datamusicata

This past week end I heard many songwriters at the Far-West Folk Alliance Conference (www.far-west.org) and one of the things that stood out amongst the really great lyric writers there was the way the first line that they sang lured you into their songs.   I noticed this while I was listening to Chuck Pyle (www.chuckpyle.com) and then Dirk Hamilton (www.dirkhamilton.com), and the experience forced me to listen to the opening of everyone’s songs in a different light.

Now, I was up for essential forty eight hours (tho I did get naps here and there—in the elevator, while I was showering, etc) and I heard as much music as I could squeeze in.  

If, just this once, I may digress for a moment?   My feeling is that so many people come to hear me, that the least I can do is hear as many people as I can.   Many times that means not full sets but one or two songs, so there’s a lot of music and very little sleep in this brain of mine.   I don’t remember the exact lines that Chuck or Dirk ( or anyone else for that matter) sang, I only remember that they were very effective in drawing me into the song immediately.

So today, I would like to talk about that.    What is it that you are doing, creating, performing, saying, writing, that is drawing people into your work.   Making them actually want to find out what you are going to say and / or sing and where you are going to take them.

There are essentially two doorways that exist at the beginning of each song and one leads to the other and if they don’t then you don’t get many folks going through the doorway to see what is on the other side—that being your song.

Though I have heard songs begun with singing, almost all of them begin with an musical intro.   And let me say that strumming a chord for four to eight bars is not compelling, alluring or even interesting, unless you have never heard a guitar, or a chord, or strumming ever before.   

If you are not a real guitarist or musician, please don’t spend four to sixteen bars demonstrating it.   All you need to do is strum  or play the chord and then start singing.     That way you don’t lose the folks that are expecting more than a rudimentary understanding of the instrument and the art of composition, and there are more of them than you realize.    And that way, you are doing something unique. 

Think about it.   How many songs have you actually heard that begin with one chord hit once and then the song begins?    I remember Hard Days Night by the Beatles (www.beatles.com) and Tragedy by Thomas Wayne  and Mr. Blue by the Fleetwoods.    There are probably more, but they don’t present themselves to my post music conference brain.  

Almost all songs and recordings start with a musical motif, a progression, a lick, something that is recognizeable and frequently repeated several times throughout the song.

And this musical motif is created to draw you into the song.

Then, once you are are drawn in to the music, the lyrics begin, and they better keep the momentum going or you lose the audience and your career.

I heard one fellow who was so remarkable musical at the conference this weekend.   Every song began with such an alluring intro that I couldn’t wait to hear what came next.  Unfortunately, nothing came next.   No lyric that connected with me as poetry or on some personal level or just so brilliant that I couldn’t resist it.

Even though I loved the musical feel of the songs and the joy with which the songs were played, the focus was the the singer songwriter and I connected with nothing lyrically.

I came away thinking, “What was wrong there?   I loved this guy and his musicality.  Why am I disappointed?  Why am I dissatisfied?”

You need to make people want to hear what comes next.   Start with a musical intro that creates that desire and then say something that makes them want to hear what comes next.    We all want to be enriched, blown away, thrilled, and made happy or satisfied or unable to stop tapping our foot or clapping our hands.

Make that happen.   If you don’t know how then listen to the recordings that thrill you the most.   What is happening there?  What drew you in?   The rhythm?    The chords?   The cluster of sound?   The lyric?   Whatever it is, that’s what you are competing with, every song, every time.   

Good luck… to us all.