We all have strengths and weaknesses as writers, and as we learn what they are we often begin to seek out co-writers who are stronger in the areas where we are less skilled ourselves. A writer who is primarily a lyricist will seek out strong musicians, and vice versa. This can be a very effective way to work, and there have been iconic lyricist-composer teams throughout the history of popular music…from the Gershwin brothers to Rodgers & Hammerstein, Leiber & Stoller, and John & Taupin.
A prolific lyricist is likely to bring completed lyrics to the table at least some of the time. Let’s define “completed” by saying that in a complete lyric the meter, structure of verses and chorus, and the emotional content of the lyrics are clearly established. In such a case, some writers might say that the song is finished…it just “needs music”.
This might seem demeaning to music and musicians….that the melody, chords, and riffs are essentially finishing touches, and that the bulk of songwriting has to do with lyrical content. In a place like Nashville and a genre like country or folk, where story is king, I’m sure you could easily find writers who would agree with this assessment. But it’s possible that our lyricist may have actually written a good chunk of the music without even realizing it, and just needs a more skilled or more articulate musician to either (1) fill out and add color and interest to the formal structure or (2) help the lyricist articulate in greater detail how they already imagine the music. Either way, many of the decisions have already been made, and it can make the composer’s role relatively simple. Given a lyric with strong meter and form, a good composer/musician will simply fit the notes and chords into the framework the lyricist has already established.
Over the years I’ve been teaching I have had countless people tell me they have no musical ability. (This begs the question of how one might expect to succeed at music lessons when starting off with that mindset, but that’s another article). And it’s true that we’re all given gifts in varying degrees and in different areas. But it’s also easy to imagine that a writer who has carefully constructed a tight, catchy lyric already has an idea of how the music should go. You don’t have to know what the notes and chords are to have a sense of the rise and fall of a melody….even speech has a natural sense of up and down, of emphasis and release….or whether the lyrical content suggests a ballad or a driving rocker. If you DO have a sense of these things, then that song is very close to being finished.
I don’t mean to diminish the importance of a great melody, or a killer riff that grabs the ear and never lets go. My point is that it’s our job as writers to REALLY know how much we know, and to be clear about what we need to learn. A lyricist who hears music but doesn’t know how to communicate it needs to learn how to understand and speak about what they hear….and also to recognize when they’ve envisioned enough of the song that what they need is an arranger rather than a co-writer. If you can sing a melody all the way through your lyric, (even badly!), that song could be considered finished…and as I understand the law, the U.S. Copyright Office agrees. On the other side, musicians who don’t write lyrics need to cultivate an appreciation for song structure and wordplay, and enough flexibility as a composer to solve the “puzzle” of matching music to a finished lyric.
Over twenty-some years of teaching and co-writing, I’ve come to believe that many people, and probably most writers, have more musical ability than they give themselves credit for…what they may lack is the ability to play an instrument well enough to convey what they hear in their heads to someone else. And bringing an 80-percent finished song to a writing session creates a totally different dynamic than starting together from the ground up. That’s fine if everyone understands where you’re starting from, but it can create unnecessary challenges if that dynamic is unclear. So be clear yourself on the extent of your abilities and skills, and don’t demean or dismiss your own musicality just because you don’t happen to play an instrument well. Your co-writers will thank you for it, and you yourself will be far more likely to come away from the writing session feeling that things turned out just as you had imagined.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Does Your Work Have A Sonic Signature?
Does Your Work Have A Sonic Signature?
The concept of “sonic signature” is something more often applied to bands, singer-songwriters, and producers, but it’s a worthwhile thing to consider even if you are not a performing or recording artist.
A sonic signature is the sound that makes music instantly recognizable and memorable. It could be as simple as the type or style of guitar you might play, or the timbre of your voice, or as complex as the use of layers of parts or sophisticated harmonies. Some instantly recognizable examples might be the Beach Boys’ harmonies, Brad Paisley’s guitar, or Leonard Cohen’s gruff baritone.
These are all performing artists, but they do all perform original material….and the SOUND of their work is as much a part of what makes them who they are as the lyrical and melodic content of their songs.
As a songwriter, you might be faced with a choice in a given situation…..do you write what YOU hear as an artist yourself, or do you write to match the sound of an artist you want to pitch to? From the perspective of craft, it’s a useful skill to be able to write songs that can fit different artists in different styles…..think of it as a work-for-hire situation in which you are aiming to fit the specifications requested by another. The fact that the “hire” part of this thought is speculative is not essential to my point… you make creative decisions based upon the target of the song pitch. This approach can work…..Smokey Robinson has said that he wrote “My Girl” for Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin (better known as the Temptations) to sing. But Smokey was an in-house writer and artist at Motown in the 60’s and had an inside track that most of us can’t access quite so easily. Unknown or lesser-known writers without such connections need something else to distinguish ourselves. Strong songcraft, killer hooks, and memorable melodies are all important elements of our toolbox….but what about the SOUND?
We hear on a regular basis here in Nashville that “it’s all about the song”, and while that’s true in the sense that a great song opens doors, it might be helpful to broaden our sense of what makes the song great. Imagine “Sweet Home Alabama” without that opening guitar hook, or the aforementioned “My Girl” without its own distinctive intro. The Beatles’ songs stand up on their own in a thousand rearrangements, but what caught the world’s ear in the first place was how they sounded: the blend of their voices and the chime of the guitars. None of these examples I’m mentioning are difficult to emulate, in fact they are very simple….but they reflect the simple fact that listeners respond to sound as much as they do to identifiable characters and a straightforward message. (Pop music wouldn’t exist as it does today if this were not the case. Explain the inscrutability of an REM or Radiohead lyric, to name two HUGELY successful rock bands whose songs are oblique and completely non-linear).
Granted, we’re talking about writing for a different market. All factors need to be considered….but among that list of goals, add “sonic signature” to the things you strive to achieve in your work. You don’t need to be a great singer (see Leonard Cohen above) or great guitarist (the intros to “Sweet Home” and “My Girl” are often two of the first things I teach beginning guitar students). In fact, your limitations can become strengths in that they can also shape your style. B.B King has been known to say that he plays so tastefully because his fingers can’t move very fast. Strive to improve but don’t let your limitations be a roadblock….rather, allow your limitations to help you define a style, which will evolve along with you.
The concept of “sonic signature” is something more often applied to bands, singer-songwriters, and producers, but it’s a worthwhile thing to consider even if you are not a performing or recording artist.
A sonic signature is the sound that makes music instantly recognizable and memorable. It could be as simple as the type or style of guitar you might play, or the timbre of your voice, or as complex as the use of layers of parts or sophisticated harmonies. Some instantly recognizable examples might be the Beach Boys’ harmonies, Brad Paisley’s guitar, or Leonard Cohen’s gruff baritone.
These are all performing artists, but they do all perform original material….and the SOUND of their work is as much a part of what makes them who they are as the lyrical and melodic content of their songs.
As a songwriter, you might be faced with a choice in a given situation…..do you write what YOU hear as an artist yourself, or do you write to match the sound of an artist you want to pitch to? From the perspective of craft, it’s a useful skill to be able to write songs that can fit different artists in different styles…..think of it as a work-for-hire situation in which you are aiming to fit the specifications requested by another. The fact that the “hire” part of this thought is speculative is not essential to my point… you make creative decisions based upon the target of the song pitch. This approach can work…..Smokey Robinson has said that he wrote “My Girl” for Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin (better known as the Temptations) to sing. But Smokey was an in-house writer and artist at Motown in the 60’s and had an inside track that most of us can’t access quite so easily. Unknown or lesser-known writers without such connections need something else to distinguish ourselves. Strong songcraft, killer hooks, and memorable melodies are all important elements of our toolbox….but what about the SOUND?
We hear on a regular basis here in Nashville that “it’s all about the song”, and while that’s true in the sense that a great song opens doors, it might be helpful to broaden our sense of what makes the song great. Imagine “Sweet Home Alabama” without that opening guitar hook, or the aforementioned “My Girl” without its own distinctive intro. The Beatles’ songs stand up on their own in a thousand rearrangements, but what caught the world’s ear in the first place was how they sounded: the blend of their voices and the chime of the guitars. None of these examples I’m mentioning are difficult to emulate, in fact they are very simple….but they reflect the simple fact that listeners respond to sound as much as they do to identifiable characters and a straightforward message. (Pop music wouldn’t exist as it does today if this were not the case. Explain the inscrutability of an REM or Radiohead lyric, to name two HUGELY successful rock bands whose songs are oblique and completely non-linear).
Granted, we’re talking about writing for a different market. All factors need to be considered….but among that list of goals, add “sonic signature” to the things you strive to achieve in your work. You don’t need to be a great singer (see Leonard Cohen above) or great guitarist (the intros to “Sweet Home” and “My Girl” are often two of the first things I teach beginning guitar students). In fact, your limitations can become strengths in that they can also shape your style. B.B King has been known to say that he plays so tastefully because his fingers can’t move very fast. Strive to improve but don’t let your limitations be a roadblock….rather, allow your limitations to help you define a style, which will evolve along with you.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Are You Playing The Right Guitar?
Guitars come in more shapes and sizes than a casual observer might think. There’s lots of variation in the depth and width of the body, not to mention the neck….then you need to take the size and proportion of your fingers, hands, and arms into account as well. Yet many students who come to me are playing essentially the same style guitar, and don’t have a sense of how the physical shape and size of the instrument affects their ability to play it.
Part of the problem is that entry-level instruments don’t come in as many styles as more expensive guitars. If you’re buying a guitar for a child, there are ¾ and half-size models available, but an average adult would probably end up purchasing a standard style acoustic called a dreadnought. When you picture an acoustic guitar, this is most likely the body style you imagine: a lower bout that is slightly wider than the upper, with a shallow waist between the two. Dreadnoughts were designed for fullness and projection back in the 1920s to compete with louder instruments like fiddles and mandolins; they produce a fuller tone because the sound resonates through the deep lower bout. If you’re playing in standard right-handed style, this is the part of the guitar you need to get your right hand around to reach the strings…and for many people, this is where the trouble starts.
I personally love the sound of a dreadnought but I find that my right arm will begin to tire if I’m working around that deep lower bout for an extended period of time. If you are a person of smaller build you may find it awkward to even get your right hand comfortably to the strings, often leading to contortions and overuse of the right shoulder. If you find that your right shoulder is higher than your left when you play seated in a straight-backed chair, the guitar’s depth may be creating a physical challenge for you.
My primary acoustic is a slightly smaller-bodied design called an OM or orchestra model. It lacks the low-end punch of a dreadnought but chimes beautifully and is physically much more comfortable for me to play. I also own a parlor guitar, which is even smaller and has a more graceful, narrow waist. It has less power than the dreadnought or the OM but is a very sweet-sounding instrument and wonderful for fingerpicking.
Ultimately there are many body styles out there, and it’s worth being aware of the differences. Even if you’re just getting started, you can tell just by sitting and holding the guitar whether it’s well-matched to your body type. You should be able to reach the strings comfortably with your strumming hand without having to compress or overextend the shoulder, and you should be able to swing the arm freely without strain. Try sitting in a straight-backed chair or standing with a strap. And most of all, don’t be intimidated by the sales staff…take the time to get a sense of what feels right and what doesn’t.
Everyone’s going to have their own preferences when it comes to the size-to-sound-to comfort ratio. Sometimes it’s a function of musical style and sometimes it’s a purely physical or aesthetic judgment. But as I often say to students in any setting, be it a private lesson, a workshop, or an article…we come back again and again to the importance of paying attention and feeling what you’re doing. Listen and feel, and your ears and body will tell you when you’ve found the sweet spot.
Part of the problem is that entry-level instruments don’t come in as many styles as more expensive guitars. If you’re buying a guitar for a child, there are ¾ and half-size models available, but an average adult would probably end up purchasing a standard style acoustic called a dreadnought. When you picture an acoustic guitar, this is most likely the body style you imagine: a lower bout that is slightly wider than the upper, with a shallow waist between the two. Dreadnoughts were designed for fullness and projection back in the 1920s to compete with louder instruments like fiddles and mandolins; they produce a fuller tone because the sound resonates through the deep lower bout. If you’re playing in standard right-handed style, this is the part of the guitar you need to get your right hand around to reach the strings…and for many people, this is where the trouble starts.
I personally love the sound of a dreadnought but I find that my right arm will begin to tire if I’m working around that deep lower bout for an extended period of time. If you are a person of smaller build you may find it awkward to even get your right hand comfortably to the strings, often leading to contortions and overuse of the right shoulder. If you find that your right shoulder is higher than your left when you play seated in a straight-backed chair, the guitar’s depth may be creating a physical challenge for you.
My primary acoustic is a slightly smaller-bodied design called an OM or orchestra model. It lacks the low-end punch of a dreadnought but chimes beautifully and is physically much more comfortable for me to play. I also own a parlor guitar, which is even smaller and has a more graceful, narrow waist. It has less power than the dreadnought or the OM but is a very sweet-sounding instrument and wonderful for fingerpicking.
Ultimately there are many body styles out there, and it’s worth being aware of the differences. Even if you’re just getting started, you can tell just by sitting and holding the guitar whether it’s well-matched to your body type. You should be able to reach the strings comfortably with your strumming hand without having to compress or overextend the shoulder, and you should be able to swing the arm freely without strain. Try sitting in a straight-backed chair or standing with a strap. And most of all, don’t be intimidated by the sales staff…take the time to get a sense of what feels right and what doesn’t.
Everyone’s going to have their own preferences when it comes to the size-to-sound-to comfort ratio. Sometimes it’s a function of musical style and sometimes it’s a purely physical or aesthetic judgment. But as I often say to students in any setting, be it a private lesson, a workshop, or an article…we come back again and again to the importance of paying attention and feeling what you’re doing. Listen and feel, and your ears and body will tell you when you’ve found the sweet spot.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Why Musicianship Matters
The following is a quote from the founder and president of a very well-known music industry company:
"Have you spent years working on your song craft, or on musicianship? Practicing guitar doesn't count toward songwriting all that much, unless of course you're learning the chords you'll need to write the songs."
In fairness, I'm taking this statement out of context. But it was part of a longer essay about long-term commitment to songwriting, and if I'm reading him right he's suggesting that song craft and musicianship are mutually exclusive areas. The following sentence does seem to reinforce that impression, the "unless of course" notwithstanding.
Odd that the founder of a company that helps writers place songs with producers, film supervisors, artists, and more - in a wide variety of genres - would suggest that musicianship is not a part of songcraft. Musicianship is much more than how many scales you know or how fast you can play - it's an understanding of how to speak the language, and developing fluency in a variety of dialects (styles). Yet some in the music business seem to take the attitude that this fluency in the language of music isn't important to the process of songwriting.
We can all think of those simple, perfect songs - like the old cliché goes, "three chords and the truth". This is the foundation of pop music, it's true. But the Beatles wrote great pop music using a lot more than three chords. So did Elton John, Burt Bacharach, Billy Joel, Donald Fagen & Walter Becker, Jimmy Webb, Carole King - throw Cole Porter and Jerome Kern in there too, while you're at it. The pantheon of popular music is filled with great musicians. Many very successful hit writers are tremendously accomplished instrumentalists. (Ever seen Jeffrey Steele play guitar? Brad Paisley?) Simplicity is a beautiful aspect of pop music, but simplicity doesn't mean you shouldn't have many options to choose from as you craft your simple song.
Now, of course being a great musician does NOT make you a great songwriter. But if music is your chosen means of expression, why minimize the importance of understanding it? I'm amazed when I hear very prominent people in the MUSIC industry talk about music as if it were an afterthought. Yes, you can't deny the importance of a well-crafted, conversational lyric. But it's a mistake to diminish the importance of a great melody, instrumental hook, or killer groove. You increase your ability to create each of those things when you develop your level of musicianship.
I see it as my mission as an educator to make this point over and over again. To reinforce that striving for simplicity is not the same as choosing to be limited. That knowledge and skill increase creative freedom....and most of all that developing musicianship - both in skill on an instrument and aural sophistication as a listener and creator - is absolutely a part of improving your songwriting.
Perhaps the person I quoted above didn't mean what I took him to mean, but the point still stands. Never stop learning, never stop improving - in EVERY aspect of your creative and musical life.
"Have you spent years working on your song craft, or on musicianship? Practicing guitar doesn't count toward songwriting all that much, unless of course you're learning the chords you'll need to write the songs."
In fairness, I'm taking this statement out of context. But it was part of a longer essay about long-term commitment to songwriting, and if I'm reading him right he's suggesting that song craft and musicianship are mutually exclusive areas. The following sentence does seem to reinforce that impression, the "unless of course" notwithstanding.
Odd that the founder of a company that helps writers place songs with producers, film supervisors, artists, and more - in a wide variety of genres - would suggest that musicianship is not a part of songcraft. Musicianship is much more than how many scales you know or how fast you can play - it's an understanding of how to speak the language, and developing fluency in a variety of dialects (styles). Yet some in the music business seem to take the attitude that this fluency in the language of music isn't important to the process of songwriting.
We can all think of those simple, perfect songs - like the old cliché goes, "three chords and the truth". This is the foundation of pop music, it's true. But the Beatles wrote great pop music using a lot more than three chords. So did Elton John, Burt Bacharach, Billy Joel, Donald Fagen & Walter Becker, Jimmy Webb, Carole King - throw Cole Porter and Jerome Kern in there too, while you're at it. The pantheon of popular music is filled with great musicians. Many very successful hit writers are tremendously accomplished instrumentalists. (Ever seen Jeffrey Steele play guitar? Brad Paisley?) Simplicity is a beautiful aspect of pop music, but simplicity doesn't mean you shouldn't have many options to choose from as you craft your simple song.
Now, of course being a great musician does NOT make you a great songwriter. But if music is your chosen means of expression, why minimize the importance of understanding it? I'm amazed when I hear very prominent people in the MUSIC industry talk about music as if it were an afterthought. Yes, you can't deny the importance of a well-crafted, conversational lyric. But it's a mistake to diminish the importance of a great melody, instrumental hook, or killer groove. You increase your ability to create each of those things when you develop your level of musicianship.
I see it as my mission as an educator to make this point over and over again. To reinforce that striving for simplicity is not the same as choosing to be limited. That knowledge and skill increase creative freedom....and most of all that developing musicianship - both in skill on an instrument and aural sophistication as a listener and creator - is absolutely a part of improving your songwriting.
Perhaps the person I quoted above didn't mean what I took him to mean, but the point still stands. Never stop learning, never stop improving - in EVERY aspect of your creative and musical life.
Technique and Tone
I had a student recently ask me, "is this the most important thing I should be learning right now?"
We were talking about pick technique in a very fundamental way: how to hold the pick, how to move to strike the string. This student was not a beginner and already able to play, so she obviously knew how to do these things already. There's so much time to devote to practicing to begin with, so I can understand her wondering why we were returning to something so basic.
If you think of when you first picked up a guitar, you probably didn't give a whole lot of thought to the mechanics of how you pluck a string - you wanted to learn play a song. And that's an appropriate mindset in the beginning: the desire and enthusiasm are the most crucial part, and the music is what drives it. Yes, you have to crawl before you can walk, but the sooner you get to making real music the more enjoyment you get from playing the instrument....let's face it, to most people there's nothing sexy about scales and finger exercises. All that stuff is a means to an end, and many students see mechanics and exercises as a necessary frustration they want to get past as quickly as possible.
But let's deconstruct a little. Let's say you can play the guitar, maybe not as well as you might like but you can get by. You have a vocabulary of chords, rhythms, and songs, and you might even be a seasoned performer. You know what works and what you can put across, but you also know there's more you could learn to do. So where do you go from here?
Everything we know how to do on the guitar is based upon muscle memory. We learn patterns and repeat them until the fingers go where they need to go on command. This is the way most people think of practicing, and there's no escaping this part of the process if you're trying to learn something new. But there's another aspect that I think gets lost easily, and it's based on one simple idea. Playing well means knowing what you want your hands to do, and having the ability to get them to do it...so we need to develop greater precision, not just more vocabulary. This is what technique is really about: not speed or flash necessarily, but control.
This control and precision helps your physical ability to make the guitar "speak": not just to make a sound but to produce the best quality tone you can. We'll define quality tone in terms of clarity, presence, and resonance....but all that really means is that the guitar sounds good. Good tone has mojo, that magical ability to transport the listener with a single note.
Tone comes from the way the string is struck....from a balanced relationship between force applied and sound produced. There's no magic formula to figure this out, just your hands and ears.There are lots of variables: the gauge (or thickness) of the strings, the thickness (and therefore flexibility) of the pick, the size and shape of the guitar, and the size and shape of the player. Every guitar is going to respond differently, and a sensitive and aware player can adjust accordingly. It's perhaps obvious but worth mentioning that the instrument needs to be "set up" properly so that it's not too difficult to play but can produce a good tone....for a beginner, lower "action" (height of the strings) and lighter strings can make it much easier to hold the strings down. The physical size and shape of the instrument is important too, you'd be surprised at how many people struggle with playing guitars that are too big for them. Keep in mind that if you feel like you're working too hard, it's very possible that you are.
When you pay specific attention to the mechanics of technique, it's going to improve your precision. More precise technique means better sound, which is at the heart of everything we do on an instrument. Getting into technique in greater depth helps you produce more and different sounds, giving you more options and more possible choices at any given moment. As a creative artist, THIS is the fundamental goal: options and flexibility. We feel stagnant in any situation when we no longer see options and possibilities....developing technique allows us to have more ability than we might use in any particular situation, so options stay open and other possibilities always exist.
So the short answer to the question is yes: this IS the most important thing you could be learning right now.
We were talking about pick technique in a very fundamental way: how to hold the pick, how to move to strike the string. This student was not a beginner and already able to play, so she obviously knew how to do these things already. There's so much time to devote to practicing to begin with, so I can understand her wondering why we were returning to something so basic.
If you think of when you first picked up a guitar, you probably didn't give a whole lot of thought to the mechanics of how you pluck a string - you wanted to learn play a song. And that's an appropriate mindset in the beginning: the desire and enthusiasm are the most crucial part, and the music is what drives it. Yes, you have to crawl before you can walk, but the sooner you get to making real music the more enjoyment you get from playing the instrument....let's face it, to most people there's nothing sexy about scales and finger exercises. All that stuff is a means to an end, and many students see mechanics and exercises as a necessary frustration they want to get past as quickly as possible.
But let's deconstruct a little. Let's say you can play the guitar, maybe not as well as you might like but you can get by. You have a vocabulary of chords, rhythms, and songs, and you might even be a seasoned performer. You know what works and what you can put across, but you also know there's more you could learn to do. So where do you go from here?
Everything we know how to do on the guitar is based upon muscle memory. We learn patterns and repeat them until the fingers go where they need to go on command. This is the way most people think of practicing, and there's no escaping this part of the process if you're trying to learn something new. But there's another aspect that I think gets lost easily, and it's based on one simple idea. Playing well means knowing what you want your hands to do, and having the ability to get them to do it...so we need to develop greater precision, not just more vocabulary. This is what technique is really about: not speed or flash necessarily, but control.
This control and precision helps your physical ability to make the guitar "speak": not just to make a sound but to produce the best quality tone you can. We'll define quality tone in terms of clarity, presence, and resonance....but all that really means is that the guitar sounds good. Good tone has mojo, that magical ability to transport the listener with a single note.
Tone comes from the way the string is struck....from a balanced relationship between force applied and sound produced. There's no magic formula to figure this out, just your hands and ears.There are lots of variables: the gauge (or thickness) of the strings, the thickness (and therefore flexibility) of the pick, the size and shape of the guitar, and the size and shape of the player. Every guitar is going to respond differently, and a sensitive and aware player can adjust accordingly. It's perhaps obvious but worth mentioning that the instrument needs to be "set up" properly so that it's not too difficult to play but can produce a good tone....for a beginner, lower "action" (height of the strings) and lighter strings can make it much easier to hold the strings down. The physical size and shape of the instrument is important too, you'd be surprised at how many people struggle with playing guitars that are too big for them. Keep in mind that if you feel like you're working too hard, it's very possible that you are.
When you pay specific attention to the mechanics of technique, it's going to improve your precision. More precise technique means better sound, which is at the heart of everything we do on an instrument. Getting into technique in greater depth helps you produce more and different sounds, giving you more options and more possible choices at any given moment. As a creative artist, THIS is the fundamental goal: options and flexibility. We feel stagnant in any situation when we no longer see options and possibilities....developing technique allows us to have more ability than we might use in any particular situation, so options stay open and other possibilities always exist.
So the short answer to the question is yes: this IS the most important thing you could be learning right now.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Songwriter, Artist, or Musician?
I was a little surprised when I first moved to Nashville to be asked on more than one occasion whether I had come to be a songwriter, artist, or musician. It had never occurred to me that I was supposed to choose one of the three…to me these were interrelated roles - things we do - not identities or things we ARE.
Part of the problem is the way we define “artist” here in Nashville. We’ve gotten so “inside” in the way we think and speak that the work “artist” has come to mean “performer with industry backing” as opposed to “one who applies artistry”. I’ve written on this topic before, it’s kind of a pet peeve. If you create and do it with integrity, you are an artist. If your creativity produces a song, you are a songwriter. If you used music to create this song, you are a musician. Not all musicians are songwriters, but all songwriters are musicians. And all good musicians and songwriters are artists.
So let’s redefine that word “artist”. To be artistic is to take raw materials….be they in tangible, visual, or aural form….and put them together in some way to create something new. Because we all are distinct and unique individuals, no two people are likely to put those materials together in the same way. Our perspectives and methods come from our life experience, education (formal or informal), personal taste, and aesthetic judgment. When a body of work shows a common thread connecting the individual creations, we call that style.
Picasso painted in many styles over his long life, influenced by the work of others that came before him but creating something completely and sometimes shockingly new. Viewed as a total body of work, his explorations demonstrate an ever-evolving but always cohesive artistic sensibility. The simple line drawings of his later years look nothing like his early and most famous Cubist works, but in each phase of his career you can see the elements he was playing with to define that particular style.
The Beatles did the same thing in their much shorter creative period as a band. It’s a long way from “Twist and Shout” to “A Day In The Life”…but you can hear the metamorphosis from one year and one album to the next. Like Picasso, they took raw materials that already existed and put them together in a new and instantly recognizable way.
Obviously Picasso and the Beatles are examples of creativity and artistry at its peak. They were blessed with tremendous gifts and talent. But all of us, as we work with our own humble abilities, can look to them as examples of how far an exploration can go….and just how much room there is to create something totally new from the everyday. It’s a lofty goal, but did we come here to aim low? The teacher and author Marianne Williamson wrote (though I’m paraphrasing), “we do not serve our purpose in the universe by thinking small”.
So be an artist. Think big. Be musical in your songwriting and songful in your musicianship. It’s all part of the same journey we share and the process we love. It’s OK to have a focus….to be a writer first and a performer second, or a player first and a writer second….but know that these are all just parts that form a whole. And that’s a worthwhile goal….to be a whole artist.
Part of the problem is the way we define “artist” here in Nashville. We’ve gotten so “inside” in the way we think and speak that the work “artist” has come to mean “performer with industry backing” as opposed to “one who applies artistry”. I’ve written on this topic before, it’s kind of a pet peeve. If you create and do it with integrity, you are an artist. If your creativity produces a song, you are a songwriter. If you used music to create this song, you are a musician. Not all musicians are songwriters, but all songwriters are musicians. And all good musicians and songwriters are artists.
So let’s redefine that word “artist”. To be artistic is to take raw materials….be they in tangible, visual, or aural form….and put them together in some way to create something new. Because we all are distinct and unique individuals, no two people are likely to put those materials together in the same way. Our perspectives and methods come from our life experience, education (formal or informal), personal taste, and aesthetic judgment. When a body of work shows a common thread connecting the individual creations, we call that style.
Picasso painted in many styles over his long life, influenced by the work of others that came before him but creating something completely and sometimes shockingly new. Viewed as a total body of work, his explorations demonstrate an ever-evolving but always cohesive artistic sensibility. The simple line drawings of his later years look nothing like his early and most famous Cubist works, but in each phase of his career you can see the elements he was playing with to define that particular style.
The Beatles did the same thing in their much shorter creative period as a band. It’s a long way from “Twist and Shout” to “A Day In The Life”…but you can hear the metamorphosis from one year and one album to the next. Like Picasso, they took raw materials that already existed and put them together in a new and instantly recognizable way.
Obviously Picasso and the Beatles are examples of creativity and artistry at its peak. They were blessed with tremendous gifts and talent. But all of us, as we work with our own humble abilities, can look to them as examples of how far an exploration can go….and just how much room there is to create something totally new from the everyday. It’s a lofty goal, but did we come here to aim low? The teacher and author Marianne Williamson wrote (though I’m paraphrasing), “we do not serve our purpose in the universe by thinking small”.
So be an artist. Think big. Be musical in your songwriting and songful in your musicianship. It’s all part of the same journey we share and the process we love. It’s OK to have a focus….to be a writer first and a performer second, or a player first and a writer second….but know that these are all just parts that form a whole. And that’s a worthwhile goal….to be a whole artist.
The Guitar Summit is coming: why it’s important to a songwriter.
In one of my recent articles I pointed out that if you create music you are a musician. By extension of the same idea, if you create music on the guitar you are a guitarist. And so this article should be of interest to you, regardless of your skill level or years of experience.
I am coordinating a two-day guitar festival called the TSU Guitar Summit at Tennessee State University, where I teach guitar in the commercial music program, on the weekend of July 18 and 19. I’ve invited four other prominent instructors to join me in offering a variety of classes and workshops on a wide range of topics. It’s going to be a packed weekend about all things guitar and I hope it will be a source of inspiration and motivation for all in attendance. The program will have certain set courses but is designed to be flexible enough to adapt to the skill levels of the students. Best of all, because TSU is a public institution the tuition is very affordable - just $100 for the full weekend. Plus, after our expenses have been met all the rest of the income generated will go back to the University through the TSU Foundation, a 501(3) non-profit, helping to support public higher education in these days of belt-tightening and budget cuts.
Now, most songwriters rightly view the guitar as a tool, the vehicle we use to arrive at the song. Many of you probably don’t see the guitar playing as an end it itself. What possible benefit would an aspiring top-40 songwriter get out of a class on, say, solo jazz guitar arranging?
The answer is, more than you might think. I’ve chosen the most far-flung example to illustrate my point, but if we agree that increasing your musical knowledge is good for your writing then you may already see where I’m headed. In today’s musical world, where country songs incorporate 80’s rock guitar riffs and hip-hop songs might sample Miles Davis, “style” is becoming less and less relevant to creative people. We hear all the time these days about how the music business is changing, and the music is changing with it. New artists are creating new sounds and as songwriters it’s in our best interest to keep up.
Every new development in music has come from elements of existing styles combining in a new way: mountain music combined with gospel to create country, early rock & roll combined elements of country and blues among other styles, and every iconic artist that followed those early pioneers brought something new to the mix. As creative people, it’s an asset to understand this process…and more importantly, we can participate.
So back to the guitar and guitar classes. Taking a 90-minute workshop on blues styles might give you a window into how to bring more mud and grit into your songs. A country hotlicks class would give you a better sense of what those guys (and girls) on the other side of the studio glass are doing with your song, and maybe even help you come up with a signature riff - whether you can play it up to speed or not. And yes, the solo guitar arranging class could show you how the chords you know as static “box” forms can be split apart, broken down, and re-formed in a myriad of ways to create a world of new sounds.
In a nutshell, you don’t need to have a familiarity with these styles to learn something useful. You may not even have a specific interest in learning to play that style….but you probably do have an interest in learning how to inject new sounds and new ideas into your writing. If the guitar is your chosen vehicle then this event or one like it is an opportunity to open your ears and mind and spend a weekend absorbing new possibilities.
In addition to myself, the instructors at the Guitar Summit will be Gary Talley (well known to the writing community in Nashville as a founding member of the Box Tops and as an ace session musician, sideman, and of course songwriter), former Guitar Player Magazine senior editor Andy Ellis (now host of the soon-to-be syndicated radio program The Guitar Show), Mark Robinson (veteran blues and Americana sideman and a fine writer as well) and jazz chord-melody master Kent Gunderson. If you’d like to know more about the TSU Guitar Summit click this link: http://www.daveisaacs.com/teaching/TSUGuitarSummit.pdf
You can also email me directly with questions or for registration info at disaacs@tnstate.edu.
And even if you can’t make this event, keep an open mind and look for others. Don’t be intimidated by the guitar heads. With all due respect to players everywhere, there are those out there who have it backwards….guitar first, music second….as as creative people you already know that the tools serve the larger goal. So get pickin’!
I am coordinating a two-day guitar festival called the TSU Guitar Summit at Tennessee State University, where I teach guitar in the commercial music program, on the weekend of July 18 and 19. I’ve invited four other prominent instructors to join me in offering a variety of classes and workshops on a wide range of topics. It’s going to be a packed weekend about all things guitar and I hope it will be a source of inspiration and motivation for all in attendance. The program will have certain set courses but is designed to be flexible enough to adapt to the skill levels of the students. Best of all, because TSU is a public institution the tuition is very affordable - just $100 for the full weekend. Plus, after our expenses have been met all the rest of the income generated will go back to the University through the TSU Foundation, a 501(3) non-profit, helping to support public higher education in these days of belt-tightening and budget cuts.
Now, most songwriters rightly view the guitar as a tool, the vehicle we use to arrive at the song. Many of you probably don’t see the guitar playing as an end it itself. What possible benefit would an aspiring top-40 songwriter get out of a class on, say, solo jazz guitar arranging?
The answer is, more than you might think. I’ve chosen the most far-flung example to illustrate my point, but if we agree that increasing your musical knowledge is good for your writing then you may already see where I’m headed. In today’s musical world, where country songs incorporate 80’s rock guitar riffs and hip-hop songs might sample Miles Davis, “style” is becoming less and less relevant to creative people. We hear all the time these days about how the music business is changing, and the music is changing with it. New artists are creating new sounds and as songwriters it’s in our best interest to keep up.
Every new development in music has come from elements of existing styles combining in a new way: mountain music combined with gospel to create country, early rock & roll combined elements of country and blues among other styles, and every iconic artist that followed those early pioneers brought something new to the mix. As creative people, it’s an asset to understand this process…and more importantly, we can participate.
So back to the guitar and guitar classes. Taking a 90-minute workshop on blues styles might give you a window into how to bring more mud and grit into your songs. A country hotlicks class would give you a better sense of what those guys (and girls) on the other side of the studio glass are doing with your song, and maybe even help you come up with a signature riff - whether you can play it up to speed or not. And yes, the solo guitar arranging class could show you how the chords you know as static “box” forms can be split apart, broken down, and re-formed in a myriad of ways to create a world of new sounds.
In a nutshell, you don’t need to have a familiarity with these styles to learn something useful. You may not even have a specific interest in learning to play that style….but you probably do have an interest in learning how to inject new sounds and new ideas into your writing. If the guitar is your chosen vehicle then this event or one like it is an opportunity to open your ears and mind and spend a weekend absorbing new possibilities.
In addition to myself, the instructors at the Guitar Summit will be Gary Talley (well known to the writing community in Nashville as a founding member of the Box Tops and as an ace session musician, sideman, and of course songwriter), former Guitar Player Magazine senior editor Andy Ellis (now host of the soon-to-be syndicated radio program The Guitar Show), Mark Robinson (veteran blues and Americana sideman and a fine writer as well) and jazz chord-melody master Kent Gunderson. If you’d like to know more about the TSU Guitar Summit click this link: http://www.daveisaacs.com/teaching/TSUGuitarSummit.pdf
You can also email me directly with questions or for registration info at disaacs@tnstate.edu.
And even if you can’t make this event, keep an open mind and look for others. Don’t be intimidated by the guitar heads. With all due respect to players everywhere, there are those out there who have it backwards….guitar first, music second….as as creative people you already know that the tools serve the larger goal. So get pickin’!
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