SONG COLLABORATIVE group 1 (2019)

BEGINNING THE PROCESS OF SINGING TO THE LORD A NEW SONG!

 

If you are a member of this page, then you have access to add, edit and create in this space. Add a recording. Write new lyrics. Suggest editorial changes to someone else’s work. We only require respect and a yes/and attitude, rather than a critical spirit. Have at it! Once a song is finished, it is owned by all of the members, so limited sub-groups may be required, according to our gifting.

STARTING A SONG:

There are many ways to start a song. Some keys are listed here. If you are in a rut, try a different entry point:

TITLE: Start here by writing it down in the center of a piece of paper and brainstorm around it.

  • A cliche or famous quote (to which you give a new layer of meaning). (“A Minute of Your Time”)

  • An intriguing phrase. (“Were it not for what we’re worth”)

  • A Scripture passage. (“For God so loved the world”)

LYRICS: Begin with lyrics and add music to it after the sense of rhyme and meter is already established.

  • Start with a story you want to tell and figure out the plot for how to get there. (Thomas sees the risen Christ and cries out, “My Lord and my God!”)

  • Describe what you want to say, don’t just say it. Use the senses (what do you see, hear, feel, smell, taste?)

  • Begin with the setting. Then introduce the characters. Then unfold the plot. Provide a twist near the end, and a surprise at the end (the payoff)

MELODY: You can sing a tune until it is catchy and works for you. Then build the rest of the song around your tune.

  • Start with a tune that you already know and modify it. (“I Could Sing of Your Love Forever”)

  • Determine the contour and balance the gestures. Reserve the leap to serve as your identifier, and place it 62% of the way through. (Brahms’ lullaby)

  • Choose a pattern for the verse, and make the chorus one inversion higher and the bridge with the highest point of all. (“Great Are You Lord”)

RHYTHM: Sometimes you can begin with the groove itself and know the unique feel that your song will take.

  • Choose a tempo and time meter.

  • Use an electronic “drummer” to create something from which to start.

  • Focus on the bass line, especially on the rhythm of the bass. See what melody goes with it.

HARMONY: It is not unusual to come upon a chord loop that feels like what you want to convey. Add the other elements afterwards.

  • Try just a 3 or 4 chord loop that has the potential to go throughout the song.

  • Be sure to include inversions and/or “wrong” bass notes in at least one of the chords.

  • Consider adding a pitch or unique chord in the bridge, to introduce a new element two-thirds of the way through.

PAYOFF: If you know where your story is going, reserve this little stinger as a surprise twist at the end of the song.

  • Add foreshadowing in the body of your song to help set up the surprise, so that it was there all along.

  • Perhaps it is a homonym or a word with double meaning, and now you deliver the alternative.

  • Don’t worry about hiding it so well that it is unpredictable. You can still find a way to add an extra emotion to the payoff.

SOUND: Let that sound that intrigues you become your launching point.

  • A unique chord voicing could get your started.

  • Perhaps you have found a new instrument or a new setting, and that sound wants to grow into a song.

  • Maybe you can find or build a multitrack loop upon which to build.