Part One
A song is basically a little microcosm of the universe. Or better yet, it is your current version of the universe. In order for you to put the universe into a scant few minutes you need to be quite conservative in the use of language and you need to be disciplined and efficient in the use of chord structure. Before delving into this, though we need to look at the basic elements of music, the basic elements of a song and the basic elements of poetry.
1. Elements of Music
Firstly, music is comprised of three things: rhythm, melody, and harmony. Beat is not one of these three. Beat is not actually music. (Careful how you break this news to your drummer!) Beat is time represented by sounds. A drummer's job is essentially to break up the linear progression of the song into temporal sections. i.e., keep time. The drummer makes the foundation for the house to sit on. Without a good foundation the house will collapse. A good drummer, or drum machine, for that matter, can make all the difference in the world. (A good friend of mine once said that nothing really happens untill the drummer shows up. And how totally true it is. All the energy and drive of a band is in his hands!)
Rhythm is the pattern of pulses in music resulting from the occurrence of strong and weak melodic and harmonic beats. Now here's the kicker. Webster's also gives us this definition of rhythm: the pattern of recurring strong and weak accents and long and short syllables in speech. Can you see why rhythm is so important? Rhythm and words are so closely related that the two shall be said to be one. Rhythm is the hardest part to learn and is also the part most closely identifiable as being the heart of the song. If you only know one or two basic rhythms you are in trouble. Every song on your CD with the same rhythm will turn all your material into one long boring dirge. A songwriter is essentially a rhythm guitarist. The rhythm is most closely associated with the style of the song and in order to move with the times keeping up with new rhythms will greatly freshen your sound.
Melody is the tune or singable part of the song. Webster's gives melody as, musical sounds in agreeable succession. Literally this means, notes, one after the other that sound nice. What could be simpler than that?! And you thought this was going to be difficult.
Now obviously, non-melodic sounds are composed of overly repetitive notes, notes that jump too high or low and just basically don't follow a nice pattern. To over simplify things even further, a good melody goes up and down! You can have more than one melody in a song. A solo instrument can play one melody (or riff) while the vocalist sings another. Melody is basically how the song goes. The melody is the most important part. It is the plot or story line of the song. The Beatles wrote wonderful melodies. That is why their music endures. Kurt Cobain had great style and awesome feel but he also wrote great melodies which is part of the reason for Nirvana's huge success. A good rule of thumb or test of a melody is that good melodies are easy too remember and they stay in your head, sometimes for days.
Harmony is the inter-relationship between the different parts of the song. When things are "in harmony" they fit together nicely and seem like they belong together. Good harmonies in the vocals often fit together so well that they sound like one voice. This particular quality has alot to do with the arrangement of the songs. Webster's gives this definition of harmony: the simultaneous combination of tones especially when blended into chords pleasing to the ear.
Now Webster's also says, agreement, accord as the primary definition. There is a proverb that says God loves it when brothers dwell together in harmony. The parts of your song need to get along with each other! No fighting and kicking.Just a nice smooth arrangement.
So in it's broadest sense, we need to write songs with more in mind than a few words and a couple of chords. As you develop the song, from its infancy of a melody with a nice chord progression, (or not nice, as your particular musical bent might be) to a full blown arrangement, you need to keep in mind where you want the song to go. How do you imagine the bass to sound like? Keyboards? Backing vocals? Experiment with the song and the arrangements. Try it in different styles and tempos.
Remember this rule: The Song is NOT Sacred!
The song is malleable, changeable, open to interpretation. Or else how would it be possible for so many versions of a song recorded by different artists to still sound good? Even painters often have several different versions of one painting. Instead of looking at a song as a final package to be marketed, think of it as a growing thing, still in motion. The seed of inspiration you planted one day, then watered it and nurtured it and finally pruned away the excess to make it strong and healthy.
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