Category Archives: Song Structure

My Jeans Song Day 3

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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

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

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.

Copyright 2013 Chad Shank

Should You Change the Lyrics Each Time You Get to the Chorus?

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I get asked this a lot by songwriters…”Is it OK if I change the lyrics each time my chorus comes around?”  Well…it is really OK, if you really want to. There are no real ‘rules’….but there are trends and tendencies.

My personal opinion is that you should try to NOT change the lyrics in your chorus…sometimes it makes sense…but many times it makes your songs sound amateurish. Now I know some of you will scream that X, Y and Z songs change their chorus…..again, it is not a rule. I just think that your song will be more powerful if you can have the same chorus.  Having the same chorus means that your audience hears it more, and can learn to sing along. Also, if you can keep the same chorus, but make it mean something different every time it comes around, then that is songwriting skill. At Berklee College of Music Pat Pattison calls this, “Recoloring the Chorus.”

Recoloring the Chorus means that you set up each verse so it makes your chorus mean more each time it comes around. One great example that I like to listen to is the song by Steve Seskin called, Use Mine.  Google it. Listen to it. Pay attention to how Steve Seskin added emotional weight to the chorus each time, even though the words in the chorus stayed the same.

You want your songs to be remembered. Don’t mess with your chorus lyrics throughout the song. Give your listeners something they can sing along to. Verses and Bridges should say something different….choruses should be the same. That is my 2 cents :)

What do you think?

Top 5 Songs This Week: Title Placement and Chorus Rhyme Scheme

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Tonight I thought it would be fun to analyze the top 5 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week. I wanted to look at their choruses and see where the titles are placed and how the rhyme schemes are set up. I was curious to see if there are any patterns or commonalities.

I did see some patterns in the songs;

1. All of the songs had the title in the first or last line of the chorus. A couple had the title in the middle as well.

2. Most of the choruses were longer than I expected with 6 to 9 lines.

3. The rhyme schemes had lots of couplets and multiple lines that end in the same sounds.

Here are the songs and how I would say the choruses are set up:

1. Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen

X
A
X
A – Title Line
X
A
X
A – Title Line

2. Wide Awake – Katie Perry

The title also appears throughout the verses of this song

A
A
A
A
Title Line

3. Payphone – Maroon 5

X – Title Line
A
X
A
B
B
B
B

4. Whistle – Flo Rida

Title Line
A
A
A
Title line
A

5. Lights – Ellie Goulding

A – Title Line
A
B
B
A
A
A
A
A
Title repeated in musical turnaround….

I hope this gives you an idea of how you can look at some choruses of songs you like.
Maybe try experimenting writing songs that copy the structures of the songs listed. Remember the 2 most important lines in any section are the first and last lines….

~ Chad

 

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

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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”

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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…)

 

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

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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:
A
A
A
A
B
B (Title Line)
Verse Section 1:
A
A
A
A
Verse Section 2:
X
A
X
A
X
B
B
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

C Dorian Songwriting Assignment Results – ‘Struck by Lightning’ Worktape

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So I finally finished up my C Dorian Mode – Songwriting Assignment from a couple weeks ago. The assignment I gave myself was to write a song, melody first, in the C Dorian Mode. This is what I came up with. I think it needs some work, but it has some redeeming qualities.
The song is called, “Struck by Lightning.” My reason for doing these self guided assignments is to make myself write things that I may not normally write. Keeps me in practice. Stay tuned for more assignments. I posted my worktape demo below. Let me know your thoughts or if you have any questions. Also feel free to post your own songs if you follow my assignments. ~~ Chad

Struck By Lightning – Worktape
by Chad Shank

Like Giant strobe lights
or Camera flashes across the sky
I toss and turn thinking about you
the Lightning shines through my closed eyes

My Heart’s pounding like the thunder
I’m running for shelter
but it’s too late for cover

I’m Struck by Lightning
My hair is standing on end
Smells like something’s burning
That’s just my heart
I’ve been Struck by Lightning

When you zapped me
I didn’t really know what to feel
It’s like you fell out of the sky
Lit me up like nothing I’ve seen

Now My Heart’s pounding like the thunder
I’m running for shelter
but it’s too late for cover

I’m Struck by Lightning
My hair is standing on end
Smells like something’s burning
That’s just my heart
I’ve been Struck by Lightning

I need some rain to cool me off
I need some rain to Tone things down
I keep praying for rain
I keep Praying for rain

CHORUS

© 2012 Chad Shank http://www.chadshankmusic.com

C Dorian Songwriting Assignment – My Progress

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My latest self guided songwriting assignment was to write a song starting with a melody first, in the C Dorian mode. I have been toying around with it for the last week and a half or so. I have not finished the song, yet. I wanted to give you an update on where I was and show you some of my thought processes while working on it. Hopefully it will help give you some ideas for your own writing. So I have made this little ‘podcast’ of what I have so far. As always, please email me or leave comments with any questions or thoughts you have. I love to hear from you! Listen below… ~~ Chad

Weekly Songwriting Assignment Results: ‘Human’

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This week I gave myself a songwriting assignment. I posted that assignment here.  I started off following my own assignment pretty closely….but then the song kinda of took a few different turns. Mainly in the number of lines in the sections and where in the measures the melody starts. Anyway, what came out was the start of a song called, “Human.”  It probably needs some work, but the whole point of these assignments and exercises is to keep myself writing. Not every song is going to be a smash hit, but even the  not-quite-there songs are very important, because you don’t reach the gold without digging for it.  So this is my songwriting ‘digging’ this week….. ~~ Chad

Human
by Chad Shank

He has beach blond hair with darker streaks
And he moves like a breeze across the beach
The sand sticks to his sweat
Beads of water on his skin
He’s free as the Caribean sun sets

Chorus:
He feels Human
In this place he likes to find his joy
Where he feels Human
Away from the stress
Away from the noise
He feels Human

Sometimes he paints to forget the pain
With a brush in his hand in a different state
Emotions on the page
Feelings in the scene
Art is what takes him away

CHORUS

Bridge:
He lets himself go
Lost in the taste, touch, sight, sound and smell
Where he can find himself
Find himself again

Chorus Repeats

Chords:

Verse: ||Cm   |Cm   |Ab   |Ab  |Cm  |Cm  |Fm   |Fm    ||

Chorus: ||Ab  |Bb  |Gm   |Gm   ||

Bridge: ||Bb  Fm  |Ab   ||

©2012 Chad Shank

Songwriting Exercise: Songwriting Assignment

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If I sit and wait for the inspiration bug to bite me, I am usually waiting a long time. That means I am not writing very often, and for me that is not good, because I am not practicing the craft at that point. I am not growing. So how do I start to attract the bug instead of waiting for it? One way I find works for me is to give myself detailed songwriting assignments. These assignments are basically a list of parameters that I need to fit my song into. I make structural decisions before I even start writing the song. I think I picked this habit up from doing songwriting assignments for Berklee College of Music. Each week we would have certain concepts we were learning about, and we would have to use them on purpose.  Now my personal song assignments end up being very similar.

So this week I am giving myself and assignment that I will share here. I will be working on it  this week and I will post a demo of the song when I get it done. If you want, you can try the assignment for yourself and post YOUR results here too. Would be great to see what you come up with!

My Assignment This week: Write a Song with These Parameters

*notice how I try to contrast parameters in each section

Topic: Will be inspired by what the chords make me feel like

Structure: Verse/Chorus/Verse/Chorus/Bridge/Chorus

Verse: 6 lines – rhyme scheme AABCCB

Chorus: 5 lines – T – - – T (T is title line, – is line not the title) – Rhyme Scheme ABABA

Bridge: 4 lines Rhyme scheme XXAA

Verse: C minor or C Aeolian mode – 1 chord per 2 measures  1:2

Chorus: Ab Lydian mode – 1 chord per 1 measure 1:1

Bridge: Bb Mixolydian Mode – decide harmonic rhythm later

Verse: Melody starts after the downbeat

Chorus: Melody starts before the downbeat

Bridge: – Melody starts on the downbeat

Verse: Mostly 8th note patterns in melody

Chorus: Half Note based melody

Bridge: Quarter note based melody

So it looks like alot, and it may be for someone not used to making these decisions before writing songs, but it is not quite as complex as you may think. So give it a shot. I am going to be working on my song this week and will post the results on my blog.

If you have any questions on this, please ask, I will do my best to answer each one.

~~ Chad