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Music & MP3 Information
Wal-Mart Music Downloads, Napster and Other Legal Digital Music Download Sites
Digital Music Download. Ever since file-sharing programs entered the hard drives of our computers, people have wanted the best place for a digital music download. Music companies have had to figure out what to do about illegal music downloads and the music download web site. The legal battle continues but they have fought back by offering the consumer a legal alternative, the music download site to get a digital music download. These sites let you get what music you want, from who you want, when you want.
Live Music!
"Live music." That common saying may contain some truth, but these days the word "live" is having less and less to do with music. For many people, a dj is their form of live music. Despite what dj's would like to have you believe, musicians make excellent entertainment.
How to Buy an Electric Guitar Online
With the increased proliferation of online guitar and musical equipment stores, as well as the lower prices and greater selection that these stores generally offer, most people are now turning to the internet to help them make their guitar purchases. Shopping online is simpler and more convenient than shopping in a store and, since all major guitar manufacturers have good websites, product information and specs are more easily accessible online than they are simply by asking a salesperson in a store.
Spectral Muses Revisited: The Channeled Melodies of Rosemary Brown
Rosemary Brown (1916-2001) was a middle-aged South London widow, making ends meet as a grade school kitchen assistant, who rocketed to international fame in 1968 through a BBC broadcast recounting her purported collaborations with long-dead composers. These included Liszt, J.S. Bach, Handel, Beethoven, Schubert (who of course no longer needs spectacles), Monteverdi, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, Brahms, Robert and Clara Schumann, Mozart, Grieg, and Poulenc. And after he died in 1971, Igor Stravinsky joined them.
How To Write A Song
Did you ever wish that it was your song playing on the radio? It could be. It is not that hard once you know the formula. With a little creativity, a little knowledge, a little luck and a good formula to follow, your song could be one of the next biggest hits.
Songwriting comes easy for some, and is very difficult for others. I have actually written songs in my sleep, and immediately upon awaking, written it as quickly as I could get the words on down on paper.
What I want to discuss here is popular songwriting, like the songs you hear on the radio. A good pop song, whether rock, country, middle of the road, is composed of two things: a catchy tune and some good lyrics.
There is a formula that most great songwriters use to write great songs. It regards the structure used to write a song. Granted, it is music and it is art, so the rules are not hard and fast. But if you want to increase your chances of getting your song on the radio, it is a good starting point.
Here is the formula. Verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus.
Write that down on paper leaving plenty of space between each word and this will be your script.
Verse
The verse is the part of the song that tells the story, the part that leads to the chorus. Each verse is usually different, telling a different part of, or adding to, the story. It usually explains how you got to the things you are singing about in the chorus.
Chorus.
The chorus is the part of the song that is repeated after each verse. The lyrics are usually the same each time the chorus comes around. The verse usually leads to the chorus, and the chorus is usually the pay off for listening to the verse. Does that make sense?
Here is a lame example (you did not think I would give you my best work, did you?):
(verse)
My dog is sick, he's got a tick
He's my best friend, don't let it end
(chorus)
Oh, woe is me, can't you see
Woe is me, will I ever be free
(verse)
My car broke down, just out of town
It got towed in, but it's broke again
(chorus)
Oh, woe is me, can't you see
Woe is me, will I ever be free
Now, if you would kindly stop laughing at my lame song for a minute, I want you to think about whether or not you understand my point. Songwriting is story telling. The verse tells the problems, the chorus expresses the results or the emotions.
All right, now that you have that mastered, let's tackle the bridge. Ah, yeah, there is more to the song than the pain and the release. We need the diversion. That is what the bridge is; it is the diversion from the verse and the chorus.
The bridge may have a slightly different melody to it, or it could even have a different rhythm or a different tempo (Elvis' "Suspicious Minds" did a great job on this technique).
Let's go back to the lame song and add a bridge:
(verse)
My dog is sick, he's got a tick
He's my best friend, don't let it end
(chorus)
Oh, woe is me, can't you see
Woe is me, will I ever be free
(verse)
My car broke down, just out of town
It got towed in, but it's broke again
(chorus)
Oh, woe is me, can't you see
Woe is me, will I ever be free
(bridge)
Tomorrow is a better day, I've got a new truck on the way
My dog just had a flea it seems, so once again I'll live my dreams
(chorus)
Oh, woe was me, can't you see
Woe was me, but now I'm free
The bridge offers a solution to the problems I was having. You don't want to leave your listener on the edge of suicide, you want to give them hope.
Notice, I also changed up the wording of the chorus. This was done to reflect my new found joy.
One more thing on formula. It can be anyway you want, but most verses and chorus come in lines of 4. So, instead of this:
(verse)
Oh, woe is me, can't you see
Woe is me, will I ever be free
(verse)
My car broke down, just out of town
It got towed in, but it's broke again
it would be:
Oh, woe is me, can't you see
Woe is me, will I ever be free
My car broke down, just out of town
It got towed in, but it's broke again
The same goes for the chorus. Again, if you are creative, do it however you want. But for a new songwriter, this gives you some guidelines to scratch out and start carving out your new creation.
One more thing, do not make the notes to the melody so high that your fans cannot sing along. We are certainly all not Stevie Wonder.
Writing Hit Songs
There are a lot of factors to writing a hit song. First, you should focus on writing a good song. Once you've done that, you are not far away from writing a hit.
Like most other things in life, it takes persistence, patience, drive, knowledge, belief and maybe some luck.
Stop and think about your favorite songs. Really analyze them and figure out what it is that you like about those songs.
Different factors may come to play here. Maybe it is the good beat, lyrics that hit home, a beautiful melody, something spiritual or patriotic, or maybe even that it is humorous.
If you include one of these elements in your songwriting you are well on your way. If you combine two or more of these elements, you may have yourself a hit.
A Good Beat
Rhythm is important in music. I have to laugh and think of Jerry Van Dyke on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" years ago trying to play the banjo and sing, "I've got rhy-rhy-thm, I've got mah-mah-music..."
But, unless you are very funny like Jerry Van Dyke, your audience is not very likely to stay with you.
Your music not only needs to have a good beat, but must fit the genre of music you are trying to write. A Metallica beat in a George Strait type song may not get you very far. A song with a good enough beat might be a hit even with no melody and no lyrics. Remember "Green Onions?"
Along with the beat is the tempo. Country music is easy to write (I did not say it is easy to write well) because it is about people's lives and everyday experiences. However, too often people write slow songs for country music, when in fact the industry is starving for upbeat country material like "Country Roads" and "Rocky Top." It is much harder to write a good up-tempo country song than it is a tear jerker.
Lyrics in popular music can range from broken relationships to political issues, and just about any point in between. Those that tend to be the most popular are about situations you and I may encounter in our everyday lives; "Workin' 9 To 5," "I Just Called To Say I Love You," "Your Cheatin' Heart," "God Bless The USA" (which ingeniously incorporates spiritual, political and patriotic views).
A beautiful or interesting melody can get you into the ranks of hit songwriter with no lyrics required. Going back in time to prove a point about beautiful melodies, you might consider songs like "Last Date" and "Sleepwalk."
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