Many music industry insiders say great songs are usually immediately apparent when sung naked with just with just a vocal and guitar or piano. This is generally true although there have been many popular songs that would have been instantly forgotten had it not been for an amazing arrangement and awesome production.
Still, as a songwriter, you should be able to get your point across and make an impact on the listener with a simple piano/vocal or guitar/vocal if you've written a
Special singer-songwriter songwriting ingredients can make your little ditty stand out like the best-tasting monster-sized chili soup bowl in a crowd of bland little chili cups at your local chili cook-off. You'll simply win the contest every time!
great song. After that, any production or arrangement magic should be icing on the cake.
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Here are some special singer-songwriter songwriting ingredients to make your songs sound like heartfelt masterpieces with only a piano/vocal or guitar/vocal using a verse-prechorus-chorus song as an example:
1. Come up with a melodic intro for the first few bars before the first verse. Don't just use arpeggiated chords unless you're going after that effect as one of the song's motifs/hooks. A good idea is to base the melody line and chord structure here on any part of the song, whether it's the verse, chorus, pre-chorus, bridge, etc. The point is, use a melody line that will help make the song memorable.
If you play guitar, develop single lines while you hold and change chords, and try to make the transitions as smooth and natural-sounding as possible.
If you play piano, develop single lines with your right hand on the higher register while you hold notes or chord shapes with your left hand.
2. During the first verse, regardless of the type of song (ballad, up-tempo, mid-tempo, etc.), you must make an immediate impact. You've already hooked the listener with a great intro, so now you have to hold their attention with interesting contrast and song dynamics.
For example, if it's a ballad, let the first few vocal lines breathe by playing fewer notes beneath them, then gradually make them more intense so the hook/chorus can be felt more strongly.
If it's an uptempo song, hit the first chord and vocal with a little less intensity than you would for the hook/chorus part. Again, vary your dynamics in the vocal as well as the instrument accompanying the song.
3. Still during the first verse, come up with an interesting instrumental motif/hook (sometimes called "vamp") that repetitively plays in certain spots underneath the vocal line. This will add memorability and make the song stick like a wad of Juicyfruit gum in the listener's mind long after your song is over. Use the same method as in step 1 to develop this line on your instrument.
4. If you're using a pre-chorus, you can use more chord changes, and/or change your vocal and/or musical phrasing so that it stands apart from the verse and chorus. This will ensure that it builds excitement into the chorus. At this point it would appear you've got them right where you want them! Right? Not so fast.
5. Your chorus must be the part of the song that stands out most, whether through repetition, louder dynamics, higher melody, and different rhythm and/or harmony. Again,come up with an interesting instrumental motif/hook that plays repetitively in certain parts underneath the vocal line.
By the same token, you can also have the type of cool song that drops in pitch and/or becomes softer in the chorus. The point is, make your chorus stand out!
You may have written one of the best ballads of all-time, but if you arpeggiate every single chord without using at least one recurring fill, or hook/motif with your instrument in between vocal phrasing, you will more than likely lose your audience and waste an opportunity to wow them!
One of the biggest mistakes singer-songwriters make when playing their songs in public is not taking the time to work out an arrangement with good dynamics.
If you work out a simple accompanying arrangement for your song using these simple tips, your songs will not only stand out on acoustic night, producers and arrangers will have an easier time understanding your musical masterpieces, enabling them to stay true to your original creations while recording.
Take the time to arrange your songs on an accompanying instrument with these special singer-songwriter songwriting ingredients in order to make the biggest possible impact on your listener.
