SongwriterAdvisor.com Newsletter
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Tune Sleuth
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Issue 1.1 - May 1, 2008
Copyright 2008 Songwriter Advisor
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Contents:
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1. Songwriter Advisor's Message
2. Worthy Songwriting Contest Deadlines
3. Upcoming Article Preview (only available to SS subscribers)
4. Songwriting Book of the Month
5. Songwriting-related Product of the Month
6. Tune Sleuth
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1. Songwriter Advisor's Message:
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It's finally here! After a few months of enjoyable hard work
SongwriterAdvisor.com has been officially launched and this is
SA's first newsletter.
But don't think for a second that this newsletter is a work
in progress! Much research has been put in to choose the best
newsletter format and content for the benefit of the songwriting
community, and those of you who have opted in for this newsletter
are in for a real treat!
SA's mission is to provide fresh, innovative pro songwriting
tips to help songwriters achieve their goals, to provide song-
writing information and resources, to point out products that
can help develop and/or enhance your songwriting skills, and to
gain valuable feedback from you for the benefit of all!
We're very excited and pleased to present our special sect-
ion "Tune Sleuth". It has received rave reviews from our local
songwriting community and appears to be destined for something
special!
Thank you for all the positive feedback!
With your support, SA has doubled in "unique visitors"
every month since Jan '08 and figures indicate this number will
even quadruple in April!
Bless all of us, for without our dedication and hard work as
songwriters, people around the globe wouldn't be enjoying great
music!
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2. Worthy Songwriting Contest Deadlines:
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Winning or placing in a high profile songwriting contest can
bring you much exposure and improve credibility, and merely
entering a contest brings much-needed experience for many song-
writers.
American Songwriter Amateur Lyric Contest
Deadline for next Bi-monthly contest - May 18, 2008
US 10.00 entry fee per song lyric
Winner receives - DX1 Martin Guitar, valued at $699.00., and a
chance to compete for a master production demo from Music City
Music Production, Inc. valued at over $1,500.00
http://www.americansongwriter.com
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USA Songwriting Competition
Deadline - May 30th, 2008
US 35.00 entry fee per song
Grand Prize - US$50,000 worth of cash, merchandise and services
http://www.songwriting.net/entry.html
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The John Lennon Songwriting Contest
Session I
Deadline - June 15, 2008
US 35.00 entry fee per song
12 Grand Prize Winners receive $5,000 in project studio equipment
from Roland/Edirol/Boss, Ableton, Sibelius, Audio-Technica, Godin
and Propellerhead, and a $500 gift certificate from
MusiciansFriend.com.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com
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3. Preview Of Upcoming Article (available only to Song Sleuth
subscribers until it's posted on 05-01-08)
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Songwriter Advisor Song Checklist
Before submitting or performing your masterpieces, give the
songs a quick run through this uncomplicated checklist for maxi-
mum song impact:
1. Song Title
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(a). Does the title stand out as interesting and orig-
inal on its own?
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Develop a memorable title. You're less likely to grab the
listener's attention with a common song title that's been
used and sung to death.
Suggestion:
Take a common song title and use your imagination to put a
fresh spin on it. i.e., instead of "I'm In Love" use something
like "I'm Done"!
(b). Does the title reflect what your song is about?
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The whole concept of writing a song is to write about some-
thing of interest, so let your title reflect that something that
will interest you as well as your listeners.
(c). Does the title repeat itself throughout the hook
of the song?
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Repeating the title in the hook is one of those elements that
makes songs stick in listener's minds upon their first listen.
However, in the spirit of creating something original and
straying from the norm, you can create a song with just as much
impact by exercising freedom here and not even using the title at
all in the song, as long as your title evokes the general idea of
the song, and as long as you have other certain elements in your
song such as unique phrasing, awesome melody, surprise chords,
tempo changes, a time signature change consistently right
before a certain section, etc.
Dare to be original and different!
2. Song Form
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(a). Does the song form you have chosen feel natural?
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One of these song forms is usually a good choice:
Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus (ABAB)
Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Bridge-Chorus (ABABCB)
Verse-PreChorus-Chorus-Verse-PreChorus-Chorus (ABCABC)
Verse-PreChorus-Chorus-Verse-PreChorus-Chorus (ABCABCDC)
Verse-Verse-Bridge-Verse (AABA)
However, If your song is missing that "extra ingredient", why
not try experimenting with a different song form or better yet,
using these common forms, start twisting them around a bit.
For example in an (ABAB) format, go into an instrumental
break after the second verse instead of the normal chorus and hit
the 2nd chorus with even greater impact. Freak everybody out!
Or take an (AABA) song and add a section after the "B" either
instrumentally or a contrasting vocal/melody part totally
different from any other section of the song.
The point is, experimenting with a song that's missing that
special something by shuffling a song form could be what the song
needs.
3. Hook/Chorus
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(a). Does the hook/chorus stand out as being the most
powerful, exciting, and/or interesting part of the song?
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The hook has to make the biggest impact on the listener
regardless of whether the melody is sung using higher or lower
notes than the verses.
Try this as an alternative to the common chorus using higher
notes: Use lower notes in the whole chorus for a cooler effect,
or start out with lower notes in the chorus and break into a
higher note section than the verse towards the end of the chorus.
Experiment!
4. Verses/Pre-choruses
======================
(a). Does the first line of your song make an immediate
impact, making the listener want to hear more?
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(b). Is the last line of each verse or prechorus strong enough
to help the chorus make the biggest impact.
5. Bridge
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(a). Does the bridge add a whole new dimension to the
song by varying the melody, rhythm, and harmony?
6. Point Of View
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(a). You have already picked a point of view for your
song, usually "first person narrative". Many songs have been
improved dramatically by changing the point of view because of
added freshness. Make sure you are using the best point of view
for your song by changing pronouns to fit the other two points
of view:
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Subjective Objective Possessive
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First person narrative:
Singular I me my/mine
Plural we us our/ours
Second person:
Singular you you your/yours
Plural you you you/yours
Third person narrative:
Singular he/she/it him/her/it his/hers/its
Plural they them their
First Person Narrative - the singer is involved in the story he
or she is telling. Second and third person narrative pronouns
are also commonly used while writing in this point of view.
Second person - the singer is talking to another person. First
and third person pronouns can also be used when writing in this
point of view.
Third person narrative - the singer tells a story with the goal
of trying to get the listener to relate and feel the emotion or
meaning of the story.
7. Rewrite
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Have you rewritten and polished your song, so that aside
from the first 6 checklist entries, the song:
(a.) Makes sense even though you've used metaphors and
logically progresses from beginning to end unless it's a song
that starts out in the future and regresses to reflect on the
past?
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(b). Answers who, what, when, where, and why before it
gets to the 2nd verse?
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(c). Has a consistent rhyme scheme?
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(d). Uses consistent verb tenses and words used
in the song are sung like they are pronounced without being
forced in order to fit in a line of the song?
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(e). Is clear because it contains one single idea?
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(f). Doesn't contain unnecessary words such as "a lot",
very, etc.?
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(g). Chord structure, melody, rhythm, and overall feel
of the song matches the lyrics?
There are many other small areas of concern for improvement
when writing a song that are too numerous to be covered here.
The checklist above is very thorough without going overboard
but SA will cover many more pro tips and techniques in future
issues so they become "second-nature" and "automatic" to those
who are not familiar with the concepts.
End of Checklist
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4. Songwriting Book of the Month:
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For this inaugural month we've chosen "The Craft Of Lyric
Writing" by Sheila Davis. This is the book that started it
all for many songwriters including myself, and continues to be the
bible reference of lyric writing for many successful songwriters
around the globe.
Davis is one of the true pioneers of songwriting. Most song-
writing "lyric" books out today have used many of her original
teaching concepts. This one is more than just "worth a look", it's
absolutely one of three essential books I recommend for every
serious aspiring songwriter.
Read more about it by clicking the following link:
http://www.songwriteradvisor.com/songwriting-books.html
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5. Songwriting-related Product of the Month
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Lyricist v3.0 is a virtual songwriting office in a box! This
best-selling, ultimate songwriting tool promises you'll have no
more folders full of unorganized document files! Rhyming diction-
ary books and thesauruses become a thing of the past because
they're both contained in the Lyricist software. Lyricist com-
bines everything you need for lyric writing and archiving into
one powerful package!
Oh, and the price is ridiculously low for a product of this
caliber! Click this link to see the features:
http://www.songwriteradvisor.com/songwriting-tools.html
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6. Tune Sleuth
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Finger Eleven's "Paralyzer" is the subject of the
Tune Sleuth's investigation for the month of May.
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After knocking once on the Tune Sleuth's office door (his
ears are highly sensitive), he was irritated but allowed me to
come in and I almost choked on the Cohiba cigar smell clouding
the entire office.
Then he handed me this full report so I thanked him and
coughed my way out the door without being able to say goodbye.
Here's the full report from the Tune Sleuth's desk files:
Enjoy!
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.........................Tune Sleuth
After receiving a confidential informant report that the
song was loved by some people and absolutely detested by others
in spite of its obvious success on the charts, I was left with no
choice but to investigate further to see if any songwriting
crime had been committed:
My findings will be based on partly facts and a lot of object-
ivity and subjectivity, and those songs found in violation will be
subject to the full extent of songwriting law!
As a free song reference, I will click on Finger Eleven's
web site http://www.fingereleven.com and scroll to the song
through the automatic jukebox player. Like any other consumer,
If I like what I hear on the web site I will purchase the song or
their CD to support their music.
************ I always try to lead by example when it comes to
preserving copyright laws, so I can only provide a few lines at
a time for educational purposes only. Luckily, most artist web
sites provide lyrics as a courtesy for their fans. So grab or
write down the lyrics and follow along:
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Paralyzer
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Writers:
Scott Anderson
Robert Anderson
Robert Beddoe
Ryan Black
Richard Jackett
I hold on so nervously
To me and my drink
I wish it was cooling me
But so far has not been good
It's been shitty
And I feel awkward, as I should
To conduct my investigation, I'll run through the check-
list first in "contents section 3", then point out good tech-
niques used as well as possible flaws in the song's
construction.
Most importantly, at the conclusion I'll list all the cool
techniques we can all apply to improve our songwriting.
1. Song Title
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The song title stands out as interesting and original,
and it describes the song idea perfectly.
Although the title is never used in the song, the writers
used a nifty little proven technique where the singer, in the
second person, calls the other person a name which describes
the effect they have caused on another person. Confused?
Many hit songs have used this, so here's an easy classic
example of one that used a similar title technique - Pat Benatar's
Heartbreaker.
The difference is the word "Heartbreaker" was used
throughout that song unlike the word "Paralyzer" which was used
in the past tense of "paralyze"(paralyzed). Cool idea, indeed!
2. Song Form
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The song form (ABAB) fits like a glove and feels natural
for this song.
Notice the song starts with a strum then a drum groove
intro for 1 bar. Not very common and definitely effective.
The underlying chorus guitar riff is then introduced for
four bars before the first verse. This is a common, effective
intro technique used in countless commercial-type songs. Inter-
esting to note that you can use an element (in this case
electric guitar) from the actual chorus in the intro, and its
strong effect is felt almost as if the song began with the chorus!
3. Hook/Chorus
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The underlying riff in the intro is used in the chorus,
providing great impact because we've already heard it in the in-
tro.
The lyrics in the chorus are kept conversational
unlike the verses where the lyrics reflect images popping off
the top of the singer's head. This creates contrast between
the verses and chorus whether intentional or not.
The metaphoric "You'll probably move right through
me" stands out as a strong line which can be interpreted in
several ways. My interpretation is he's telling her even though
he's infatuated with her, she won't even give him the time of
day! By design, this line is repeated twice right before the
song ends.
This song is an example of how a hook/chorus can still
have amazing impact without containing the actual title, be-
cause of many other ear-pleasing elements working together.
4. The Verse
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In the 1st verse, the cool chorus guitar riff used in the
intro becomes a funky, higher note staccato-type part underneath
the vocal.
Here's where it gets interesting:
The first and second verse have totally different rhyme schemes.
AND I MEAN REALLY DIFFERENT!
Songwriting purists would tend to look at this rhyming
scheme and say there's a lack of focus. In part, I agree.
However, the first line, "I hold on so nervously, to me and my
drink, I wish it was cooling me," is attention-grabbing and a
very good, solid first line which sets the scene.
"To me", and "I wish" are inner rhymes after the ending
words "nervously" and "drink", but inner rhymes are not used in
the 2nd verse at all. Definitely lack of focus.
In the next line, "But so far has not been good, It's been
shitty, And I feel awkward as I should," the word "shitty" vio-
lates the theory that words should be sung exactly as they're
pronounced and not forced. But in this case, it works! This is a
good example of today's songwriting straying from the norm as
long as something feels and sounds good!
Also, "Since I thought you and me" what? Also a lack of
focus. The line looks lazy and pasted-on.
The rest of the first verse sounds very cool as it cata-
pults into the 1st chorus with explosiveness. Notice the chord
change and the underlying guitar riff in the last two lines right
before the chorus.
The line,"Since I thought you and me" is very confusing
and left suspended without any explanation or clear thought. It
could mean the singer started a thought then quickly changed the
subject.
In the second verse the story does move forward with a
different rhyme scheme and the words appear to be "free writing"
lyrics and probably could have been stronger with a little more
rewriting.
The verses do work but they probably could've been much
stronger by changing a word here or there, such as substituting
'cause for "but" in the line "But so far has not been good",
in order to maintain clarity.
The slight lack of focus makes the verses in this song
very forgettable but the chorus is highly polished and phenomenal!
Imagine how strong this song could be with a little verse
polishing!
5. The Bridge
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N/A
6. Point of View
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The point of view used by Finger Eleven in this song, 1st
person narrative, appears to be the best one.
If we used 2nd person the chorus would be:
Well, you're not paralyzed
But you seem to be struck by her
In the 3rd person narrative it might be:
Well, he's not paralyzed
But he seems to be struck by her (or "you")
7. Rewrite
===========
Most publishers would demand a verse rewrite if this
song were submitted by a staff songwriter.
Self-contained artists, however, have a little more
freedom to experiment and it's easier for a publisher to
accept a song as the artists' expression as long as it
sounds and feels acceptable. This song obviously did!
Verdict
=======
"Paralyzed" is a formulaic song that works in a big way
regardless of slightly weak, forgettable verses. The amazing,
strong choruses carry the song the whole way through.
The only crime committed here is that the record
company and publisher weren't alert or demanding enough of the
songwriters (band members) to possibly polish up the verses to
make this song what it could have easily been - a "classic"
pop/rock song!
After hearing this song repeatedly and taking a look at
the lyrics with my handy-dandy-super-powerful magnifying glass,
I'm going to take a chance and buy the CD and support the band.
Hey, what's the worst that can happen, I can pick apart
more songs and pass along the knowledge to Songwriter Advisor!
Lessons Learned
===============
Even highly successful songs sometimes have obvious flaws.
The great news is that we have the luxury to play "Monday
morning quarterback" and pick apart whatever song we like once
we know what to look for, and learn a great deal from this
process!
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Here are techniques and cool tips we've learned from this
song to improve our songwriting:
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1. Use a title which describes the effect a person has caused
on another person, place, or thing (Paralyzer)
2. Start a song with an instrumental part and chime in with a
percussion or drum part unexpectedly.
3. Use an underlying motif or riff from the choruses in the
intro to add strength and excitement to the intro.
4. No matter how good a hook/chorus is, work on your verses
just as hard to make them memorable.
5. Create contrast between the verse and chorus by using a
different motif or riff with any instrument(s).
6. Use a consistent rhyming scheme throughout the song to
make the song more memorable and interesting to the listener,
but occasionally stray from the norm to loosen your lyrics
up a little bit if the song calls for it!
7. Use an interesting motif or riff during the last line or
two of each verse to make the chorus even more powerful.
8. It's important to let your thoughts run free and create
imagery with your lyrics, but make sure you rewrite and polish
your song so it progresses logically, so it makes sense and is
understood all the way through, and so it's cohesive, natural-
sounding, and not rigid.
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Tune Sleuth is Songwriter Advisor's monthly newsletter con-
taining valuable insight, information, tips, and techniques to
benefit the songwriting community.
It is released two weeks early for subscribers during the 2nd
and 3rd week of every issue's preceding month. Subscribers are
authorized and encouraged to recirculate and reprint this news-
letter for non-profit use as long as the entire newsletter text
is included, and we ask that subscribers only release this news-
letter on or after the official issue date (Always The 1st of
each month).
Feedback is welcome and appreciated and suggestions for future
Tune Sleuth songs for review are also accepted and very
important to us. Visit:
http://www.songwriteradvisor.com/feedback-suggestions.html
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Contact Information:
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Feel Free To contact The Songwriter Advisor Directly @:
sa@songwriteradvisor.com
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