a stylish look
With jeans showing off his goods
They’re not too tight or super baggy
Yeah they’ve been washed many times
But they fit him just right
He’s natrual, calm and sexy

The Missing Songwriter: Where have I been?

Posted on December 15, 2012 by chadshankmusic

Life gets crazy sometimes and certain things kinda fall to the side. That is what happened with me. I wanted to apologize to my regular readers for not posting new songwriting tips, ideas and tricks for a couple months. Life has been crazy. So where the heck was I?
I got a new day job that is pretty intense, and the learning curve is steep. It is in a completely different industry than I have ever worked. At the end of the day, my mind is fried. I pretty much crash and veg every night. So that means no songwriting, no blog posts, and not a lot of interaction with all of you. I am sorry about that.

Things are looking up! I have just scheduled a 3 part songwriting class in Hastings, MN in January! I am also getting bitten by the songwriting bug again! I haven’t written for 2 months, almost 3. I think I may be a bit rusty. I know that some of you have been in this boat before. I have gotten emails from people saying they don’t have time to write. I usually preach that you have to make time to write….which is true….but sometimes you can only do so much, and writing isn’t on the list. So now I have to get back up on the horse and start riding this thing again. I will try to chronicle my latest songs and processes on this site, so you can maybe get some kind of inspiration or new trick.

How have you pulled yourself out of a songwriting rut? I’d love to hear from you…

~ Chad Chad Shank Songwriter

My New EP: Song 1 – Setting Songwriting Parameters

Posted on July 29, 2012 by chadshankmusic

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I will be performing some of my songs on a cable access show in September…and I am writing 6 brand new songs for it. So I am going to need to get busy! Since I need deadlines and parameters, I am going to give myself more songwriting assignments and exercises. I hope by me sharing what I do, it can help you get some ideas for your own writing. So this is what I am going to do for Song 1.

Start with a contrasting rhyme scheme.

Verse: AAXBBX

Chorus: XAAXBBT

Bridge: XAXA

Topic = Built from writing about a random word…..My word that came up is: Revenge

So here is what I am going to do…..Write whatever comes to mind about Revenge for 6 minutes, then I am going to start taking lines from that writing and dropping them into my rhyme scheme. After that, I am going to work on nailing down a plot for the song. Then I will finish writing the lyrics. Once the lyrics are complete, I will start setting them to a chord progression and melody….or maybe melody, then chord progression. Then I need to practice it to make sure I can perform it and it works.

At this point, you know as much about this song as I do. Please follow this blog to get updates on my progress.

~ Chad

Songwriting Exercise: This week I will write a song with 1 chord

Posted on July 15, 2012 by chadshankmusic

Just sitting here watching Netflix, thinking I should be writing a song. I think my weekly song assignments I have been giving myself have been helping me stay active in writing songs. I feel like I am making progress, and staying up on my craft.

So my big bad assignment this week is to write a song using 1 chord. Yes, 1 chord. I hear songwriters all the time say things like, “Oh my song is simple, it only uses 3 chords, it is probably not great.” Well the number of chords is not what makes your song great. What you do with those chords is what makes your song great.

So this week I am going to write a song using 1 chord. That chord is Gb major. So I am going to use that chord and variations and inversions of that chord. So some options will be Gb, Gbmaj7, Gbmaj9, Gb6, Gb7, and inversions of those chords. So that is what I am doing this week….working on a song with 1 chord and variations of that chord. I will need to be creative and add contrast using other parts of the song like melody, groove, lyrics, rhythms, etc. I will post some of my progress and the song when it is finished…..who know maybe the song will be born quickly Chad

Songwriting Exercise – Assignment Progress – The Wanted “Glad You Came”

Posted on July 14, 2012 by chadshankmusic

This week I am giving my first video blog a shot on this site. I have not posted any of my own videos on this site, yet…..so her goes nothing! This is a video of my progress on my songwriting assignment I have myself. My assignment this week is to create a song that has the same rhyme scheme, structure and tempo as The Wanted, “Glad You Came.” Watch the video to see what I have so far…. (the video isn’t perfect, but you get the idea…)

Stephen Stohn Songwriting Process – Awesome Tips in a Short Video

Posted on July 11, 2012 by chadshankmusic

Another great, short songwriting video…..Stephen Stohn hits on a ton of helpful inspiring info in a short vid.

Facebook Songwriting Exercises – Use it to spark your creativity

Posted on July 10, 2012 by chadshankmusic

We all log on to Facebook, and even carry it with us in our pockets on our so-called smart phones. So it is time to use Facebook for something productive. Time to use it for your next songwriting exercise. There are two things I want you to do with it. 2 fun writing exercises you can use to spark ideas for your next song. Try them out….

1. Find the first picture in your news feed and write a song based on that image.

2. Another option is to take one of your friends status updates and use it as a song starter, or title.

Go ahead, take 10 minutes now and get started doing one of the above suggestions. If you don’t write actual lyrics right away, at least write a summary of the song’s story and plot progression. I dare you to do this everyday for 5 days. I can almost guarantee that you will find something that will spark your next great song.

Chad

My Latest Songwriting Assignment – July 9th 2012 – Like The Wanted ‘Glad You Came’

Posted on July 9, 2012 by chadshankmusic

Ok, so here it is! My self-imposed songwriting assignment for the week! I was driving today and thinking about what I was going to throw at myself this week.

What I thought was, “I want to base my next song off of a ‘random’ song on the airplay charts.” So I decided that I was going to go to http://www.bdsradio.com and pick the #5 song on the Hot AC chart. BDSRadio.com is a site that lists the latest charts for airplay. It is pretty handy to see which songs are making it on the air.

So I went online and looked up the Hot AC chart and picked #5….which happened to be a song by The Wanted called, “Glad You Came.” The song is a pop, dance song and is very catchy and has done very well to break the band in the US. It is now going to be the basis for my songwriting assignment.

So what does this mean? I am going to use the same rhyme scheme, tempo and basic song structure for my song. Of course my song will have different words, melody and chords, and probably will sound nothing like, “Glad You Came,” but the skeleton of the song will be the same. It will give me a framework to use for my song. So here are the parameters I will be using….

Rhyme Scheme:

Chorus:

B
B (Title Line)

Verse Section 1:

A
A
A
A

Verse Section 2:

B (title line)

Tempo: 127 beats per minute

Song Structure:

Chorus – sparse instruments

8 bar musical hook

Verse section 1

Verse Section 2

Chorus

8 bar music hook

Verse section 1

Verse Section 2

Chorus

8 bar music hook

Chorus – sparse instruments to end….

Watch for my progress and final song here on this blog. Be sure to follow my blog to get emails when I have new posts. I will be posting songwriting tips, how to’s and giving you a glimpse into my songwriting process in the hopes that it helps you grow as a writer.

~~ Chad

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