The next exercise I proposed was to write out your favorite song.
First off, let's put the pens away for now and work exclusively in pencil.
As far as manuscript paper goes, there are lots of PDFs out there of manuscript paper so search for one that you like the looks of and then print a few out.
Pick one that has about eight to ten staves per page. This is going to factor as sketch paper for you so don't worry about the print quality of the staves. You can print it all out on draft quality and save a little printer toner.
If your goal was to write a three stave vocal/piano version, good for you.
Maybe that is what you're used to seeing and reading from when you perform. The issue becomes that a lot of the effort and notes that you're writing out have more to do with the musical arrangement rather than the actual song itself.
What is a song? For the sake of our discussion, the technical components will be the melody, the lyrics, and the harmony.
We need a musical shorthand to get these ideas quickly on paper.
And the easiest and fastest way to get those ideas down on paper is to write a song out in the form of a lead sheet.
Simple meat and potatoes. A melody line with lyrics under the notes and chords name over the notes.
There's no sense trying to write a full score out of a song as it's being created. A simple sketch will do. A lead sheet is the basic skeletal structure for a vocal/piano version of a song so let's focus on the bones for right now.
So back to the original query with an embellishment.
Can you write out a lead sheet of one of your favorite songs?
All music educators are subjected to ear training and note reading classes so that when they graduate they have abilities in those areas.
Some of us are better than others in visualizing music and getting it on paper.
In short, it is a skill and all skills can be developed through sustained practice, effort, goal setting, and desire. If you're having a hard time writing out one of your favorite songs as a lead sheet, try this.
Find a lead sheet to a song that you like and simply copy it out on a blank sheet of manuscript paper.
My advice would be to write the first melodic phrase, followed by the lyrics for that phrase, and conclude with a chord progression to the phrase.
Then move on to the second phrase and use the same system of copying.
In other words, don't write the entire melody out and then write all the chords and then copy all the lyrics. Think in phrases.
Have you ever done that before? If not, as a songwriter you will be doing a lot of it with your own material so it's a good idea to get in the habit of developing this skill.
After you finish the lead sheet, I would consider copying it again perhaps four times with the goal of increased speed and becoming more relaxed in getting the pencil on the paper and moving it from staff to staff.
Think of the word “flow”. You want your work to flow, even if it's not original material quite yet. The simple act of writing music will make the hurdle of writing your own music much easier when it comes time.
Now let's suppose, you initially picked a rather challenging favorite song, like “Deacon Blues” by Steely Dan.
If you are struggling mightily with getting the melody and chord progression down without any instrumental tools to assist you, move to an easier song, something like Bob Dylan's “Blowin’ in the Wind”.
It's more important at this early stage of songwriting to have a stream of successful attempts at writing things down and create flow then to have a string of failures. It doesn't really matter how simple the song is as long as you get it on paper and feel good about your efforts.
You can always work on your skills so you can do harder songs, but if right now you are at the “blowin’ in the wind” level, accept where you are and work on your skills so that you can eventually do a more tricky piece like Deacon Blues.
You want to become more facile, familiar, and relaxed with the idea of putting pencil to paper and writing out lead sheets.
At the beginning, copy as many lead sheets as you can.
Back to our example of “Deacon Blues”.
If you really like “Deacon Blues” but can’t visualize it in your mind to get it down on paper but don’t want to give up, find a lead sheet for it and copy it out.
Don't try to understand the intricacies of it, just copy it out.
Hold the pencil, move the hand, fill the page, sharpen the pencils, rinse, repeat.
You want to feel like sitting down with manuscript paper and pencil and writing music is as natural an act for you as making a cup of coffee or reading the newspaper.
Repetition and increased speed are what you are looking for at this stage of the game.
While you might not feel that you're writing any songs yet, you are really getting yourself ready so that when you do write, you'll have some physical momentum in your mind and in your hand. Mental dictation and especially the physical act of writing out music will help you in creating your own songs .
First off, let's put the pens away for now and work exclusively in pencil.
As far as manuscript paper goes, there are lots of PDFs out there of manuscript paper so search for one that you like the looks of and then print a few out.
Pick one that has about eight to ten staves per page. This is going to factor as sketch paper for you so don't worry about the print quality of the staves. You can print it all out on draft quality and save a little printer toner.
If your goal was to write a three stave vocal/piano version, good for you.
Maybe that is what you're used to seeing and reading from when you perform. The issue becomes that a lot of the effort and notes that you're writing out have more to do with the musical arrangement rather than the actual song itself.
What is a song? For the sake of our discussion, the technical components will be the melody, the lyrics, and the harmony.
We need a musical shorthand to get these ideas quickly on paper.
And the easiest and fastest way to get those ideas down on paper is to write a song out in the form of a lead sheet.
Simple meat and potatoes. A melody line with lyrics under the notes and chords name over the notes.
There's no sense trying to write a full score out of a song as it's being created. A simple sketch will do. A lead sheet is the basic skeletal structure for a vocal/piano version of a song so let's focus on the bones for right now.
So back to the original query with an embellishment.
Can you write out a lead sheet of one of your favorite songs?
All music educators are subjected to ear training and note reading classes so that when they graduate they have abilities in those areas.
Some of us are better than others in visualizing music and getting it on paper.
In short, it is a skill and all skills can be developed through sustained practice, effort, goal setting, and desire. If you're having a hard time writing out one of your favorite songs as a lead sheet, try this.
Find a lead sheet to a song that you like and simply copy it out on a blank sheet of manuscript paper.
My advice would be to write the first melodic phrase, followed by the lyrics for that phrase, and conclude with a chord progression to the phrase.
Then move on to the second phrase and use the same system of copying.
In other words, don't write the entire melody out and then write all the chords and then copy all the lyrics. Think in phrases.
Have you ever done that before? If not, as a songwriter you will be doing a lot of it with your own material so it's a good idea to get in the habit of developing this skill.
After you finish the lead sheet, I would consider copying it again perhaps four times with the goal of increased speed and becoming more relaxed in getting the pencil on the paper and moving it from staff to staff.
Think of the word “flow”. You want your work to flow, even if it's not original material quite yet. The simple act of writing music will make the hurdle of writing your own music much easier when it comes time.
Now let's suppose, you initially picked a rather challenging favorite song, like “Deacon Blues” by Steely Dan.
If you are struggling mightily with getting the melody and chord progression down without any instrumental tools to assist you, move to an easier song, something like Bob Dylan's “Blowin’ in the Wind”.
It's more important at this early stage of songwriting to have a stream of successful attempts at writing things down and create flow then to have a string of failures. It doesn't really matter how simple the song is as long as you get it on paper and feel good about your efforts.
You can always work on your skills so you can do harder songs, but if right now you are at the “blowin’ in the wind” level, accept where you are and work on your skills so that you can eventually do a more tricky piece like Deacon Blues.
You want to become more facile, familiar, and relaxed with the idea of putting pencil to paper and writing out lead sheets.
At the beginning, copy as many lead sheets as you can.
Back to our example of “Deacon Blues”.
If you really like “Deacon Blues” but can’t visualize it in your mind to get it down on paper but don’t want to give up, find a lead sheet for it and copy it out.
Don't try to understand the intricacies of it, just copy it out.
Hold the pencil, move the hand, fill the page, sharpen the pencils, rinse, repeat.
You want to feel like sitting down with manuscript paper and pencil and writing music is as natural an act for you as making a cup of coffee or reading the newspaper.
Repetition and increased speed are what you are looking for at this stage of the game.
While you might not feel that you're writing any songs yet, you are really getting yourself ready so that when you do write, you'll have some physical momentum in your mind and in your hand. Mental dictation and especially the physical act of writing out music will help you in creating your own songs .
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